goldwillow's review against another edition
4.0
Less Bombastic than fire and fury and covering a lot of the same material. And yet, even without the crass direct quotes, this paints a more dire picture. Where are the adults??? Who is going to stop the malignant dotard?!
emmarj's review against another edition
4.0
This seemed very short to me. I want to give it fewer stars but I won't. I want to give every one of these books zero stars because none of them are giving me what I need. What I need is for someone to tell me how the hell this happened and I need someone to tell me it's over. Obviously no one can tell me either of those things. Four stars it is.
payal_reads_alot's review against another edition
4.0
Woodward isn't a story teller, he's a chronicler. He wrote the scenes and dialogues mostly without any significant bias and let the reader render an opinion. The chaos and indecision were not surprising, but the amount of contempt everyone held for Trump was. Which makes me wonder (for the upteenth time) however did he garner anyone's vote? And how he gains loyalty from those he appoints. Either way, I wept for my dying democracy the entire time.
March 28th -
Optimist me: There's nothing here that I don't already know, so I won't be enraged.
Pessimist me: There's always more stuff to be upset over.
Actual me: ******sobs into the dawn on my drive to work ******
March 28th -
Optimist me: There's nothing here that I don't already know, so I won't be enraged.
Pessimist me: There's always more stuff to be upset over.
Actual me: ******sobs into the dawn on my drive to work ******
hazeyjane_2's review against another edition
DNF in the first couple of chapters. This wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t very interesting to me. It was all about the campaign. Woodward recounts verbatim conversations between Bannon and Trump, and Bannon and others such as Paul Manafort.
Not really my thing. I think I’m more after a psychological study of Trump the man.
Not really my thing. I think I’m more after a psychological study of Trump the man.
yeller's review against another edition
5.0
This was truly an eye-opening book, particularly with regards to the Mueller Report. I finished it, particularly the chapters about the investigation, while reading much of the report and it was a really fascinating combination.
I'm being honest, reading much of this book was like reading a political horror novel. I wish I could say it wasn't as bad as I expected, but it was. Bob Woodward's writing is compelling and his reputation is unimpeachable. I also enjoyed that he didn't give notes on each of his source notes, but allowed you to peruse them at the end rather than flip back and forth. It maintained the narrative of the book.
I'm being honest, reading much of this book was like reading a political horror novel. I wish I could say it wasn't as bad as I expected, but it was. Bob Woodward's writing is compelling and his reputation is unimpeachable. I also enjoyed that he didn't give notes on each of his source notes, but allowed you to peruse them at the end rather than flip back and forth. It maintained the narrative of the book.
annsilver's review against another edition
4.0
I was really surprised at how unbiased this book was.
There was a lot of interesting (and scary) info but the storytelling was kind of all over the place. There was really no order to it...it didn’t flow. But my goodness was it full of data and information!
This was me reading all of Chapter 27: 😳
There was a lot of interesting (and scary) info but the storytelling was kind of all over the place. There was really no order to it...it didn’t flow. But my goodness was it full of data and information!
This was me reading all of Chapter 27: 😳
stinajohanns's review against another edition
4.0
As I had read fire and fury there wasn't much in here that surprised me, except maybe the hear more about how all the people around this man actually realise his shortcomings and yet help him to become president. But in the end they give up, one by one. I really cannot understand why this is the most powerful man in the world.
joelevard's review against another edition
3.0
If you were on Twitter in 2017, you probably know all this stuff, but it was news to my parents.
Could've done without all the recreated dialogue. Surely Steve Bannon doesn't start EVERY sentence with "dude" and sometimes does NOT use "fucking" for emphasis.
Could've done without all the recreated dialogue. Surely Steve Bannon doesn't start EVERY sentence with "dude" and sometimes does NOT use "fucking" for emphasis.
raylawler's review against another edition
3.0
What this book did for me was let me see a little bit more of the humanity of Donald Trump. Nothing I read in the book was particularly unexpected or surprising, but it was interesting to see how interactions played out between Trump and those who work close with him. It illustrated how important appearances are to him over facts. It shows how he takes strong views on policies while being wholly ignorant of the implications of his stance. And all the while, it somehow made me feel pity rather than hate.