carleesi's review against another edition
2.0
This was a gripping book and I really hope it helps people who end up entwined with liars and manipulators.
There were unfortunately so many points in this book that it was clear the author has a very normative view on the world. We get fatphobia, homophobia, and hoo boy is there ableism! She talks about dating someone who had a brain injury as if he owed her an explanation and a heads up when from the moment she learned about it she clearly wrote him off. She very briefly problematises her demonization of personality disorders, then quickly goes back to demonizing them again.
I also felt it could have ended a few chapters earlier. The self help advice at the end felt a bit out of place and the last chapter read like she realized she needed a larger message to tie it together, but the thread wasn’t carried through the whole narrative.
There were unfortunately so many points in this book that it was clear the author has a very normative view on the world. We get fatphobia, homophobia, and hoo boy is there ableism! She talks about dating someone who had a brain injury as if he owed her an explanation and a heads up when from the moment she learned about it she clearly wrote him off. She very briefly problematises her demonization of personality disorders, then quickly goes back to demonizing them again.
I also felt it could have ended a few chapters earlier. The self help advice at the end felt a bit out of place and the last chapter read like she realized she needed a larger message to tie it together, but the thread wasn’t carried through the whole narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Ableism
Moderate: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Fatphobia
debralewi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
kiriamarin's review against another edition
""Toxic masculinity is killing the world"
Well a acid truth...
Well a acid truth...
ellelouisea's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure if this is primarily due to the crazy times we’re living in, but I couldn’t stomach how banal and self-indulgent this book was and I grew very weary of the author’s self-pity and generally low standards for herself. I was infuriated by what she let this man get away with and I don’t feel that at any point she conveyed what about him was so enchanting or appealing. I don’t mean to blame her for what she went through but I also didn’t enjoy listening to her analyse the experience for 14 hours when I felt she offered little meaningful insight or introspection. The audiobook was long and arduous to get through, and Claudia Karvan’s narration had a droll and rather ironic tone that really grated as it conveyed a sense of superiority that I didn’t feel the author was entitled to. Was glad to be done with it.
bestdressedbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
A startling true story of love in a world of liars, cheats, narcissists, fantasists and phonies.
This was brilliant on so many levels. In Fake, Stephanie Wood, an Investigative Journalist from Sydney, tells her first hand account of falling in love with a Narcissistic Fantasist and the effects of living a life that you have no idea is a completely manipulative lie. Sometimes people convince themselves that what they are fabricating is so true that they even start to believe their own lies and cons. “Fake”delves into being in a relationship with a person with this sort of psychosis at play and how hard it is to spot, even though it seems like it should be so easy.
I watched the Netflix documentary, Inventing Anna, and this had that same sort of con artist themes where if someone shows you they are important, wealthy, busy and a person of the world, it is so easy to believe, get swept up in….until it’s not.
The irony is not lost on me how brilliantly this non fiction memoire articulates fabrication and fiction.
This was brilliant on so many levels. In Fake, Stephanie Wood, an Investigative Journalist from Sydney, tells her first hand account of falling in love with a Narcissistic Fantasist and the effects of living a life that you have no idea is a completely manipulative lie. Sometimes people convince themselves that what they are fabricating is so true that they even start to believe their own lies and cons. “Fake”delves into being in a relationship with a person with this sort of psychosis at play and how hard it is to spot, even though it seems like it should be so easy.
I watched the Netflix documentary, Inventing Anna, and this had that same sort of con artist themes where if someone shows you they are important, wealthy, busy and a person of the world, it is so easy to believe, get swept up in….until it’s not.
The irony is not lost on me how brilliantly this non fiction memoire articulates fabrication and fiction.
kitty_kat21's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating read about how men con us through love. A must read for anyone who has been manipulated or fooled by an idiot in tinfoil masquerading as the knight in shining armour. We’ve all been there ladies, no shame. I especially loved the final chapters which were very well done. It ended on an uplifting note which I appreciated.
bibliolucinda's review against another edition
4.0
A fantastic and well-researched book, this was so riveting and heartbreaking. 4 stars, via audiobook!