"I'm Good and Other Lies" by Bev Katz Rosenbaum is an interesting read, though it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

The book has its moments of humor and wit, and Bev Katz Rosenbaum's writing style is engaging. She has a knack for storytelling that draws you in, and her exploration of various life situations and the lies we tell ourselves to navigate them is relatable and thought-provoking.

However, there were times when the narrative felt disjointed, with some chapters lacking a clear connection to the overarching theme. This made the book a bit uneven in its delivery of the central message. Additionally, while some of the lies explored in the book resonated with me, others felt a bit forced or superficial.

Despite these shortcomings, "I'm Good and Other Lies" still offers valuable insights into the human condition and the stories we tell ourselves to cope with life's challenges. I

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
This book gives good insight into the experience of students during this pandemic. The narrator was good and it was a quick read! 3.5 stars

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Pretty good read, liked the MC and the story. Reading this in 2022 hits a bit different but i can imagine reading this at the start of covid and wow!

Kelsey is dealing with a lot - she’s transferred schools in the middle of Grade 12, her mom is a disgraced comedian with a pill problem. And if that weren’t bad enough, there’s a virus circulating the globe. All she wanted was to survive her own existence, but soon her mother’s habits start to look pretty desirable.

We’ve reached the point where COVID-19 is being immortalized in fiction - perhaps one of the true signs that the world has realized we are going to be feeling the impact of this virus for a long time. I wasn’t sure I was ready to dive into a pandemic novel, but I found myself relating to a lot of the feelings that plague the characters of the novel.

Much like the pandemic upended our lives, Kelsey’s life, including previous friendship connections, classes, and part time job all evaporate and land her at home with a dazed and absent mother, and her father who tries his best to handle his own stress along with everyone else’s. I thought it felt a bit choppy and inconsistent at times, but I also see that as a product of the content itself.

It felt strange to see COVID through a fictional lease, and surreal to experience the prolonged trauma again. This is not a book to escape in, but I thought it did a good job with grappling the real life impact that the pandemic continues to have on us.

I was happy to see that mental health and treatment are addressed here, as I think that is one of the best things that the pandemic has taught us. I hope this continues to be a big part of our conversations, both in reality and fiction.

This was a quick listen, just over 4 hours, and I enjoyed it!

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I wasn't really a fan of this one, unfortunately. It started out okay, but then it just kind of devolved. Plus, it was very unrealistic. As someone who works in education and with students every day - and as someone who's seen how dangerous and deadly the pill spiral can be - this girl suddenly deciding to pick up a pill popping habit and then just set it back down again is totally ridiculous.

I liked the narrator, and I actually did like the book initially. I thought it was going to be a pretty decent look at how hard the pandemic hit some of the teens. But, again, it became way too unrealistic and just didn't have a lot of substance.

Also, much of the book seemed like it was just kind of haphazardly thrown together. Like... it started off headed in one direction and then the author suddenly forgot where s/he was going with the story and so just decided to go down a different path with it. It lacked any sense of cohesive substance.

I don't know. I can see how teens might appreciate it, but it just wasn't for me.

A fast-paced, at times poignant read that explores the challenges of being a teenager combined with the heartbreak of family situations and life events.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. The incorporation of Covid-19 is accurate and depicts how students felt when the pandemic first started. The main character is easy to like and feel for as she goes through difficult times.

We have all been affected by COVID 19. This story takes many of those challenges and creates a compelling narrative. It's not an easy life for the main character, and she's dealing with all the things we all dealt with as teenagers while also navigating social distancing and the heartbreak of losing friends and family to COVID-19.

Tons of mixed feelings about this piece, but mostly positive!

Starting with the audiobook, since that is what I received a copy of, I loved the narrators voice. Very melodic, very good and natural voice acting, 10/10.

This book takes on the tall task of narrating a teenage girls experience of having a other who is a drug user, setting up the foundation in late 2020 and carrying the narrative into the beginning of the COVID pandemic. I say this is a tall order not only because the pandemic hasn't finished yet, leaving some difficulty in fleshing a narrative, but also because setting a novel this current requires the novel not to defamiliarize itself from popular culture.

I often find that YA authors don't write teenagers well in contemporary novels due to the pop culture aspect rendering the teenage character a cartoon due to the author not understanding what the contemporary teenager is actually like. In many ways this book falls into that: the narrator used hashtag catchphrases??? Which I see in YA novels all the time... but what teenager is speaking in hashtags in their mind? Literally none of us. Some other Gen-Z colloquialisms are misused to a cringe degree, which was pretty much the only aspect of this novel that brought down the quality.

OTHER THAN THIS, I absolutely loved this novel. In many ways I related to the main characters situation heavily, and it felt so therapeutic to read this story and feel as thought the author largely hit the nail on the head. The novel is very intentional with the setting of the COVID pandemic: the main character falls into drug use like her mother due to the isolation and constant stress she feels both before and during the pandemic. The novel showcases a narrative that is unrelentingly relatable for lots of teens in 2020, tackling subjects from drug use to lack of mental health resources available for teens.

This novel was poignant, realistic, and an important story that I think many teens who lived their high school years through the pandemic would benefit from reading. It's also super short! Cringy display of Gen-Z teens aside, this narrative was fast paced yet powerful, and I loved every second of it.