PositivePortland MercuryCarroll’s life story makes for an engrossing memoir, with intimate insights into life as an adoptee and a person who is constantly otherized on every page. As Carroll reaches young adulthood and finally emerges herself in her racial identity—reveling in it rather than running from it—the reader is invested enough to share her sense of triumph. The same is true when she learns how to interact with her birth and adopted parents on her own terms. But that isn’t to say the book is centered around a few \'aha!\' moments. Rather, it hews closer to how real life unfolds, gradually charting Carrolls’ growth over years’ and chapters’ worth of remembrances.
Anna Merlan
RaveThe Portland Mercury... riveting, deeply-reported ... You can’t throw a stone through cyberspace without hitting a podcast or limited TV series about cults, conspiracy theories, or extremist politics. But too often, these deep-dives aim to titillate, rather than educate. Merlan avoids falling into this trap and does her readers a real service in the process. I consider myself a fairly conspiracy-literate person, but Republic of Lies places current conspiracy theories within the tapestry of American culture and history in a way no other work I’ve encountered has managed ... [Merlan] walks an impressive tightrope, entertaining the reader without ever turning conspiracy theorists into a simple punchline. This is a book everyone from the Alex Jones faithful to the straight and narrow sheeple might learn from and enjoy.
