I remember seeing this come across as an Amazon First Reads choice a bit ago ... as I splurge on KindleUnlimited here and there, and Amazon has a glitch where if a book is in KU with text and audio, if you "buy" the kindle copy (free), if you then get KU, there's no way to access the KU audio. You can PAY for it, but that rubs me the wrong way. It should still be included. Anyway, I've stopped picking a First Reads, as I figure I'm more likely to listen to the book via KU. I generally don't care to "own" the book, as I rarely listen more than once.

This didn't have the highest reviews (I believe under 4* ... now it is slightly over) and I had dismissed it (even as one to read/listen with KU). Hubs listened to a book called [book:The Push: A Climber's Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits|33155369], and I decided to read(listen) too. This is another side to part of that memoir, as Beth and Tommy were climbing together for years, were kidnapped together in Kyrgyzstan, married and divorced (all things I knew from The Push).  Hubs was the one to bring up this book ... it's not one I would have picked up on my own, but I did have some interest in another perspective. 

My first thought when I started this was ... they should have picked a different narrator. Not that the narration was bad, but she sounded so young, like a teenager. Oops ... it's narrated by the author (which I appreciate). For not being a trained voice actor, Beth did a really good job with the narration. I guess her voice just matches her little body, even as she ages into her 40s I believe she'd be now?

This began with an author's note ... and honestly, I thought that was probably the most profound part of her writing. Just the acknowledgement of how our own perceptions/reflections can change ... if she'd written this earlier, it might have sounded quite different, that her feeling will likely continue to change. That this is a snapshot, and "to the best of my ability, this is a work of non-fiction" ... there was quite a bit of dialog (no one remembers word for word what was said though, right?) That was one thing I really felt with Brittany Spear's Memoir, that it was too soon following her coming out from under the stewardship, that some additional time passing would have changed some of her own perceptions. I just really appreciated the author's thoughts on that.

The Table of Contents just had basic chronological chapters (three parts, 53 chapters). I REALLY wish the date headers included in the chapters, were also included in the TOC. I really like to be able to look, at a glance, and see what I'm dealing with (chronological progression, jumping back and forth in time, having those references if I want to re-read a portion). The first couple chapters are August 2000 (after the kidnapping), chapter 3 jumps to right before (June2000), chapter 7 goes ealier, April2000, chapter 9 is July2000 again. It would pop back to August 2000 ... some after, some during. I struggled a bit with all the time hopping. I'm sure it's a challenge to any writer of a memoir to come up with a good presentation (strictly chronological? Topics?) I just didn't care for the back and forth here.

Beth is pretty blunt with her descriptions ... pee and poop and periods and sex. She doesn't badmouth Tommy at all, other than describing his "crooked teeth" more than once. Not quite so generous with his father. Tommy didn't demean Beth in his book either, even though she cheated on him during their marriage. It was a little interesting coming into this memoir already knowing much of what they'd been through (no real "he said/she said" differences/conflict, as with the Into Thin Air/The Climb controversy). 

One thing that bugged me a bit was the constant "sent it"  or "send it" (ascended it) ... climber speak, and I'm sure it was in Tommy's book too, but I don't remember it being said as often, or rubbed me the wrong way (there it was the word route, 200+ times, which, it is integral to rock climbing). Here, route was said 156 times, but for some reason it didn't really bother me this time. Hard to tell how many times "sent" was used in the "ascent" context. 30 times (but some of those being regular usage) ... but  "Tommy and Nick sent it" "Tommy sent a route ..." "after I sent the Sphinx ..." "we sent the Nose together" ... Ironically when she first uses the words "Take" and "the push" -she does pause to say "this is climber speak for ..." those words seem 'logical' but she did take that moment to clarify. I think if she had for "sent" rather than just using it over and over, I wouldn't have minded. "Sending" used 57 times (a few were regular, non-climbing uses). 

I go through book a lot faster than Hubs, so I finished this as he's just starting it. Honestly, I was prepared for him to listen for a bit and say he was going to try something else. He's not that far in, but he seems intrigued with the alternate POV. It will be interesting to me to see if he continues to feel that way. 

There is a lot of "emotional woman" thoughts ... the constant battle with weight, with staying relevant and competitive in a man's world, the negativity and depression and other mental struggles. And while Beth never really talks badly about Tommy, she does intimate that after the kidnapping, the relationship was more a "I made a promise" and obligation than a love match, at least on her side. One has to wonder if he likes having their sex life labeled as lack-luster so publicly (even if she does take the 'blame' for this) ... honestly, as she hadn't been shy about telling all about bodily issues, I was waiting for more information on her sex with Randy, which didn't really ever get discussed much (was it so much more wonderful with him, did she get to feel what an orgasm was like ... or was that still an issue?) It was interesting to have the POV of the person who has the affair.

So - solid 3* for me. While there was too much time hopping, it was written well enough . Other than the initial author's note, I didn't really find anything profound, making me want to make notes or highlights. It's not really one I'd recommend, unless they'd read The Push or were really into climbing. It will be interesting to see if there are more things to discuss with Hubs as he continues on with the book. 

There was some proFanity (x7) ... some talk of sex/an affair, but nothing explicit. Quite a bit of pee/poop talk, some body (she never uses the word anorexic, but ... she hardly eats anything much of the time, didn't have her first period until almost 20, likely because of bodyweight issues).