Book Review: Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse
An emotionally challenging novel because of the subjects it draws the reader’s attention to, but it’s challenging in the best of ways—because it matters. Read my full review of Erika Krouse’s Tell Me Everything below.
Book Information
Erika has one of those faces. A face that can make a total stranger confess their deepest secrets. That’s how she gets into private investigation on a case that could change college campus culture across the nation. Dealing with difficult topics like sexual assault and the blatant disregard for other human beings that some of the football players have, Tell Me Everything is the true crime novel you won’t want to put down.
Review | Heidi Dischler
This was a novel that—like I mentioned earlier—was very tough to get through at times. There were several reviews that said something along the lines of “is it still worth reading if it makes me physically ill/angry?” My answer to that: absolutely. Do I want people to feel sick and angry about sexual assault? Absolutely. Do I want more awareness about rape culture at colleges? Absolutely. Do I want survivors to feel comfortable coming forward and like they’ll be believed and taken care of? Absolutely. We can’t fix the problem if we ignore it, and that’s why this book is so so important.
So, we basically follow Erika as she investigates the (seemingly endless) sexual assaults that happen on a college campus. These assaults are committed by football players and Erika is basically trying to prove that the football culture built by the university and head coach is causing these assaults to go unpunished and therefore, allowing them to keep hurting more women.
I really resonated with Erika as a person. Not because of her hardships (I can’t even begin to imagine), but mainly because of her ability to make people open up. I often feel like I am the dumping grounds for many people’s personal secrets, but I’ve never thought of pursuing that ability in the form of a job. I loved the way she seamlessly tied in her personal experiences to the case that was unfolding before her eyes. I loved how dedicated she was to it all. I loved how she wanted this survivors to win. I felt every emotion, every success, everything along with them and I think a lot of that has to do with Krouse’s writing.
Overall, this is a five star read for me. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but this book felt empowering because of the way that it made me see how many people really do care even if the bad ones are constantly brought to the forefront. There are people out there who are fighting for justice, we just have to be willing to help. The story, the writing, and the novel as a whole were outstanding. I’ve put this book off for so long when it should’ve been one of the first ones I picked up on my TBR shelf. Highly recommend but beware of trigger warnings.
Source: Personal Copy from Book of the Month
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)
