Although this is my typical genre, I did enjoy the part memoir, part true crime aspect of the story. I felt like it was a story that could have been told much quicker, so it drag a bit for me, but overall, it was very interesting, although a tough topic.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

The book was very interesting. Not my typical genre. Audiobook was great.

Ooooh boy, have I got a doozy of a book to tell you about! Erika Krouse’s Tell Me Everything delivers just about everything that attracts me to nonfiction and will keep you enthralled from start to finish if you...

...want to know how an average jane can go from minimum wage temp jobs to becoming a private investigator.

...like true crime but are tiring of the “crime” always being murder.

...enjoy beautifully-written memoirs, even about difficult subjects.

...have a curiosity about what goes on behind the scenes of American college football programs.

After a random encounter with an attorney, Erika Krouse gets hired by him to do P.I. work on one of his cases. Even though he had just met her, he told her things he hadn’t shared with anyone before. She just has one of those faces, where people feel like they know her and can use her as a receptacle for dumping their secrets and concerns. He knows immediately that as a private investigator, she’ll get all the beans/tea/guts to be spilled.

The case in question is the University of Colorado sexual assault and recruiting scandal circa 2004-2007. Krouse never mentions the college by name, and she gives pseudonyms to the people involved. (But thanks to google, I can play private investigator too!) Coaches supported recruiting high school players by wooing them with drugs and prostitutes. Players gang raped women because they felt entitled to do so. The university turned a blind eye to keep their Division 1 football cash cow humming along. GROSS!

Investigating the case was tricky for Krouse though, because she too is a survivor of abuse. Hers was of a familial nature, by a rapist in her own home (likely her step father, but again anonymity is used). In addition to the sexual abuse, her mother’s emotional and verbal abuse is astonishing. How someone can endure having such a P.O.S. as a mom and grow up to be a functioning adult is beyond me.

The text is so captivating that I never lost interest and sped through the audiobook in a day. (While not read by the author, narrator Gabra Zackman’s voice fits the tone well.) It’s clearly a tough story to hear at many points, and it should go without saying that victims of sexual assault may find the book either triggering or cathartic. I hope that since Erika Krouse is such an empathetic person it would be the latter. You feel like you’re spending time with an old friend. As it says right there in bold on the cover of the book, people do tell her everything.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse

True crime with a sprinkle of memoir?! SIGN ME UP! As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I needed to read this book.

In Tell Me Everything, Krouse details her time working as a private investigator as part of a huge civil rights case involving sexual assault on a college campus.

I think this book does a great job of explaining how pervasive the problem of campus sexual assault is and how certain students (e.g., football players) get special treatment and are not held accountable. It was infuriating to read.

Throughout the book, Krouse also detailed her own history of sexual violence and strained family relationships. Including that information, while likely hard for Krouse, really showed how much this case (and the frustrations) resonated with her.

Overall, I think this is a great true crime read, and is unique because it explains the situation while focusing on the victims and seeking justice.

Huge thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted audiobook in exchange for an honest review! This one comes out March 15, so be on the lookout!

Tell Me Everything was such a captivating lead. It tells the story of a a woman who is newly hired private investigator with no previous experience in the field but is simply good at extracting information from people by talking.

This book touches heavy and dark topics such as rape culture in universities. Helping women who come forward with allegations against men who are protected by big establishments because they are rising stars in prestigious sports.

Erika Krouse's writing felt so real. it was such an engaging read because you wanted to know what would be coming next while also wanting justice for all the women that came forward.

Thank you to Erika Krouse, Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC copy of Tell Me Anything.

This was a very interesting, unique read. It was a bit slower, but I always wanted to keep listening to find out what would happen. It was a hard concept to listen about, on both fronts - the story Erika was investigating as a Private Investigator, but also her own story of growing up and surviving her family life, but it was very well written. To be honest, I randomly requested this one after seeing it was apart of the BOTM list, and thought it sounded intriguing, but I am happy I did. If you are into true crime, or just want to read about a compelling woman, definitely check this one out!

