Into Her Story: Love, Mom by Iliana Xander

In this episode, our hosts Samantha and Nat are talking all things Love, Mom by Iliana Xander. We unpack this book review in our own honest (and slightly chaotic) way. From the many many twists to the characters that we adored(and hated!) this psychological thriller had us tearing though the pages to the finish line. 

So whether you want to read the book or just you want to hear all the spoilers after our warning, you're welcome here! Don't forget to read all the books trigger warnings online before diving in! 

 As always, we start spoiler-free with a brief discussion and our personal ratings. We will then give a clear spoiler warning before diving deeper, in case you want to pause and read the book first. 

Follow us on Instagram @fmcx2podcast for updates and behind-the-scenes content. New episodes every two weeks. 

All opinions are our own and we are not affiliated or sponsored by any authors, publishers, or brands.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, it's Samantha. And it's Nat. Welcome to episode five of FMC Squared. We were reading Love Mom by Ileana Xander. And I'm not gonna lie. Wow. They ate.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Yeah, they ate. They have to read the ate. If I can be honest, it I mean, it really was up there. Maybe my favorite one. It's hard to do that. Thus far. Yeah, because we brought some good books. Survive the night was also really up there for me. That was a solid one. Yeah, as far as like twisters, it was really good.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

And The Hollow Sisters was good, but this one. This one honestly was page turning for me. I was telling Samantha that like I'm always like, I'm gonna start reading the book because I might want to read another book different from what we're reading. And I did not think that I was gonna read this book as fast as I did. Honestly, it probably took me maybe like a week and a half. And I worked two jobs, so that says a lot about Miss Ileana.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

This took me a week. Um, I listened to it, which can I just say the audio of this? It was good. It was good. They did have male and female on the audio, which I like. However, when they were in their separate voices of those chapters, the male would do a female voice and the female would do a male voice, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Oh, so they weren't like completely transitioning.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Exactly. Yes. But it was good because sometimes when they do male, does female voice or etc., it can get kind of weird. But both of them did it really well, and I thought it was great. But this book for me, my rating, five out of five, actually.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. This was definitely a five out of five for me, which is which says a lot, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

I was recommending it to people when I was about halfway through the book. I was already like, I feel like this is gonna be a good one.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Honestly, I was so invested in the book that I didn't speak to anyone about the book. Not even me.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

She texted me and she said, Are you reading it? I said, I need to wait because I have a forgetful mind and I just need to be a little bit closer to when we're gonna do it. And you know what? It was fantastic. Exactly, well worth it. So, um let's get into a little bit about some teasers about what the book was before we get into some spoilers.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Absolutely. So, just kind of vaguely, this book is about a best-selling Arthur that sells these books basically about revenge. And this Arthur supposedly dies, and it becomes a big controversy because they're trying to figure out whether or not her death was an accident or on purpose.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Essentially, she dies like one of the characters in one of her biggest novels.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Yes, exactly. And most of the book is told in the point of view of her daughter at this time, and her daughter starts receiving these letters that are basically like clips of her mom's diary. Written as if it's from her mom that's still alive, yeah, but just wild. Exactly. And that sh it takes her on this wild goose chase of figuring out what actually happened to her mom. Crazy shit, honestly. Crazy shit.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yes, yeah, it's really good. The main character's name is Mackenzie. Yes. So it's really interesting, and the book does kind of waffle between present and past tense like when you're reading. And sometimes that can get confusing, but I feel like with this book, it was at least to me very clear.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

I think they did a great job of. They did, they didn't do a whole lot of jumping back and forth, but there was well, the book still has parts too. So you have the book has chapters and it also has parts as well. So I do think when they transitioned to the parts, they always kept it very clear on what, like if it's 20 years before, 20 years later. Honestly, that's the only reference they use is 20 years before and 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yeah, so I will say I love this book. I do recommend it. If you're someone that likes thriller, if you're someone that's okay with maybe not, you know, a fully perfect tied up in a ribbon ending, you know. Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

