Off the Leash Reviews from the Read Rover

Coming Up on The Read Rover

Advance Review Copies

Murder Most Cryptic by Alys Cummings
A murder mystery where crime, recovery, and cryptic crosswords collide.

Ashes of Austen by Zoe Blake
A dark Gothic reimagining inspired by Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, with obsession, mystery, power, and dangerous secrets.

The A Word: A Mother’s Journey Through Autism and Love by Tisha Campbell
Autism, advocacy, family, acceptance, and navigating systems of care.

The Kill Line by J.J. Cagney
A wilderness survival thriller involving murder, danger, and the elements.

Books & Memoirs

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Fantasy, identity, memory, storytelling, and the worlds readers carry into books.

Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig
Disability, independence, visibility, and everyday ableism.

Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong
Disability culture, access, advocacy, and lived experience.

The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland
Vision loss, adaptation, disability culture, and identity.

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Trauma, recovery, and the complicated reality of healing.

Cult Survivors & High-Control Groups

Cultish by Amanda Montell
Language, belonging, influence, and high-control groups.

I Belong to Me by Tia Levings
Rebuilding identity and healing after high-control religion.

Daughter of the Cult by Doris Jones
Growing up inside a high-control religious community and reclaiming autonomy.

This Incredible Longing by Blair Glaser
Belonging, spirituality, and the complicated experience of a near-cult community.

Nice Girls Don’t Win by Parvati Shallow
Growing up in a commune and examining how early survival patterns shape adulthood.

The War on Love by Andrew-Ryan Profaci
A firsthand account of life inside Love Has Won.

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke
Family control, abuse, public image, and surviving a high-control environment.

Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz
Life inside a high-control group while maintaining a public career.

Leaving the Rooms by M.K. Spryte
Addiction recovery culture, psychology, and high-control dynamics.

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright
A deeply reported examination of Scientology, its leadership, beliefs, power structures, and the experiences of people who left.

Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman
A memoir about growing up in a strict Hasidic Jewish community and the difficult process of leaving to build an independent life.

Young Readers

A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond
Autism, AAC, communication access, and assumptions about competence.

Too Sticky! by Jen Malia
Autism, sensory processing, accommodations, and trying something new.

Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus
Childhood hearing loss, communication, and understanding a changing world.

All the Way to the Top by Annette Bay Pimentel
Disability rights, activism, and the fight that helped lead to the ADA.

Not So Different by Shane Burcaw
Disability, curiosity, and answering children’s questions about difference.

Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
Deafness, isolation, communication, and connection.

This Beach Is Loud! by Samantha Cotterill
Sensory overload, self-regulation, and navigating overwhelming environments.

Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
Disability, difference, curiosity, and inclusion.

Film & Media

Loop
Autism, communication, and accessibility.

Float
Difference, stigma, parental fear, and acceptance.

Smash and Grab
Work, exploitation, burnout, friendship, and human worth.

Burrow
Anxiety, comparison, embarrassment, and asking for help.

Kitbull
Trauma, fear, trust, and connection.

Out
Identity, concealment, family acceptance, and the pressure to hide parts of ourselves.

Twenty Something
Adulthood, insecurity, identity, and feeling like everyone else has figured it out.

Patrice: The Movie
Disability, independence, relationships, benefits policy, and the marriage penalty.

I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me
Tourette syndrome, identity, stigma, peer reactions, and self-advocacy.

Change, Not Charity
Disability rights, social change, autonomy, and moving beyond charity-based thinking.

I Can’t Do This But I Can Do That
Learning differences, strengths, self-esteem, and how children understand ability.

Everybody Dance
Inclusive dance, disability, movement, belonging, and access.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (documentary)
A documentary exploring Scientology through former members, investigative reporting, and allegations about the organization’s internal culture and practices.

Unorthodox (Netflix miniseries)
A dramatized series inspired by Deborah Feldman’s memoir, following a young woman who leaves an ultra-Orthodox community in New York and begins rebuilding her life in Berlin.