All the Truth That's in Me

Briar Rose

*Review also posted at Briar Rose Reads

I devoured this book. I can't even place my finger on why it gripped me so much, but it did. I could barely drag myself away to fulfill responsibilities, like cooking and eating supper. The main character is so smart and broken and brave, and her prospects so bleak, that I couldn't imagine a happy ending for her, but desperately wanted it nonetheless. And then there's the mystery: what happened to Judith's friend Lottie? Why would someone kidnap Judith for two years, then cut out half her tongue?

All the way through, I felt vaguely uneasy, expecting to be let down by the ending. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that I definitely wasn't. The story was rapidly-paced, the world was well-built, and the ending was a satisfying conclusion that drew all the pieces together.

The unusual writing style (the book is written in choppy pieces, to Judith's longtime love, referring to him in second person) might not work for everyone, but it did for me.

Highly recommended.

Helene Skjørvold

I did read this for school and did not like the writing style at all! I never bonded with the characters, and the whole book just seemed kind of foggy.

Susan Forsythe

** spoiler alert **
           Always love finding a book where the heroine saves herself but it is even better when she saves her husband-to-be as at the same time! 4 1/2 stars

Lisa Collins

3.5 stars

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I’m going to be completely honest. When I first heard of All the Truth That’s In Me I wasn’t too impressed and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to read the book at all, let alone come back and share what I thought of it. I also didn’t have a very good idea of what the book was about… and for some reason I thought the characters were Amish. (They aren’t. I don’t even know.)

For the most part All the Truth That’s In Me was unlike anything I was expecting from it. I was sort of put off by the mystery aspect that was seemingly pushed in the publicizing of the book—but it’s totally not one of those mass-market thriller mysteries that have 15 corny sequels with even cornier names. Is it a mystery? Yeah, kind of. Does it have way more going on? Definitely WAY more going on.

The biggest thing that struck me about this book was the characters… in a bittersweet way. I really liked a lot of the characters, but I also hated a lot of them. I feel like for every one character I liked there were at last two I despised. This is at no fault of the author’s, in fact it was done very much on purpose and it made me like the entire book more… but man. I forget that people used to be way more crazy and close-minded back in the day. Not to say they aren’t that way now, but on the average day I don’t see a lot of people at this level of bigotry. It’s terrifying to think life used to be this way—and it was normal. This book really threw me back and reminded me what humans are capable of. *shivers*

The story itself was rather interesting. Told in very short “chapters” that mirror something of a diary or even just the main character’s thoughts, the story is highly personal. Unfortunately it didn’t really affect me as much as I feel it should have and at the beginning I found myself getting somewhat bored. Still, I enjoyed reading Judith’s story and sympathized with her from beginning to end. I definitely liked reading from Judith’s point of view. She was headstrong and determined but also extremely vulnerable. It was nice getting to read about someone so well rounded.

Sure, the beginning was a little rocky, but overall the story was of quality and the writing was graceful and entertaining. For the most part I appreciated All the Truth That’s In Me and will probably find myself recommending it on more than one occasion.

This is a book, that after every page you turn, draws you further into the story. It is a book that leaves you wanting more after each page you turn. It gives you a perspective that one would not normally see from. You are able to imagine a story of a girl who has so much within her ready to come out, but can't express anything. This book is one of my favourite books of all time

All the Truth That's in Me

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