If you're someone that's okay with that, if you're okay with being patient too, because honestly, the second you think you know what's going on, you don't. You don't.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

And there's still the last few minutes that are still pulling.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Still pulling, yeah, twists all the way up until the last page. It literally takes you for a turn. It's good. I fucked with it. I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

So, okay, now that we've told you how great it is, and obviously you're gonna go read it. Obviously, you have to go force, you know, read it.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Definitely, and then come back here. And we're gonna hang out for a while. We're gonna let you go ahead and dismiss yourself if you're wanting to hold off. Um, if you're wanting to maybe hear a little bit and gossip about it with us, definitely hang out. Um, we're gonna jump into some of the details about the book here shortly.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Yeah, I just realized we could be an excellent way for people to pretend like they read. Yeah. Oh, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

You're welcome. You actually could have a whole in a quick 25 minutes. Definitely look like you read. You look like you read. Since that's the aesthetic now, that's what people do. Yeah, exactly. We're gonna make it easier for you. All right, well, welcome back. Yes, welcome back to FMC Squared. Again, we're talking about Love Mom. Um, I'm gonna go through and just read the back of the book so we can get a brief summary again. Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student, but she is best known for her mother, a best-selling author whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fan base. When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking, was that really an accident? The day of the memorial service, McKenzie gets the first mysterious envelope signed from number one fan XOXO. That's in bold print, by the way. They really put emphasis on the number one fan. Inside are the pages of her mother's diary that start with the lines, want to know a secret. Love mom. What McKenzie reads leaves her in a shock. Then comes the second letter and the third. Mackenzie starts her own investigation and stumbles upon secrets that her family has lived with for years. Quickly, she realizes that her mother's path to stardom was etched with sinister lies that might have caught up with her. Sometimes fame is worth a murder or worse. Soon Mackenzie will come to find out that there are worse things than murder. That indeed she did find out. That's just crazy.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

So I actually I took a little bit of notes here. That's smart. Because the beginning of this I knew was gonna it was gonna go deep. So let me just let's get into some like real like little details. Well, plots. Yeah, let's get into the plots. Let's start with the prologue, because this prologue to me, like I was like, you got me, you drew me in, okay? So this prologue, uh at least especially to me as listening to this, it wasn't a man's voice, okay? So this man's voice is saying Evie Wrenge, which is an anagram for revenge, as we talked about, because that's what she writes about in all her books. She's the author, so it's saying that Evie Wrenge deserved what she got. She had it coming, and that he wished it had happened sooner, but it does not say who this is. But that's just your that's just your little appetite. That's all they give you. And I was like sad after that. I was like, okay, I'm into it. Chapter one, it's from the voice of Mackenzie, which, like we said, most of this is book is from her perspective. And it basically kind of draws a picture of this very petite. I think it said she was under five foot tall, around a hundred pounds. Emo kind of very goth. It kept referring many times back to black lips and like heavy black eyeliners, black clothes. It said her grandma was extremely vain, her dad was an alcoholic.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Honestly, I envision grandma of being like some bougie bitch with like fur around her fucking chest. Do you know who I wrote necklaces?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

The fucking grandma from Rory Gilmore's life. Did you ever watch the Gilmore girls? No, I didn't. Let me just say that grandma epic, epic, yeah, evil in like the most country club website. Like Corella DuVale type vibe, like 101 Dalmatian. She's very like her words cut, but like put together. Like Stepford grandma. Okay, I could see that. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

That's how I envisioned her.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Yes. So basically, Mackenzie goes to the funeral of her mom, and she hears her dad having this weird argument with this male that she cannot see who it is, but they're arguing, and basically, then that's afterwards is when she gets her very first note. Yes. And it says, From your number one fan. And from henceforth, she keeps getting these notes that keep popping up in spaces where there's no sender's address. They're just being left like in her house. Yeah, meaning they have access to. They know where she goes, they know where she hangs out, when she's gonna hang out there. But her dad's like being super sus. Super sus. And then he supposedly had like a maniacal laugh when he was talking to his mom, so McKenzie's grandmother. Yeah. This weird laugh saying like she deserved it, and you know, all this stuff. And I don't know, I get it, it's your dad, right? But like, I'm sorry. Maniacal laugh and saying my mom deserved it.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

