The first half of this book was fairly tedious. I don't think the reader needs to know so much detail, or all of the conversations between Ethan and Anna. But if you're a fan of the show Baby Reindeer, you'll love this book.

Strap in for a crazy ride & revel in the strength of woman to get to the truth. Catfishing is a longtime discussed subject, but this refreshes the idea do we really know anyone truly.

I always hesitate to put a star rating on someone's lived experience so I won't be rating this book, but just know that I loved EVERY minute of it. It was exciting, it was compelling, it was disgusting, and it was intriguing, and I can't believe multiple people lived this story - but they did and it happens all the time. Granted, in this day and age, identities are verifiable and impersonation is more challenging with the technological advances that have come since the Emily-Ethan situation, but this could be the story of any person so I commend Dr. Akbari for putting it into words and bringing it to the attention it deserves.

SPOILERS AHEAD: I admire and appreciate this band of women for trying to do the right thing by alerting the proper channels of the depth of Emily-Ethan's deception and it is horrifying that their claims were not taken seriously and treated with the proper care.

I thought this book was well-written and I couldn't put it down. It got a bit repetitive at times towards the end and the end wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped, but that's real life. I will be recommending this to anyone who will listen - a modern day horror story that's all too real for today's dating landscape.

This book is a gem!!!!!! Very rarely do I receive arcs and want to rave over them!

I picked up There Is No Ethan because the premise intrigued me and I was not let down! As someone who has made "online friends" throughout my life, this piqued my interest and was partly something I could relate to, albeit on a much smaller and less-emotionally-invested scale. This book is told in part memoir of the author's own experience getting catfished online and part description of the other victims' experiences as they struggled to navigate the aftermath of emotional abuse, uncover the mystery of "Ethan Schuman" and prevent anyone else from falling prey to the deception.

I. Could. Not. Put. This. Down.

From the moment I started reading, I needed to know the truth. I felt every emotion viscerally; sick, intrigued, outraged, invested. There were definitely points of Anna A's story that had me rolling my eyes thinking "Girl! You deserve so much better! How are you still giving this man the time of day?!" but this also gave a window and intellectual exploration into how so many brilliant women fell into the trap of Ethan's manipulation tactics and carefully woven web of lies. This book is testament to the fact that it is crucial, and also still a privilege, to consume media from a survivor's point of view.

I had a hunch about the reality behind Ethan Schuman, but once the ploy was revealed, nothing was/is comparable to the dawning, sickening realization that this person is still out in the world today, google-able, professional, and possibly committing the same atrocities or worse.

I truly feel like There Is No Ethan should be a mainstream bestseller and I feel lucky that I was able to receive the arc of it. This book would be a fascinating book club book, as it raises many important questions on the topic of morality that are especially applicable to this generation that is majorly (and somehow still increasingly) online.


Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the arc!

This was so interesting. It definitely made me think, and be grateful I grew up before the catfishing era!

I really enjoyed this! As someone who grew up watching Catfish, I was super interested in the concept of this nonfiction. The idea of falling in love with someone online and they turn out to not be anything like the person you thought you knew honestly scares me so much. I also loved the writing in this book! It felt like a friend was telling me, in detail, about a horrible dating experience she had.

As a millennial who was obsessed with MTV’s “Catfish”; this was an episode in book form. Shout out to these three strong bad ass women who put up with the emotional and mental abuse REDACTED put them through and found everything out while social media technology was still in its infancy. It was rage inducing and head-pounding-on-the-wall at times but I throughly enjoyed it

Anna Akbari's research was thorough while also being able to make nonfiction read like fiction. Definitely worth being left in suspense instead of googling the ending.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

In “There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish,” Anna Akbari delivers a gripping narrative that is part memoir, part true crime thriller. This book takes readers on a rollercoaster journey through the dark and deceptive world of online catfishing, revealing the emotional and psychological toll it takes on its victims.

The story centers around three intelligent and successful women who fall prey to the charms of Ethan Schuman, a man who exists only in the digital realm. Akbari, along with her fellow victims, becomes entangled in a web of lies and emotional manipulation that is shocking and heart-wrenching. 

What sets this book apart is Akbari’s ability to weave her personal experience with a broader commentary on the nature of online relationships and the ease with which truth can be distorted in the digital age. 

The narrative takes on a thriller-like quality as the women begin to piece together the inconsistencies in Ethan’s stories and ultimately uncover the shocking truth. The suspense builds with each chapter, making it difficult to put the book down. 

“There Is No Ethan” is not just a cautionary tale about the perils of online dating; it is also a testament to the resilience and determination of the women who refused to be silenced. 

Anna Akbari’s “There Is No Ethan” is a compelling and eye-opening read that will resonate with anyone who has ever ventured into the world of online relationships. It is a must-read for those interested in true crime, psychology, and the complexities of human connections in the digital age. Akbari’s storytelling prowess and insightful analysis make this book a standout in its genre.

