Oh, the Hipster Grifter. The way that the story captured a certain sect of the internet during the rise of internet culture is one that is almost too true to be believed. BUT - it did happen, and Kari Ferrell is telling her story.

Adopted from Korea, raised in Utah, put into the Morman church....it was bound to happen sooner or later. Ferrell was a smart kid and knew how to get what she wanted, and continued to do so until she was caught...the first time. Then, after a move to New York, it started all over again.

Keri Ferrell was the Anna Delvey of her time. In fact, I would argue that Keri did it better. Instead of trying to stay in the public zeitgeist, she paid for her crimes and built her life back up in an honest and true way. I don't expect to see her on Dancing With the Stars, because she is, after all, a hipster at heart.

This is an excellently written memoir from someone who really needed to grow up and did. It's for former indie sleaze kids, recovering hipsters, and people who loved reading Gawker before the lawsuit. It's for the people who never made the move to NY, for people who see how bad the justice system is, and for anyone looking for a funny writer who deserves any praise that comes her way.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review. Thanks to Keri for writing the story that we all wanted. Want to hang out sometime?

In full disclosure: I knew nothing about Kari Ferrell before picking up her memoir, despite the fact that I've lived in NYC for over the past decade - but I'm so glad I gave this book a chance because I finished it within a day and wanted more.

In "You'll Never Believe Me", Kari Ferrell gives her voice and perspective to her life, much of which has been publicized. Adopted from Korea as an infant and raised by two white parents in the Mormon community of Salt Lake City, she covers her precocious childhood where she never felt like she fully belonged, to her untethered teenage years where she began to carry out illegal acts, to escaping to NYC in her 20s - and to her present. Ferrell doesn't hold back recounting her behavior, from starting with petty theft and asking friends to cash in checks she knew would never process, to targeting men in NYC and gaining her nickname "the hipster grifter".

I feel like Ferrell has already lived 9 lives in her albeit short years; while there wasn't much I could personally related to her on, I certainly understood how out-of-place she felt from a young age and the desire to belong and please others - a facade that she built up over time. She takes us with her on an incredible journey, from her small home in Salt Lake City, to the streets of NYC, to the prison in Philadelphia, to a plane to and from Seoul and seamlessly interweaves her own thoughts and personal growth over those years as well. Ferrell writes with incredible wit and dry humor, fully acknowledging her own past and actions, but also sheds light on a number of incredibly heavy topics: racism, spanning fetishization and microaggressions; sexuality, especially in deeply religious environments; as well as incarceration, and the conditions and treatment of women specifically.

5/5 stars, and highly recommended to anyone when this memoir is published in January 2025!

The author shares her journey conning friends for money. She is eventually caught and spent time incarcerated. There is some internet “fame” along the way as well. On release she rebuilds her life and goes straight. I enjoyed reading about her story, including the aspect of being born in Korea, adopted and raised in the state of Utah as a Mormon.

Fascinating. Ferrell is a talented writer, and the words in this story captivated me. I laughed, hoped, and teared up during the book. I read and write about adoption, so I found those parts to be authentic and refreshing to read such honesty. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

What a job this was to read.

It felt as though it was all over the place and, unfortunately, it was just plain boring,.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Wow! There were moments here that I could not believe were true! I also can't believe how much media coverage this story had grabbed when the financial amount wasn't even that much! So many interested stories starting with her adoption, growing up in Utah as a Mormon, the trouble she got into as a child that eventually expanded to greater crimes as an adult. But I love to see Keri progress after her time spent away and how she connect with Elliott and turns her life around for the better.