That was that that would definitely raise me. But if I'm being quite honest, I do feel like if there is any way for McKenzie to play any of this out, it's exactly the way that she did it. No, for sure. Baby girl was so discreet. She was dead ass on first 40 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

And she said, I'll be right back. Hold my breakfast. She ran to the store, made a copy, was back in 10, said heat up my toast. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Props to her man's because Yeah, shout out to EJ.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Shout out to EJ.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

We know, yeah, we know EJ was EJing.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

I literally have a note that says main character crush on friend question mark from literally the get-go.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Because 100% they all they had already exuded. Can we just talk about them for a second? Yes. He The slowest of burns. Yes, the slowest of burns. Honestly, I completely it was amazing. Like rice cooking. 20 minutes, but well worth it. It's gonna take time. You're gonna need to fluff it and everything, but it's gonna be good. Yes. It was perfect. I think we all knew that it was gonna happen that way, but the Arthur honestly gave us it at the perfect time. And like she didn't give it to us too soon. Because that's what it wasn't what it was about. She didn't want to give it to us premature. Like the story was never about EJ McKinsey. But that was definitely the silver lining of everything. Also, the the lady that they met, the grandma. Yes, Diana, the caretaker. The caretaker of the she was a real one too. Honestly, McKinsey just had really good, genuine people around her throughout this process because honestly, I would have crashed out.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yeah, so basically what happens is EJ luckily is super techie. Yes. Him being able to gain her access to all the cameras at their home that they had up due to her mom's past with stalkers and whatnot. Yeah. Um, that was really awesome that she was able to see that. Her dad was so suspicious the whole time. I agree. I feel bad because she was not close to her mom. But prior to all this, in the beginning, she's really traumatized because it kept alluding to the fact that her mom was assaulted by three boys when she was a teenager back at the home. Yeah. And then she accidentally was just trying to scare them and kind of punish them a little bit by just, you know, freaking them out and setting fire to a barn that they were all in. Yeah. And that they were all gonna be able to escape, and it would just be like a don't mess with me kind of thing. Right. But then they all end up dying. Yeah. And then it ends up being that they couldn't figure out did someone actually kill them, or was it because they were all on pills and drugs?

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah, like was it actually like a freak accident?

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Yeah, like some smelling through a cigarette or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

And you end up, you end up really feeling bad for Mackenzie's mom because she in these letters that she's writing, she actually comes from a very vulnerable state. Yes. Knowing that she doesn't know her self-worth and she doesn't know, she knows that what her man is doing for her, he ain't shit. She knows that her man is not shit. Yes. It's just still sticking around. She's having this baby now, and she's committed to this. Fuck all the bins out there. Honestly, Casper. Like, why would you want to date somebody with the last name Casper in your life? First name Casper, the friendly ghost, you're fine. Yeah, like the name Casper. Last name Casper. No.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Disgusting. No, bad taste in my mouth. Mackenzie's like, I didn't really like my mom, but now I feel guilty for her, and I kind of also hate my dad because she's reading about how her dad was running behind her mom's back with somebody named Tanya, even while she was pregnant. Yeah. And now Tanya. Uh-uh. I had to text you about Tanya before we got together, and I know we try not to, but let's be real. She is a villain.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

She honestly, it's worse than a villain at this point. She's earth disturbing.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

She may be the Antichrist.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah, no, serious. No, seriously, like her behavior is so unknown.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

No, she's a stage five stalker.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

She needs absolute help. And for no reason, though.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

