🚼 🅱🅾🅾🅺 🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆 🚼

|| 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 by Jacqueline Friedland ||
Pub Day: March 11, 2025

It's no coincidence that I read this book during Women's History Month, as it heightened my awareness of how patriarchy and white supremacy disenfranchise minorities, women of color, and immigrants. 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 provides a stark view of the consequences when women are ensnared by these oppressive systems. This novel is not merely about two women across dual timelines; it powerfully illustrates how both protagonists, Jessa and Carrie, are connected to similar horrors of medical malpractice, unethical sterilizations, and profound loss, whether in 1927 or 2022. If you can read either character's story and remain unmoved, then your sensitivity meter is malfunctioning. Friedland's narrative compels you to finish quickly, research the real Supreme Court plaintiff, and find ways to protect women. You cannot read these stories without feeling deep pain, rage, and sadness for the victims.

Friedland exposes the grim legacy of eugenics and demonstrates how these oppressive principles persist in modern society, where immigrant women are deprived of their rights and their paths to motherhood in ICE detention centers. These women are denied dignity and respect due to their lack of citizenship, their status as women of color, and their absence of insurance. They are subjected to the whims of a flawed government and the pervasive influence of white supremacy, leaving them vulnerable and marginalized. This stark reality underscores the urgent need for systemic change to protect and uphold the rights of all women, regardless of their background.

In the context of anesthesia, counting backwards is meant to ease patients' anxiety. However, in this novel, it symbolizes the denial of women's rights to bodily autonomy. Moving forward, we must strive for a society where all women, regardless of their circumstances, can count on medical professionals and the government to protect them fully.

𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 is a novel that will linger in your thoughts long after you've turned the last page. I rely on these stories and experiences to inspire change in our world. These narratives, no matter how triggering or traumatic, must be shared to ensure that no other woman suffers the same fate. Together, we can move forward and make a difference.

I participated in an immersive reading experience where I read along in the book while I listened to it on audio. I really enjoyed the clear distinction the narrator made in the different timelines and voices. It was so well done and made the reading experience even greater. I would highly recommend this audio to another follower or friend of mine. Thank you netgalley and harpermuseaudio for the gifted ALC.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks @getredprbooks, author @jackiefriedland, and publisher @harpermusebooks for the gifted copy.

🏷 #CountingBackwards #JacquelineFriedland #historicalfiction #LegalThriller #WomensRights #WomensHistoryMonth #bookreview #Bookish #Bookstagrammer #BookLover #wellreadblackgirl

Thank you GetRedPR and Jacqueline Friedland for my #gifted ARC and thank you Harper Muse for my #gifted Advanced Listening Copy of Counting Backwards! #CountingBackwards #GetRedPR #JacquelineFriedland #JackieFriedland #AmandaStribling #CarolynJania #harpermuse #HarperMuseAudiobooks

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 - 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐰!

𝟓★

Counting Backwards was one of the most thought provoking books I’ve read in a very long time. Inspired by true events, and told in a dual time and POV format, it focuses on topics such as immigration, eugenics, fertility, and motherhood. I felt a connection to both of the main characters, and I will never forget this book.

I really enjoyed how Jessa and Carrie’s stories connected more than a decade apart. Friedland is such a remarkable storyteller and I love how she was able to connect bring such difficult yet timely topics together into one book. I appreciated how the title was mentioned within the book and I also appreciated how the cover of the book is subtle but has a very symbolic meaning.

On a personal note, I felt a connection to many of the women in this book. I found myself outraged at times and sympathizing at other times. As someone who experienced years of infertility and then a high risk pregnancy, I felt for Jessa and her experiences in this book. I also felt my privilege when it came to the experience of Isobel and other women who experienced horrible medical treatment while incarcerated. As someone who needed the same surgical procedure they received this past year, I can say with certainty that my experience was nothing like their experience, and I was informed about the risk of the procedure in advance by multiple people. I knew going into surgery what was going to happen and why the surgery was imperative for my health. My medical team included me in the decision making process every step of the way, and while reading this book, I felt outrage for the women who were not given the same treatment.

🧡Dual POV
🧡Dual Timeline
🧡A Blend of Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction
🧡Strong Female Characters
🧡Themes of Immigration, Fertility and Motherhood
🧡Family Secrets
🧡Timely and Important

🎧I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook, which was narrated by both Amanda Stribling and Carolyn Jania. Both narrators were perfect for their rolls of Jessa and Carrie and I loved my time listening to them bring each character to life. Both were flawless!

