A compelling and inspiring story about a mother determined to improve her and her daughter's life circumstances. It was incredibly relatable and motivating, though some parts of the book were slightly triggering to those who have experienced financial difficulties, poverty, single parenting, or domestic violence. Overall, a great story and I can't wait to read the sequel. 

A good reminder that you never know the extent of what someone is going through, or the reason behind the decisions they make, and to have a little more empathy. 

I appreciated the look inside the complicated nature of navigating extreme poverty and homelessness, and single motherhood. I especially found it eye-opening to see the unnecessarily judgmental and harsh standards placed on those seeking help either via social services or homeless/domestic violence shelters. 

I found it hard to get through the middle portion of the book as the author spent a lot of time detailing the different homes she cleaned while working as a maid. Though I recognize the purpose of these scenes and think they did a great job juxtaposing the author's struggle to live with the privilege of those she worked for.

I think someone who doesn't know a lot about poverty or the experience of being poor would gain more knowledge from this.

A powerful memoir of a young single mother working hard to make ends meet. I gained a valuable perspective reading this book. Made me think. 

For the past few weeks, my Tiktok has been FULL of clips from the Netflix adaptation of this book, which was enough to make me curious about it. The book itself was ok (though clearly Netflix added a lot of their own content to it - almost nothing I've seen of the series is actually from the book). I understand other reviewers' surprise that Stephanie was 28 when the events of the book began, but I will also take a moment to acknowledge that while I'm currently 28, I have a huge amount of privileges that she has not and comparing where I am at 28 to where Land was is not useful.

While I was definitely frustrated with Land's decisions at times, I'll also say that I'm really not someone who can judge, having never been in her position. I will say that my critique of the book is a bit more to do with how things were sometimes laid out (some things got rushed through while others felt dragged out), but the book was solid and Land told her story in a really interesting way.