No, she was giving like I want to wear your skin to Lizzie. Yes. Yes. Which by the way, Lizzie, everyone I'm sure knows, but is Evie Wrenge. Yes. The Renge. Was the author name, but her real name was Lizzie. And so essentially, Tanya used to go to the be at the same group home. She used to have a relationship with one of the three boys that assaulted her. She was a little bit of a child. That was killed and pregnant by one.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, she was actually pregnant by one of them.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yes, and then she ended up being the one later on that you find out.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

That actually traps all of them in the barn out of pure jealousy. Out of pure jealousy because She was like, they like him them like. Yeah, saw Lizzie as a threat, and she was not fucking with it. Honestly, but that's the thing. Like, I just can't fuck with Tanya because it's like, girl, what is wrong with you? She's a sociopath.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yes, she's a sociopath. She's a sociopath.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

There's something actually wrong with her. Yes. Even the way they describe Tanya is like, yeah, she's a sociopath. She literally mimicked Lizzie's entire life. I mean, literally stalked every person that was. Didn't even want Ben. Didn't even want Ben.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Was like, I guess he's fine.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

The sex sucks, but whatever. I'll deal with it for the thousands and millions of dollars.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Let's get to the crazy thing, right? Because, like, we're all thinking about it. The darkest part of this whole thing is that Lizzie ends up pregnant. She wants to leave Ben, but Ben is, let's be honest, a cockroach. And he ends up wanting to be with Tanya because he's just under her spell that she has him in because she's playing him the whole time. Even though she admits like she doesn't have feelings for him and she's using him. Literally, to get to Lizzie, because like I said, she wants to wear Lizzie's screen.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

It all started with Lizzie to begin with. It all started from Lizzie, even down to her like killing the little boys in a barn was all I'm saying. It was always about her tissue.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

It was always about what Lizzie could offer. Yes, it's like I want to ride on your coattails. Yes. Yes. So essentially, this whole thing goes down, and it's just she ends up getting trapped at their house because she goes to confront them to be like, I know that Ben's here. I followed you guys from the airport. Yeah, she like exposes them. Yes, and then her water breaks because she was just bad timing. Ugh. And then they essentially kind of kidnap her because they don't let her leave. They don't let her get medical attention. And due to her past of having hypertension that they talk to or high blood pressure, they she essentially has a stroke.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Yeah, she mentally strokes out. She ends up becoming like mentally incapable. She stops talking. She kind of gets like kind of catatonic. Yes, exactly. She's like writing on pieces of paper, just like about anything with mental like crazy stories. Yeah. Which those are the stories that Tanya uses to continue to like keep publishing books. They keep her as like a little sadish cow. Yeah. It is honestly very depressing and disturbing. Nothing as disturbing as that one book we read, though. Remember that book that we read that I was like, it literally made my stomach turn. Oh my god. It reminds me of Survive the Night. Yes. When we read that book and how it leaves you with just that gut-runching feeling of like it just causes a level of discomfort that you didn't know that you could witness through a book.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yes, yes. Because, okay, I don't know. Some people read books and they see a movie in their head. And some people read books and they need the visuals. Yes. And neither way is wrong. It's just the way that you process it. But I see movies with the movie. Oh, 100%. So it's wild to read some of these.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

It's literally like me standing, like, imagine a play going on, like a live stage, and me standing in the middle and just and just standing around and looking in a circle. That's literally how I see books as I read them.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

So some of these dark ones are like, oof.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yeah, I'm like, cut, please. Cut. You're like, I need a palette cleanser. We're just busy channel. Give me a little bit. Give me some money, put on Spongebob, please. Just need an episode. I need a refresh. But yeah, that was that was very depressing. Even like Ben's attachment to McKenzie as she was like getting older as a baby and stuff like that. And him realizing that he wanted to do this for McKee. But honestly, he's weak as fuck. I know, dude.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