Posted on Goodreads on March 12, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around March 12, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on March 12, 2025
**-will post on designated date

"Counting Backwards" is a well-researched historical fiction novel with alternating POV. One is Jessa, an attorney in modern times. One is Carrie Buck, a historical figure who had her human rights stripped. This was a captivating story, though the fictional characters were not particularly likeable or relatable. The irony of the main character's absolute entitlement throughout her life and pregnancy was a strange characteristic given that she was to be the "hero" for the women whose reproductive rights were stripped.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Yesterday, Jacqueline Friedland released her new novel, Counting Backwards. Divided between the 1910s/1920s and today, it uncovers a horrific story about eugenics, forced sterilizations, and women who have little power over their reproductive health and personal lives. It’s inspired by the true cases of Carrie Buck in 1924 and what’s continued to go on even today in immigration detention centers. These very real issues are brought to the forefront in this powerful and timely novel.

Why I Chose This Book:
When I read the description of Counting Backwards, I knew I had to read this grim but vital novel. I first heard about forced sterilizations in a movie a few years ago and was curious to learn more about this awful practice. I also was drawn to the story of Jessa’s fertility and longing for a child, as well as a spotlight on immigrants.

What I Liked:
- Eye-opening account of forced sterilizations and eugenics. This book puts focus on the horrors of our past… but also of ongoing atrocities committed against woman, especially women of color and women who are immigrants. This will fuel your righteous outrage.
- Discussions around fertility and family. I went through a year-long fertility journey myself, and much of what Jessa is going through here rang true for me.
- Women’s career ambitions versus family goals. Why are women so often pushed to choose between the two, or seen as less than when they try to have both?
- Dual timeline between 1910s and 1920s Virginia versus 2022 New York.
- Inspiration from real life. I didn’t realize until after I’d finished the book that Carrie Buck was a real woman. I appreciated getting to see her story brought to life.

Audiobook:
Amanda Stribling and Carolyn Jania are excellent narraters for Jessa and Carrie. Both bring their respective characters to life, Jessa with her anxieties and trying to do the right thing despite it all, and Carrie with her Virginia accent and optimistic outlook on her own life even in the face of such horrors. The audiobook is thoroughly engaging and adds extra feeling to the novel.

Final Thoughts
Counting Backwards is an excellent novel that shines a revealing light on the evils committed against women for the past century. It’s horrific to see eugenics in practice, harming tens of thousands of women. I loved following Carrie and Jessa’s stories, and despite how dark this goes, it offers some hope for change if more people stand up for each other. Jacqueline Friedland is an author I’m eager to read more from soon.

An incredibly moving dual timeline story about infertility, forced sterilization and the continued fight for women's bodily autonomy that follows lawyer, Jessa Gidney as she takes on a pro bono immigration case only to find herself up against a conspiracy of forced eugenics for profit and also grapples with her crumbling marriage, attempts to get pregnant and learning about a dark family secret.

Based on real events, this book is shockingly relevant, highly emotional and a great example of women's courage to stand up against injustice. Perfect for fans of books like Only the beautiful by Susan Meissner and Take my hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez or the Erin Brockovich case. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy and Uplit Reads for a gifted physical copy. This will definitely be a favorite read of mine in 2025!

CW: miscarriage, infertility, forced sterilization

Thank you Harper Muse & NetGalley for the ALC!

I think that if you have never read about eugenics that this will be a great intro to that. The absolute disgusting practices that our society takes from women is horrendous and this book definitely explores that.

I liked that Jessa was a very flawed character and I enjoyed the dual timeline. I do think that Jenna’s marriage and her horrendous husband took center stage when it could have been better to me to focus on Carries story.

This book does cover miscarriage and fertility issues, so please read with care.

I think a scene that keeps playing in my head is when Jessa is talking to her grandmother and they are talking about when Jessa goes to visit an ICE detention center and her grandmother says “it’s not like what we see on the news with cages and chains is it? Insinuating that that could never be possible and that just didn’t sit well with me because it was giving right wing views.

I also think it’s important to point out that Jessa is very privileged so some things felt tone deaf.


Overall, reading about Carries story and the horrendous things done to mainly marginalized women was awful. I do think it’s important that we always have these stories told.