I was super disappointed in this book, it sorely needed an editor who could make some big structural changes to strengthen this story. So much of it was essentially transcripts of gchat logs, which are not as riveting the author might feel that they are given that she lived them. The point is made over and over: Emily Slutsky is an unwell woman, psychological damage from catfishing should be taken more seriously, and the victims weren't rubes, but accomplished women. All of this I believe to be true. But it gets repeated so much that I was worried that Akbari thought that readers had little reading comprehension skills. I also felt that the subtitle of the book was a major overpromise, Slutsky undoubtedly manipulated many women for many years, but most of the book focuses on Anna's experiences and those of her two sidekicks. I'm not convinced that Slutsky was actually one of the most prolific catfish. It feels like the audience for this book is Emily Slutsky, not the average reader. Which is fine, ,but it made me wonder why I was reading it.

This was a very intersesting and engaging book that freaked me out, because the person who did the3 catfishing is still out there (it's not against the law) and is a doctor! I think it also shows the lenghts people will go to find connection and belive connecttion

There Is No Ethan is perfect for fans of Catfish or a good con story with Anna Akbari allowing readers to delve into the insane story of three women and their experience with a con online.

This non-fiction book is part memoir, part sharing other people’s stories. Author and sociology professor Anna Akbari takes us back to 2011, when she met a guy named Ethan on an online dating site and they struck up a correspondence. They text and email constantly and grow extremely close, but he keeps putting off meeting in real life and becomes quite manipulative. Eventually Anna finds two other women who also have been in long, online only relationships with Ethan, and together they set out to find out who Ethan really is and why.

This was a WILD story for sure. From the title and the beginning of the book, you know Ethan isn’t going to be real - but who is he really? Yes it might seem crazy now that these intelligent women fell for Ethan for so long, but you have to remember that in 2011 the term “catfishing” had yet to enter the discourse, nor did FaceTime or selfies or webcams exist, making it much easier to start a relationship in text only format.

I usually read non-fiction books pretty slowly, but I could not put this one down!

This book stands out due to the author's personal experience as a victim of online catfishing, which adds a poignant depth to their exploration of others similarly deceived. It compellingly depicts how effortlessly one can succumb to online deception, often disregarding intuition amid repeated setbacks like missed meetups. The courage shown by the author and fellow individuals in recounting their interactions with "Ethan" is commendable, shedding light on conversations that, upon reflection, may appear humiliating but serve as a stark cautionary tale. While some sections, especially those recounting similar tactics used by other victims, can feel repetitive, the overall impact of this book is profound. It's a highly recommended read, despite occasional slower moments, earning it a solid 4.5-star rating.

This was so good! I loved that this book was narrated by the author herself, with the addition of a male voice! That said this book contains a lot of text messages, emails, chat logs, etc and might be easier followed along as a physical copy. I found a groove listening to this after the first chapter or so, and it was easy to follow along with the story and message exchanges.

The book is retelling of how a woman fell in love with Ethan online, during the craze and the beginning of online dating. There were not a lot of bad stories out there, especially about catfishing. So the plausability of WHYYY would you participate in this for so long is there. It is a crazy story, a long one, and complicated. At times I wanted to shake the author for believing everything she was told, and for allowing to be gaslit into this non existent relationship. But at the same time, Ethan seemed so enticing and worth the "pain."

If you ever did the online dating thing, and need to hear someone else's nightmare story - this is for you! It is crazier than fiction, and it is fast, with quite a satisfying ending.

Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for my review copies.

There is no Ethan was a really interesting read. I thought it was a little too long. I did appreciate the intermix of the different stories (and different Annas) and how it all tied together. I also liked the story of contacting "Ethan" as the years went on.

I am a huge fan of the television show Catfish, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. While it is a bit more intense than an episode of Catfish, I found myself hooked. I think this book could be very popular at my library and within my friend group, so I will definitely recommend my library purchases this for circulation!

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This book shows us that no matter who you are or how well educated you are, you can still fall victim to scammers.

I found myself shaking my head through most of the book. So many signs, red flags and gut feelings that were ignored or rationalized. I know people fall for this stuff and I want to understand, yet I am unable to. I found the book slow and repetitive with not enough information to help address the why. Maybe it can't be addressed. Can we ever really understand why predators do what they do?
I am happy the creeper was caught.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a complimentary copy. My review is voluntary.

I cannot review this book without giving a huge spoiler, so I will be brief.

5 stars for outing this catfish creep. But honestly, the book was repetitive and boring. The real question I wanted to know is WHY the person who did this would do something like this. Just why. Some psychological insight would have been great.

What makes this book particularly stand out, is that the author was one of the victims of online catfishing. The author goes on a quest to find others who were duped by this phony and so this makes a compelling read. It also makes for a very creepy read in the sense that one can see how easily it is to be conned online and to ignore our intuition that something does not seem right (for example, all the times they were supposed to meet up and something came up). I applaud the author and the other women for having the courage to speak out and share details of their online conversations with "Ethan." Looking back, it could be humiliating seeing what happened objectively yet by sharing this, it shows how easily anyone of us could get fooled. This is definitely a cautionary tale so I highly recommend reading it. I do want to say at times, I felt it bogged down once we got to other victim's stories because it felt repetitive in the sense that some of the same tactics were used. But other than that -- definitely worth a read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.