everything in between
Adult; Memoir; (Market)
EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN is a brilliant, daringly honest memoir, taking the reader around the world and back again, the story of a woman letting go of the past and society’s conditioning to find her freedom.
This book of essays, with loads of sarcasm and a very obvious feminist bent, is best described as eclectic, chaotic in a good way, refreshing, and a permission slip to be imperfect.
As a twenty something, Caitlin decides to quit her soul-sucking job to live in South America, a decision that catapults her into a totally new life. From Peru to Bali to India to Vietnam to Ireland to Costa Rica to the Faroe Islands, the reader joins Caitlin on an worldwide adventure, fraught with as many hilariously unfortunate mishaps as insightful moments.
By spending time in less-visited places along with the usual sites, like a nursing home, an orphanage, a food pantry, a neighborhood chronically oppressed by segregation, Caitlin unpacks the “rules” she was taught to find it’s not her that was broken, it’s the systems we live in.
EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN takes the reader on a raw and unfiltered journey of self-discovery, showing us that job titles, diamond rings, and number of followers aren’t what’s truly valuable in this world…it’s what money can’t buy: being true to yourself.
Plot/Idea: 7 out of 10
Originality: 7 out of 10
Prose: 7 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7.25 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Born into a privileged yet dysfunctional family, Caitlin Elizabeth searches the world for a sense of purpose and a meaningful life. Everything In Between is the story both of her travels and of her journey into spiritual evolution.
Prose: The author's style is breezy, confidential and discursive. Many readers will undoubtedly identify with her struggle to live a more authentic life than the one of mere privilege and consumerism too often encouraged by upper middle class American society.
Originality: If Jay McInerney's Alison Poole sprouted a conscience and a sense of social awareness, the sequel to Story of My Life might read like Everything In Between. The author's geographic migrations and her reflections on her experiences make for an interesting read.
Character Development/Execution: Faced with the inequities and injustices that permeate the world, Caitlyn Elizabeth decides to take matters into her own hands and go off in search of self and opportunities to do meaningful service. Her sincerity and her commitment to the quest are embodied in the pages of this memoir.
Date Submitted: December 15, 2021