This incredible story is based on true events, and that completely blows my mind. I love it when fiction novels like these enlighten their readers with little-known but extremely important topics. If you're looking for a heartbreaking yet fascinating female rights focused book to read for Women's History Month, make it be this one. It was truly exceptional.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for access to the book in exchange for an honest review.

I won’t soon forget this novel!! Especially Carrie and knowing that she is as real as you and me. This was a brilliantly done book and left me thinking and I will continue to talk about it

Unfortunately for me, I just couldn't focus on the storyline due to personal issues with the audio actor. I found it very grating on my ears and found any excuse to end listening sprints early. I got less than 25% in so I feel that it is not fair of me to leave a proper review, but based on fellow readers' opinions, this was a very moving and heartfelt story, just not for me!

I finished the audiobook a few days ago and the story still lingers.

Counting Backwards is written in a dual POV and dual timeline. The historical part of this book is based on true events regarding the case of Carrie Buck (if you are not familiar with Buck vs. Bell do not google the case before reading if you don’t want to spoil your reading experience). Present timeline focuses on Jessa - a lawyer with relationship issues who focuses on conceiving a child, which grows into an obsession.

The book talks about really heavy topics of women rights, immigration, deportation, reproductive rights, eugenics, forced sterilisation, and motherhood. The story in the book is really captivating and well paced, in the first half of the book the chapters alternate in between Carrie and Jessa, always ending up on a tiny cliff-hanger, making the book hard to put down. The way the author (a law graduate) talks about these topics shows she really did her homework and made the story not only believable, but a learning moment for the reader.

One aspect of the plot I especially liked (other than the very well executed topics mentioned above) was Jessa’s relationship. In all of its raw beauty, it brought some much needed depth to her character and allowed the reader to see her in a different light, allowed us to see her other form of vulnerability as a woman, as a partner, as a trusting wife. By that she was made human, rather than just a character. I very much loved her choices in the last chapters.

Personally, I am a sucker for the mention of the title in the book itself. Saying that - this title was incorporated into the story with two meanings and both were moving in their own way. 10/10 on this front.

Though I will probably end up purchasing the book as a physical copy if it does arrive to our stores in Slovakia, I highly recommend the audiobook version.

Jessa Gidney, a lawyer in Manhattan, is at a crossroads after being passed over for a promotion at her firm. She begins to focus on her desire to become a mother and her growing interest in pro bono work. Her first case involves Isobel Perez, an incarcerated woman facing deportation. As Jessa learns about Isobel's deteriorating health, she uncovers a disturbing pattern of medical malpractice in the detention facility. With her firm unsupportive and her husband, Vance, focused on their plans to start a family, Jessa struggles with whether to get involved. But when a shocking family secret is revealed, Jessa feels driven to fight for these women, no matter the personal cost.

In Virginia, nearly a century earlier, seventeen-year-old Carrie Buck dreams of escaping her life as a foster child and finding her own family. When she becomes pregnant after being abandoned by her foster mother's nephew, she is declared feebleminded by the state. Carrie’s fight for control over her own future leads to a historic Supreme Court case.

I really, really enjoyed the beginning of this. But the second half seemed to drag on and I was tired of Jessa's marriage and her husband. I feel there was too much focus on that instead of what really mattered.

While I appreciate the connection to present day and the inclusion of a real historical case, there is more engaging historical fiction centered around eugenics. Necessary Lies comes to mind off the top of my head.

Amanda Stribling and Carolyn Jania narrate.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Pub Date: 3/11
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I went into this one pretty blind and I was immediately pulled into the story by the end of it all, I was left totally speechless. This story is told in the form of a dual timeline between 1927 and 2022. How Friedland managed to connect a situation that happened in 1927 to an immigration case in 2022 was pure genius. It brought such a sense of mystery throughout the story, making you not want to put the story down but then when the revelation occurs it brings the entire story full circle.
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I enjoyed most of the characters... Most being the key word. Vance could go kick rocks for all I care, he was just a terrible human being... And, Jessa, while I really loved her independence and her strive to do what was best for these women, her obsession with pregnancy became a little too much for me. But I do understand that infertility is a very real struggle, I just didn't like her attitude and responses to resolutions to the situation.
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There is a lot that happens in this story and there are many themes / obstacles that the characters are faced with. Eugenics, Immigration and Deportation, Fraud and Abuse, Infertility and Family Secrets that would/could be detrimental. I think that Friedland did a phenomenal job at touching each of these subjects with grace. I also had no idea going into this one that this is based on true events, which makes this story pretty horrendous. I know that this one will be sticking with me for quite a while.
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I listened to this one via audiobook and one i started it, i was hooked. I needed to know what was happening with both timelines and I needed to know how they were connected. Amanda Stribling and Carolyn Jania played the parts of Jessa and Carrie perfectly and I couldn't see anyone else in these roles. The audio is fantastic I highly recommend them!
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Overall, this is a very powerful but also difficult and thought provoking read. If you are looking for something that has a basis of truth to it - be sure to check this one out. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Jacqueline Friedland and Harper Muse Audiobooks for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