He couldn't even do it for his kid. No, and then honestly, that grandma literally drugged McKenzie. That's so sick. And then tried to go through her stuff to find stuff that she has to do.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Well, and you know, the irony of this all is that I'm not surprised because guess what? McKenzie is technically no kin to any of them. No, accurate, but I don't think they knew that. No, definitely not. But I guess that's why that level of disconnect was always there. Like you wouldn't be able to actually like drug your grandchild, you know? Right, right. Maybe deep down they're not. You always knew that, like, well, and then they said that she looked different and she dressed different and she acted different and she always kind of stood out as a kid. She always kind of kept herself separate from them. She graduated and then moved away. Yes. Um, and she only came home certain times.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Well, what's wild is the fact that apparently the grandma knew so early on that it was Tanya masquerading as Lizzie, but she was apparently like. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Sick people. Gee, just straight trash.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Honestly, it was yeah, it the whole book was just built out of like conniving ass people.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

But I mean, like you said, it's I mean, it keeps you twisting and turning. Definitely. Can I just say, you know, this book, I would say, if you're looking at from Lizzie's perspective, is a tragedy because her life was sad when she was in the getting assaulted, having a boyfriend that doesn't care about her, finally getting talented, getting pregnant, getting a stroke, and now you can't anymore, and you can't take care of your daughter. And it's just sad. It is.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

But I do feel like for McKenzie too, I do feel like the Arthur did an amazing job at spinning the whole book around. Yes. By just giving them a little bit of their life back, like um McKenzie finding out who her real father was. John, who was so nice. Who's a sweetheart, has always been sweet to her.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

It's weird though, it never really said what her medical condition was. Exactly. It said she had seizures, it said it was hereditary, and it said that she took medicine, and yet never truly said what it was. And did I miss that? No, I don't recall that either, but shit. I mean, maybe she was just like, I'm not trying to Google medical stuff Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Like that's not that fucking important. Doesn't make sense.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Anyways, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Fucking call it Crohn's, we don't care. Lupus, something like that. We don't know. Something chronic. Yes, but um, yeah, no, I think they definitely spin it around that way. And then, of course, with her committing to EJ and and them deciding to be in a relationship, everything that we needed, of course. And Diane stayed around, and I've fucked with Diane.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Diane stayed around, she gave like cool grandma vibes, yeah. Like dead. But it's like you're cool, whatever. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Like, I'll stick around.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

I have nothing better to do. Yeah, like yes, it was good. I think it turned out.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Yes, and I think that was so important because this whole time McKinsey had stated that she never really felt like that was her family. Yeah, she always felt disconnected from her mom, which makes sense because like It wasn't. She's not your mom.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

She was a literally. And I think it was so it was it's so creepy to you to be like thinking like, oh, some stranger raised me like my whole life.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

But that's so weird. That's weird. That's so weird. And then on top of that, I hang on.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Is that what adopted people feel like when they're never told they're adopted and they find it out when they're later? They're adopted later or something. Is that a weird thing to ask?

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Well, if anyone wants to be open to maybe speaking on that, I'm just curious. We're open to perspective.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Like does it feel that does it feel like a sense of betrayal, I guess. But I guess in many cases, hopefully, you would have a really good mom and not. Yeah, exactly. And not crazy ass mom that was trying to use money from you. But just curious, does it feel like a betrayal to me?

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah, does it feel like you have to re-identify yourself, I guess? Yes. Because I'm sure McKenzie said that she was so confused by like the way her mom talked about her in the letters was not the same way her mom had treated her pedal. Yeah, calling her pedal and things like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Soft and then being so harsh in real life.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

That being the first thing that Lizzie said when she saw McKenzie is like, oh, not she knew that was her baby.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Now, shout out to the detective skills of Mackenzie because, first off, the serendipity to answer the one phone call where they say Huckleberry supplies. Dead ass the one phone call that She backed up. She's like, whatever, this is stupid. And then just laughs at the name and probably is like, that's what made it stick into her mind.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Yeah, because she remembered vividly thinking, like, that's fucking dumb.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

