Destroy This House is a compelling memoir! Amanda Uhle's been through some crazy things and this book is a wonderful retelling.

An interesting and often jaw-dropping memoir detailing among other things the complicated and troubling relationships with parents. The way Uhle writes brings us right alongside her, laying out all the details in a sometimes funny, sometimes uncomfortable manner that made me curious for more.
The author picks through the truth of her childhood declaring that half of what each of her parents said was a lie. Maneuvering through what may or may not be true, delivering it all wrapped up like a bow with the details finely milled.


An engaging story that assures I’ll keep my eye out for more nonfiction from this author.

this was a good memoir! I normally am not a fan of reading memoirs, but i did enjoy this one. It had emotions, funny bits, and some serious topics all rolled into one. It was well written

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Thank you to NetGalley & Simon and Schuster for providing me with this ARC. This review is crossposted on Goodreads.

I don’t typically like to rate memoirs because who am I to rate your personal life story, but this one is a very solid 4.

The writing structure is strong, blunt, and very Glass Castle-esque. I appreciated the combination of personal accounts and news headlines to share both the intimate and outsider perspectives on this family. There were some parts that fell into bit of a lull, but I think Amanda did a great job at capturing the important pieces while keeping the timeline on track and succinct.

The main reason this book is not a 5 for me is because it was a frustrating and grueling read. I very much sympathize for Amanda and cannot even begin to fully grasp the reality of what she faced, but it was still difficult to put up with what she endured. I felt as though her toleration of her family’s behavior was enabling them, but I think Amanda obviously knows that at this point in her life as well. The overall reflection is brilliant and disturbing.

I appreciate Amanda’s willingness to be so raw and share this all to the world. Highly recommend!

A strong 4 stars for this memoir. This is quite the story, and I’m guessing there are a fair number of families that are dysfunctional in similar ways.

The author grew up in a bit of a madhouse, with a dad who was always on the make in some way (though he did have a fairly long good spell) and a hoarder for a mother. Uhle and her family lived in five different states, always running from something, it seems and the family was generally in financial peril. Her father goes from wealthy entrepreneur to a poor seminary student then pastor, and her mother decides to become a nurse.

I found this fascinating. Within the first twenty five pages it seems clear that both of her parents were mentally ill, and while the author had few options when she was growing up in their home Uhle definitely enabled them as an adult…though she was a saint not to abandon them to their crazy. This reminded me a bit of Jeanette Walls’ THE GLASS CASTLE only not quite so tragic. The sections about food storage are going to stick with me in a bad way for a long time. Ugh. Oh, and nice shoutout to Racine’s famous Kringle which has long been a holiday staple for my family and I was likely enjoying some while I read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Amanda grew up with bizarre parents. I found it interesting that growing up, she told herself that her parent's problems were their own to figure out but as an adult, she had such difficulty setting those boundaries. The relationship between parents and children can be complicated enough without all the bizarre behaviors. The hoarding aspect was interesting to me too.