As Jessa begins working a pro-bono immigration case in New York in 2022 she is looking for an opportunity to boost her case roster. In the resulting weeks she is forced to confront her professional priorities, her personal dreams, and her family's complicated past.

The story is then told in dual timelines. Of Jessa and her immigration clients in 2022 and of Carrie Buck in 1927. Separated by over 100 years and yet the parallels begin to stack up. The stories are bold and pulled from real life events.

Counting Backwards is a book that has been sitting heavily with me ever since I finished reading it. It's a book that feels so "of this moment" as I read about practices happening in the early 1900s and then repeated in the 2000s. It covers themes of eugenics, forced sterilization, immigration, and fertility. It's also being released into the world in a moment in which, in the US, women's bodies feel less and less like ours to make decisions over than ever before.

One of my main critiques about this book is that there is such strong emphasis on Jessa's desire to have a child naturally. Though I know this can be a complex and heart wrenching process for women to go through, it felt in moments like tone-death cries for privilege amidst the suffering of others. Though, it's also fair to say that she was suffering in her own (relative) way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse Audio for an advance listener copy of this novel.

El libro se basa en la historia de la esterilización involuntaria de mujeres en Estados Unidos. En algunos estados, esto ocurrió tan recientemente como en los años 70, y solo plantea preguntas sobre si aún podría hacerse hoy en día en instalaciones que albergan a mujeres migrantes. Esta preocupante historia sale a la luz cuando una abogada, Jessa, toma un caso pro bono para ayudar a una mujer en un centro de detención de ICE. Durante el curso de su trabajo en el caso, se enfrenta a la historia de su propia familia relacionada con Carrie Buck, una mujer que fue esterilizada involuntariamente en los años 30.

La narrativa gira en torno a la eugenesia y su impacto en el campo médico, tanto en la investigación como en el tratamiento, la mujer frente al hombre y la agresión subyacente que enfrentan las mujeres marginadas al acceder a la atención médica. En una época en la que los derechos reproductivos vuelven a ser un tema central en las conversaciones, el mensaje de la novela y su motivo lo envuelven todo en una historia conmovedora.

Aunque la trama y la narración son excelentes, los personajes no tienen el impacto que me hubiera gustado que tuvieran. Quizás esa sea la razón por la cual mi impresión personal de la novela estuvo más centrada en la historia que en un impacto emocional debido al presente. Es una lástima, dado lo excelente que es la narración.

STRAP IN

Mild spoilers below but nothing crazy

Counting Backwards tells the story of two women living in America 100 years apart. In 2022, Jessa is a corporate lawyer who puts her hand up for a pro-bono case helping a incarcerated woman facing deportation. In 1927, Carrie's young life is turned upside down when she is stolen from her family and placed in foster care for unpaid labour. I am a huge fan dual timeline novels that keep you guessing how the two will intersect and this book is an excellent example of that, the plot from both perspectives was equally strong too which isn't always achieved.

I'm going to start with the positives because the bones of this novel are really solid (and honestly idk how long I'm gonna waffle on about all the things I hated).

As someone not from the US, I had no idea Carrie's story was based on a real woman and legal case (Buck v. Bell) which is explained in the author's note at the end. I personally felt this was adapted really respectfully and responsibly. The author also comes from a legal background so I love how this has inspired her new career and I have confidence she completed her due diligence when writing this book. The Carrie of Counting Backwards is incredibly fleshed out and the author brings so much life to her. Carrie experiences multiple hardships in her early years from being displaced from her family, suffering an assault resulting in pregnancy, before having her baby taken and being claimed as a ward of the state. I was incredibly moved by her plight and it's an incredible story for the author to bring into the spotlight.

