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If you like learning about how the decisions of survivalists affect others, then The Truth About Everything by Bridget Farr is a book for you!
I have a love-hate relationship with books about preppers/survivalists/sovereign citizens/whatever you want to call them. On the one hand, I find it somewhat fascinating to peek into a life that is based in principles so wildly different from my own worldview. On the other hand, they tend to fill my librarian heart with an incandescent rage, because of the characters’ reliance on misinformation, conspiracy theories, and other unreliable sources of information. Anyway, today we’re talking about one of those books! I’m participating in the book tour for The Truth About Everything by Bridget Farr, which is hosted by TBR and Beyond tours! I’ll tell you more of my thoughts on this particular book in a minute, but first here’s a bit more information:
TITLE: The Truth About Everything
AUTHOR: Bridget Farr
RELEASE DATE: October 11, 2022
MORE INFO: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound
The Truth About Everything Synopsis
Gut a fish. Rewire a truck. Survive the collapse of the US government. All lessons fifteen-year-old Lark has learned during “homeschool” with her conspiracy-theorist-Doomsday-prepping parents. If only she’d also learned the fundamentals of human biology or even how to read. When Lark gets her first period and realizes how much she doesn’t know, she ignores her fears of everything outside their rural Montana farm and secretly attends school for the first time.
At high school, Lark discovers the world is very different than she has been told, from the basics of the internet to government takeovers that never happened. Lark uncovers the holes in her parents’ beliefs and realizes that she must decide her own truth. But it won’t come without sacrifices.
Content Warning: 2020 political topics, pandemic topics, anti-vaccine opinions
My Thoughts on The Truth About Everything
Note: I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I have…complicated thoughts about The Truth About Everything. As I already mentioned, people who have a survivalist/sovereign citizen mentality make me a little bit bananas. This is especially true when they decide to raise children on the basis of these beliefs. It made me SO FREAKING RAGEY that Lark, the main character in this book, didn’t have the basic knowledge, at the age of 15, about what a period is, how often it comes, what it means, etc. Like, this is something we usually teach kids about in upper elementary school, and at the age of 15 she still doesn’t know what it is, or, relatedly, how exactly babies happen.
The other thing that bothered me so much was the hypocrisy and incompetence of Lark’s survivalist parents. Another thing I tend to mention frequently is my favorite pet peeve, bad parents in YA books. And these two fit that bill for sure. They won’t allow Lark to have access to basic information, but they are free to use the internet to continue to affirm their ridiculous conspiracy theories. Lark can’t eat sugar or processed food or drink soda, but her parents guzzle Mountain Dew and eat Snickers bars at every opportunity. And let’s not even begin to talk about Lark’s dad’s homeschool “curriculum” because it is NONEXISTENT. Buying a few random textbooks and books by dead white guys does not an education plan make! Not to mention the fact that he’s so busy with his other endeavors that he hasn’t realized that Lark can BARELY READ.
But that’s probably enough ranting. What about the actual book, you ask? Well, if you can get past your rage, The Truth About Everything is a good story. I enjoyed seeing Lark’s agency develop as she began taking steps toward changing her situation. I think her struggle between her love for her parents and wanting to believe that what they taught her was true and in good faith and her desire to learn more about the “real world” was realistic. And I LOVED Alex, Lark’s neighbor’s grandson, who is always kind to Lark, doesn’t judge her for her lack of information, but gently helps guide her as she tries to figure out how to get where she wants out of life.
I ended up giving The Truth About Everything 4 stars on Goodreads. As I said, I thought it was a good story, but it wasn’t an all-time favorite for me, and there were times in the book when I was just left wanting more. I guess I would have liked to see more of Lark’s experiences at school, and interacting with the outside world, to balance out the internal struggles, which seemed to make up most of the book. Not that those aren’t valuable, but that is my own preference. That being said, I absolutely think there is an audience for The Truth About Everything, and would recommend it to folks who’ve enjoyed books like Prepped, Dry, Let’s Call It a Doomsday, or Educated.
About the Author
Bridget Farr is an author, actor, and educator. Previously a middle school English teacher, she now serves as a vice principal at a public elementary school. Bridget is the author of two middle grade novels, and an accomplished theater actor and producer. Her debut YA novel, The Truth About Everything, launches October 2022. Born and raised in eastern Montana, she now lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Shiva, and the neighborhood cat, Sherman. Bridget is represented by Melissa Edwards at Stonesong Literary Agency.
While I hope my review persuaded you to get a copy of The Truth About Everything, if you need more convincing, feel free to check out all of the other stops on the TBR and Beyond Tour!
Looking for more? Check these out:
- Book Tour: Top 5 Reasons to Read Bad at Love by Gabriela Martins
- Spotlight On: Well That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto
- Book Tour: Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian
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