This book releases next week, March 15, 2022, so make sure you grab a copy!

TELL ME EVERYTHING is part memoir and part investigation, as a new-to-the-job PI investigates a Title IX case.

Erika Krouse has long been a receptacle for people's secrets -- she just has one of those faces. Bouncing between temp jobs, she's excited to be offered a job as a private investigator for attorney Grayson. He soon wants her on a case involving a college student who was sexually assaulted by football players and recruits. Two issues: Erika doesn't know what she's doing, and her own experience with sexual violence makes the work personal.

Still, she takes the case, and as she details new discoveries, there's a real focus on the culture and institutional practices that enabled sexual harassment and assault. The author also reflects on her own long-held trauma and how that's affected her family relationships.

I found this book incredibly engaging, though the pacing sometimes was slowed by asides on the history of PIs and a loose incorporation of research in psychology. The audiobook production was well done and easy to follow. Erika's work ultimately supported a landmark sexual assault investigation; watching her and lawyer Grayson on the case felt downright restorative.

In the nonfiction book “Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation,” you are taken into the world of NCAA football and the corrupt culture that surrounded a BIG 12 program in the early 2000s. I absolutely loved the memoir and true crime combination of storytelling in this book. It is appallingly the lengths that the Head Coach and University went to in order to cover-up crimes and promote a violent culture to have a winning football team. As a huge sports fan, I would not be ok with learning that this type of behavior was allowed and supported, even if it meant winning championships. I highly recommend reading this if you like sports and true crime, but warn that there are some major trigger warnings.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

Erika Krouses’ experience as a private investigator is informative, riveting and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The landmark case she worked on in Colorado paved a safer path for female students and staff on college campuses. Erika changed the names of those involved, with the exception of well known officials, but once I was finished reading the memoir I was able to look up the case online.

As a reader, I felt a lot of emotions while reading this book. The characters are real, their experiences very real but the way the events played out is a stain on our society as a whole. What these women experienced while in college and the way we give college football players God-like statues is nauseating and made me reflect on how I view football players now.

But more than the lawsuit, incidents, victims and perpetrators is Erika’s own story too. The abuse she experienced as a child and the lack of support she received, even through adulthood, left me somewhere between heartbroken and furious. Erika’s own story of abuse is worthy of its own standalone book but the way she weaved her own personal experiences, growth and trials while mirroring the lawsuit she was working on is why this memoir is so captivating. I listened to this memoir as an audiobook and hitting the pause button took a lot of effort. .

I put trigger warnings because I think they’re important. The abuse, both of Erika as a child and of the adult victims, is graphic in detail and if that is a trigger please consider a support team if you decide to read this memoir. If this is not a trigger for you, I vigorously recommend this book. I don’t generally rate memoirs because how can I rate someone's life and experience? But if I did, it would be a solid 5 stars.

Thank you, Erika Krouse, for your bravery. Not just in the hand of life you were dealt, but also in your willingness to share your story with the world.

4.5 🌟

Erika Krouse’s memoir of being a private investigator of a rape case among college football players at a Colorado university. This novel is riveting and difficult to comprehend such a horrible coverup could take place on a college campus. Erika’s own family dysfunction and sexual abuse was unbelievably raw. I had to take breaks listening to this audiobook because the content was so extremely heavy.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook.

What a truly heartbreaking story. Tell Me Everything is about a woman who becomes a private investigator who doesn't have any training in the field. Erika gives us important details about the case she worked on about a university that is being sued after a female is allegedly raped by football players. The pattern that is shown throughout the case with more than one female is very troubling and upsettling. Many times while listening to this book I had to stop just because of how angry I was at the system and how it was just acceptable behavior. Erika talks about the case while intertwining her own trauma and abuse she has endured throughout her life.

This is definitely a story to pick up if you are interested in true crime and memoirs. This was truly a eye opening story. Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron books for allowing me to have an advanced audiobook copy. Tell Me Everything comes out on March 15th 2022. I rated this book 4.5 stars.