Jessa (more on her momentarily) has endured her own loss, including both her parents and a recent miscarriage, and is licking her wounds after being overlooked for a promotion of her firm and struggling with the stress of trying to conceive again. Despite her husband's (dick) pleas to take a step back from work to avoid stress, Jessa's work with immigration detainees quickly reveals a sinister conspiracy of mass forced sterilisation of women in detention that she can't let go of. Jessa has moments (few and far between) where she demonstrates tenacity, dedication and empathy* and you're tempted to admire her. Jessa's husband is unsupportive of her work and aspirations and their relationship spirals throughout the book. I really liked the way their dynamic was explored and it is an authentic representation of emotional abuse.
*before quickly making everything about her

This book definitely provided an opportunity for classic white saviour-ism, and I personally didn't get that vibe, so kudos for that I guess???

Jessa, Jessa, Jessa....
literally a villain in sheep's clothing
possibly the most infuriating mc I've ever read
had me grinding my teeth at one point

Jessa is just an awful person, and as the narrator, frames the very important ethical issues at the centre of this novel in a awful light. First of all, we find out very early that Jessa and her husband are trying to conceive and they have so far been unsuccessful since her previous miscarriage. This strikes a cord with a lot people who have firsthand experience with infertility, myself included. The rage started to set in when it's revealed they've only been trying for a few months which is completely normal but Jessa carries on like she is several years deep and all hope is lost. Aside from one throwaway 'I know people have it worse!!!' all we get is CONSTANT 'sigh, I guess I'll never have a baby' and it is infuriating. Paired with this is a WEIRD fixation on biological children being the only real children which is just wild, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING JESSA WAS RAISED BY HER GRANDMOTHER when her parents died??? I know that's still a blood relation but Jessa is offended and disturbed by the suggestion that they could adopt in the future. You want weirder? Jessa's main motivator behind only becoming a mother through pregnancy and birth is basically to replace her dead parents. The whole TTC and fake turmoil was incredibly distasteful and I would imagine also hurtful to adoptees (which I am not). I understand the reason for this focus in Jessa's life was at least partially to relate back to Carrie's chapters and to invest her character more into the issues facing her clients (because she couldn't possibly care otherwise???) and I hated every second. Her struggles would've actually been really relatable (feeling jealous and thus guilty of being jealous finding out someone else is pregnant, struggling with anxiety during pregnancy following a loss) if she had not been TTC for five business days.

When Jessa realises detained women are being illegally and unethically given hysterectomies in an act of eugenics, she pours every fibre of her being into supporting the effected women and doing everything she can to encourage them to come forward anonymously for a class action. OBVIOUSLY, goodie! You should definitely care about crimes against humanity! You know what you shouldn't do? Care about crimes against humanity, not because of the violence and harm that is being done to innocent people, but because, GASP, those women now can't have children! Won't you think of the non-existent children who have been so adversely effected (Jessa would probs argue more so than the actual people) and how the value of these womens' experiences are WHOLLY tied to their ability for child bearing. It is NOT ONCE expressed that regardless whether or not the violated women wanted children/more children, their harm and experience is just a valid as their counterparts. I literally can't tell you how disgusted I was every time Jessa thought or spoke about the hysterectomies as tragedies BECAUSE THOSE WOMEN COULD NOT GET PREGNANT. I wish I was exaggerating but it was just a truly disgusting angle. There's a particular scene where Jessa meets with a woman who was wrongfully detained for 30 days and was subjected to a hysterectomy without her consent, and after Jessa asks the woman if she has any children and she says no, Jessa has a complete meltdown ONLY AFTER discovering this woman will never have children, not to mention the woman didn't say she wanted them, this is 100% Jessa projecting her own life desires onto literally every other woman because what alternative is there??? The act of violence women endure in this book is not treated as an act of violence, but simply a loss of child bearing ability. Again, I see that Jessa's perspective was impacted by her own "infertility" struggles (please) but there were multiple times when I thought 'is this pro-life propaganda?'*
THANKS DON'T DO IT AGAIN
*the author's note definitely makes it clear that she supports women being in control of their bodies and reproduction, but the main character whole-heartedly values women as potential mothers above all else and that's problematic at best.

