Review Detail

I have such COMPLICATED feelings on The Princesses of Iowa by M. Molly Backes. For some reason, even after reading the summary, I didn’t expect The Princesses of Iowa to be as heavy and emotional as it was.

I read the prologue of The Princesses of Iowa and immediately connected to it. M. Molly Backes writing style – kind of rambly and flowy like the narrator is saying it all in one breath is so ME. That is how I think. So I loved connecting to The Princesses of Iowa on that level.

But MAN what an emotionally draining book. I was tense from the get-go – car accidents, suspected cheating boyfriend, psycho parents, and then BAM all this even more intense stuff happened and I literally could not catch my breath while reading The Princesses of Iowa. I had to keep reading and more stuff kept happening and nothing was going right and even after I put it down, I was super tense and down in the dumps.

The ending to The Princesses of Iowa was uplifting and hopeful, which I approved of, but even after finishing it, I just couldn’t shake the feelings from my mind.

But the issues discussed in The Princesses of Iowa are SO IMPORTANT. Drunk driving, cheating boyfriends, verbally and otherwise abusive parents, rampaging homophobia – it ALL goes down in this book.

What I guess I’m trying to say is – The Princesses of Iowa by M. Molly Backes does not shy away from the tough topics. It’s tough to take and you’ll be holding your breath through parts of it, so definitely have a lighter book ready to read next. But don’t skip The Princesses of Iowa. Definitely worth a read.

(Also, I would just like to point out that since writing this review, I’ve read a couple of reviews describing The Princesses of Iowa as being uplifting and etc. SO even though it was so emotionally draining to me, you could totally have the opposite reaction.)