That's weird. And then she sees it later, which is literally exactly. No, she's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Her and EJ definitely need to be in the fucking CIA or something. 100% they need to be detective.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

They put in work for sure. And we're not going to talk about the fact that maybe EJ did shady shit with his tech stuff because he's a good person and he's a big thing. He is a good person. He is a hero to it.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Yeah, we're not going to talk about anything negative. No. We are on an EJ bandwagon. We love EJ. Well, EJ.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

No, this was a really good book. I'm not going to lie. I would keep it on the shelf, and I would definitely feel like this would be one that like I would come back to if time passed. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Like maybe in like a year, I could probably reread this book and probably still be as confuzzled about the whole plot. Because I'm not gonna lie, like they literally throw you for a lot of twists and turns. Yes, they do. Yes. Like we did not need to know that that lady did not, that was not that that girl dead. No.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Or that John was the other dad.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

Yeah, like we did not need to know all of that.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

But they gave it to us and we're appreciative. We're appreciative. We liked it. It didn't feel like too much. It didn't force it enough.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

It was just enough.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

It kept making the story like every time.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

I was like, I thought it figured out. I'm like, no. I wanted more every single time. But no, I loved it. So in a second here, we're gonna jump into our next read, which I'm super excited about.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Yes, but before that, we're gonna do a little something new. We may not do it every time, but we thought it'd be kind of fun. Oh yes. We are gonna say, if we wanted an alternative ending for the book, what would it have been?

SPEAKER_00 23:40

My alternative for the book would have been for Lizzie to actually be the one to be sending those letters the entire time. And they're in the process of them like leaving her at the cabin. She actually got her cognitive skills back, and she was the one that got revenge back on Tanya. Because I mean that's what all of her books were about, was about revenge. So wouldn't it have been nice if Lizzie got her ultimate revenge?

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yes, if like she got her her wherewithal back and was like, I'm on my revenge kick now.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Yes, exactly. And she kind of like played it as if like she was mentally disabled, but the whole time she was really just trying to get ahead of them. That was I that was what I thought was going to happen the entire time, but that's too practical. No, that's good though.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah, I mean great though. Honestly, this book could have had many, because there were so many twists, it really could have gone a lot of different ways. 100%. My alternate ending would be okay, there was this certain point in the book where they had her sign her first NDA to be able to get the trust and everything, right? And at that point, I just thought to myself, Mackenzie liked writing just like her mom. Yeah, yeah. And I thought, what if she writes a book and she changes the characters but tells her mom's story, basically getting her story out but changing the characters just like her mom did, exposing the truth without truly exposing it. Yeah. And then when her NDA runs up, she somehow finds ways to like poke holes in the truth and kind of. Like reopen up like the case. Yeah, and basically goes after them, but like through an author's perspective and that kind of stuff. But to be honest, I mean, I I think both of us obviously love the ending to this book that it got. But it is fun to sometimes just like imagine. Think of what could have been different, yeah. Yes, especially for any of you guys out there listening that not only love reading, but love writing too. It is kind of fun just to like flex your creativity.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Yeah, absolutely. I agree. Definitely have to widen the the opportunities in regards to what your end is could look like.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Exactly. So why don't we get into what our next pick is? Because both of us are super stoked about it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Our next pick is I'm glad my mom died by Jeanette McCurdy. If you guys don't know, this is Sam from iCarly and Sam and Cat. Samantha's gonna read a little bit of the intro for you guys so you kind of know what we're gonna read for next time.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

So uh this basically is a number one New York best time seller and a number one international bestseller, and it's a heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam and Cat star Jeanette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child star, including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother, and how she retook control of her life. And for those of you that like listening along, just know that it is Jeanette herself that does the narration, which is an interesting thing to have with authors. So if you guys are interested, read along.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

Yes, and we'll see you guys next time. Thank you so much for listening on FMC Square. This was episode five. All right, guys. Bye.