My other huge issue with the way Jessa was written is just down carelessness imo. This is a highly educated and life-experienced woman, yet she is also INCREDIBLY naive. Starting with her being snubbed at work, she simply cannot believe that this is due to being a woman in a male-dominated field, it doesn't even cross her mind. I think this alone could be interpreted as commentary on societal gaslighting and how women are conditioned to to find fault in their actions when things don't go as they expected, and I'm all here for that, but the fact that this is the tip of the naivety iceberg tells me that was not the intention. also!!!!! guess what!!!!! you find out in the second half of the book that she, in fact, was not overlooked for being a woman, but because she previously made a MASSIVE error when dealing with a client's contract that caused the firm to take a huge hit. But this is totally irrelevant right?? That pissed me off so much and defo harshed the 'alexa play the man by taylor swift' vibe. This trend continues when Jessa when she spends PAGES AND PAGES AND PAGES AND PAGES AND PAGES singing to the tune of 'what??? the government are treating immigrants inhumanely??? women of colour are being targeted??? this can't be!!! there's simply no way' IN 2022!!!!! Just kill me. This is where this book passed the point of no return for me. This isn't even a matter of privilege being demonstrated, this is a stupid person. The icing on the cake is later Jessa tells her husband about what she's discovered and working on, and he has the exact same reaction she did (albeit more misogynistic and gaslight-y) and she gets SO MAD that he doesn't believe it.

If you're thinking 'this is pretty rough for a 2 star rating, and I agree! Maybe this should be 1 star but I genuinely admire the way Carrie Buck's story has been used (but not exploited) in tandem with contemporary human rights issues, and how US law allows them to take place. I was gifted an ARC and an ALC so I alternated between reading and listening and the narration/casting is excellent.

Okay from here is major spoilers so probs don't continue if you plan to read
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Jessa finds out great grand pop was a eugenicist who had a huge hand in practices put in place during the Holocaust which causes a lot of extra tension in her marriage as her husband is Jewish and very active in supporting his community and Holocaust survivors. I am not in a position to comment on the representation of Jewish people, Israeli people (both of which are included as characters) or the Holocaust in general as depicted in this book. I am very interested to hear from other readers how they felt about this aspect.
What I will say is the main character sees a blonde woman and thinks to herself 'she looks like the kind of person my grandfather would have liked to clone' and my jaw DROPPED. This is well after the last discussion of her family's history and there is absolutely nothing happening in that scene to prompt that thought and it just feels heinous.

I loved this audiobook! The narrators did a great job embodying the characters are really drawing me into the plot feeling the emotions and the tenseness of the situation many of these marginalized women were feeling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the advanced audio book.

The opening of COUNTING BACKWARDS was compelling--sitting with Jessa as she checks for the umpteenth time to see if she's pregnant--you can feel her desperation for wanting to be a mother and the stress her anxiety is having on her marriage. I found myself most interested in Jessa's story, so when the story flipped to Carrie Buck, in the 1920s, I was less engaged with what was going on. While I knew that the two storylines would converge in some way later in the story, I couldn't hang in there long enough to see how. This was well written and for the right reader, is probably a great read.

First of all these were well picked narrators and the audiobook is an excellent way to experience this story.

A few years ago I read Take My Hand and I thought we don’t have enough books about women’s reproductive rights, we still don’t, but it is so refreshing and important to have books like these. Counting backwards was inspired by real people and real cases, it’s a hard truth to swallow and one that is not unfortunately ancient history. By tying the story up in a parallel story set in the past it shows how far we have yet to go and how small the strides for women’s rights are.

Read this if you want to feel enraged but empowered and want to discover the resiliency of women. A great story wrapped up in a legal drama wrapped up in a story of strength and personal growth.

What an amazing story inspired by true events. Jessa Gidney, a lawyer at a high-profile firm, falls upon a pro bono case regarding fighting against a deportation order. While talking to this woman, she finds out that without her permission, she was sterilized. Digging deeper into the facts, Jessa finds out the unimaginable and that her family was involved in the past. Dealing with her own struggles of getting pregnant, Jessa works to bring a class action suite regarding medical malpractice and the practice of eugenics. The story is told in two timelines and two POV tying together nicely throughout. The writing was easy to follow, and the storyline kept me from putting this down. Many important issues were discussed such as the practice of eugenics, fertility, deportation and family secrets. The author’s note at the end showed the amount of research that went into creating this novel and summed everything up. This is an important read that would make great discussion for a book club!

Wow, what a difficult, yet incredibly well written story. Two timelines, two characters, centered on the horrific eugenics and forced sterilization programs. The timelines are woven together smoothly- connecting in ways the reader doesn’t see coming. The characters are well developed and real - the emotions are felt through the pages. A complex story, based on truth, that is so important to share. I thought that the author did an incredible job of creating an emotional story that is impossible to turn away from.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.