Could find no evidence to back up this memoir

Lacy Johnson narrates like she's reading poetry she wrote while tripping in high school and the only reason I finished this audiobook was because I chose it for my true crime bookclub. But while the crime committed was the central theme in The Other Side, this is essentially a story of Johnson's PTSD. That alone might resonate with readers/listeners who suffer from PTSD themselves. But it's also what makes this so difficult to listen to, as the duration of the story is a broken timeline, an incoherent mess. "Maybe I did this, or maybe I did that." On top of all that, or maybe because of, I was never one to question a victim's truth until now. She gives no names, no evidence, that any of this actually happened to her. This brings me to another point of contention: the repetitive, vague title she gives the perpetrator, "The Man I Lived With," demands a name if this story is to ultimately be believed. Her actual name is the only truth I could verify. In suspending my disbelief, as I know such crimes do happen, I sincerely hope that she receives justice against this man in her lifetime. In the meantime, a new edition with massive edits is called for.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Wow

What made the experience of listening to The Other Side the most enjoyable?

I would not call this book enjoyable. Rather, it is riveting. Never before have I simply sat, transfixed, while listening to a book. I found myself unable to move, unable to tear myself away. Not once did my mind wander.

What does Lacy M. Johnson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Hearing this story in the author's own voice lends a certain tension to the reading that could never be credibly done by someone who has not experienced it.

Any additional comments?

I would caution someone who has not come to terms with their own stories of abuse. This book is raw.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Unexpected. Well written. Poetic and I hate poetry. Real honest.

I just downloaded this on a whim but felt it was very well written. The author performs it movingly and her voice is clear and tone is just right. I read everything from the Caro biographies of Johnson to Moral Tribes by Joshua Greene to novels by Adichie, Murakami, Kunzru and David Mitchell. Barbara Kingsolver and Dorothy Allison had a memoir baby and this is it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Look at me! I'm soooo EDGY!!!

Selma Blair's character from Todd Solondz's Storytelling has come to life!

There is no plot. There are no likeable characters. There are no lessons to be learned.

Maybe the narrator hides and drinks Scotch. Or gets a new tattoo. Gets raped. Gives birth. Lies to her psychiatrist. Or tells her psychiatrist the truth. Has a bad biker boyfriend. Or a bad TA boyfriend. Or the world's best husband and finally moves all her belongings or finds a permanent home. Everything is of similar valence. Overall, she doesn't care what happens to her. So why should we?

I did enjoy the breathy, self-absorbed performance, however. Ms. Johnson is so consciously trying to shock us that it's tantamount to watching my preschooler tell us about his first tangerine. And theeeeeeeeeennnnnn!!!

You can start this book in any chapter. It could be a three-minute vignette or a 30-hour trilogy. This is a confession done for the sake of exhibition, rather than redemption, which means it's trite.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

painfull, but not in the ways I'd want

Reads like the diary of a narcissist complaining about how everything bad that happens in their life is everyone else's fault. Hard to like the author/protagonist. I am giving any stars at all sheerly out of pity, because whether I like her or not, she's a human being who put effort into this. The narrative skips around the timelime randomly. The grammar feels forced, like someone is trying too hard. It feels like she wrote it to garner sympathy from her inner circle, a giant pity fest. I just want to say to the speaker, "you know everyone struggles and suffers, right? Maybe get a therapist and live in your misery behind closed doors, don't burden the rest of us with endless complaining. And for the love of God, hug your kids and be nice to others. Or maybe you'll feel better if you start counting your blessings instead if living in victimhood." This is not a book, it's a rant, a clap back to people she blames for her problems. I wish I could get my money back, I found this "read" to be absolutely awful, miserable, eye-roll-inducing.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Disappointed

I stopped listening to this half-way through. I just could not take the writing style and overall vibe.

The tone and style is that of a completely detached, emotionally dead person. Maybe that was the point? To convey soullessness? To "show" rather tell? I don't know. I didn't care.

The whole problem is the style of first person present. It reads a lot to me like a machine wrote it, or as if I'm reading Green Eggs and Ham.

I close the door.
I put on my clothes.
I pet the cat.

Just staccato sentence with absolutely no insight or coherence. It's pure description.

Although this is described as a memoir of an abduction and rape, those events are minimal. We never get a sense of what she actually went through. Maybe it's the fault of the advertising that makes you think this is something it really is not. I'm not sure what the point is. It's not really about any one thing, although a lot of things are included. The abusive relationship; the violent crime; the court system; a girl from a small town with obvious emotional issues in which a rape plays a role? We don't know.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Huge Fail

The story had/has so much promise but the writing style and the narraration was just god awful. I mean even when she is discussing her children and loving them the speaker is bland and has no emotion. just a waste of time.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!