Jia Tolentino is a real talent and I really enjoyed this collection of whipsmart, coming of age essays about navigating a complex world. If I had one wish, it would be that some of the essays hung together a little more neatly. Although perhaps that's the point: nothing is 'neat' in the current climate and tying things up in such a way would be disingenuous. I'm excited to see what she does next.

I have loved dipping into this book over the past few weeks to read the essays which I have found to be insightful, thought provoking and funny at times to read, especially the one about the author's early brush with reality TV fame. Above all else all essays have been accessible and easy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

This book is fantastic, and deserves all the praise that’s being heaped onto it. The essays are engaging, readable, creative, funny, and so thought provoking. Reading these I felt like Tolentino had opened up the world and was showing me how it all worked. Like, even though I can tell the time on a watch, this is book is like her showing me exactly *how* the watch works.

A boldly written collection of essays from Jia Tolentino, exploring everything from reality TV to sexual assault on college campuses. The unifying thread between the essays is supposed to be that each in some way explore the idea of self-delusion in modern society and how it impacts on us and our sense of self, but for me the strongest tie throughout was Tolentino’s powerful and thought-provoking writing. The content is deeply personal to Tolentino, yet entirely relatable.

Trick Mirror is both a timely and relevant book featuring essays with more heart, soul, power and FIRE in their prospective words than any other work of nonfiction I have enjoyed in 2019. Talented New Yorker Tolentino shows promise in terms of following in the incredibly successful footsteps of writers such as Zadie Smith whose own glorious collections of long-form pieces stoked my imaginatory fire at the time. The pieces are full of breadth and depth that makes them not only a pleasure to read but intensely thought-provoking and inspiring too. In this time of great anxiety and division, many are looking for a guiding light to illuminate their way out of the dark, and it appears Tolentino has taken the helm with more than enough wisdom, wit and scalpel-sharp observation to craft, powerful individual articles on a broad spectrum of topics relating to contemporary American culture, interwoven with the author's interesting autobiographical information.

Within she touches on recurring themes of the American dream, feminism, the rise of the internet and social media, disillusionment, loneliness, gender identity, LGBTQIA+ relations, current political stances and persuasions in the US, the #METOO movement, corruption of morality, sexual harassment, misogyny, traditionalism vs modern materialism, religion, drug use, the cult of popularism, reality television, and the role the mainstream media plays in propagating half-truths and increasingly hatred which is now having such devastating consequences. Tolentino has some really valid and important points to make on a plethora of different themes and the book is primarily presented in the stream-of-consciousness style. Each of the nine essays is quite profound and all are interlinked by an underlying darkness and discussed in terms of their pros and cons.

With sensitivity and charm, a feat not as easy to achieve as she may make it look throughout, there's no doubt that Tolentino is a writer to watch and one I hope gets the recognition she deserves for this captivating anthology. At the very least a wide readership, but I feel this is very much "award-winning" material. It is a beautiful, emotional and often brutally honest collection that never failed to move me written by a twenty-first-century wordsmith akin to the majesty of Joan Didion and Zadie Smith's works. Her words are literal and metaphorical FIRE. A work of nonfiction that I can wholeheartedly recommend to all with some real gems scattered amongst the pages and phrases that are seared into my memory. Amongst my top 5 reads of the year so far without a doubt and one of the most rewarding, unflinching and multifaceted explorations of popular culture today. Many thanks to 4th Estate for an ARC.

An excellent. beautifully written collection of essays. I loved the elements of the author's autobiography woven into the pieces here, especially the essay about Tolentino's experience on reality TV.

I was already aware of Tolentinos amazing work and couldnt wait to read the book.

I really enjoyed it, despite some of the dark content. Tolentino is such a great writer, she chooses timely topics and writes about them in an intelligent and thoughtful way.

I will be absolutely recommending to family and friends.

This was an interesting collection; it's not quite clear what links the essays, but they are well-written and there are some gems.

I’ve been a fan of Jia Tolentino’s work for a while, so was excited to get my hands on an advance copy of her upcoming debut essay collection Trick Mirror. The nine essays do not disappoint.

Trick Mirror is a perfect blend of personal, cultural and political writing, which looks at everything from the rise of the internet, social media and Tolentino’s experience as a reality TV contest to what makes a successful American scammer and sexual harassment.

A collection of essays that combine pop culture, feminist commentary and personal memoir by former Jezebel, now New Yorker, writer Jia Tolentino, hit my sweet spot. In tone, it reminded me of Tama Janowitz's Gen X classic Area Code 212, filtered through a millennial lens. The essays are wide-ranging, from discussions of the cultural implications of high profile scammers such as Billy McFarland (the guy behind the Fyre Festival), to a piece on her experiences with ecstasy, both religious- and drug-induced. The essay on her coming of age via a reality TV show appearance was particularly compelling, pulling off that rare trick of telling universal truths via a specific and unusual personal experience.

Searingly sharp and precise, Tolentino's debut essay collection somehow justifies the Joan Didion comparison. I particularly loved the more wandering ones, such as the long centrepiece which moves fluidly between ecstasy, Megachurches, and chopped and screwed mixtapes. Highly recommended, and head and shoulders above many apparently similar collections.

It took me a while to get used to Jia Tolentino's style of writing (the essays jump around a bit at times and get a little stream of consciousness-y) but there are some real gems in this collection. For me she's at her best when talking about social media, gender, women and media, but I found something to admire or enjoy in almost all of the essays in this personal collection.

A look at popular culture life as seen through the eyes of this very gifted essayist.A young New York woman with her own slant on life today an essayist to follow .#netgalley #4thestate

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

An intellectual stream-of-consciousness meander through every facet of popular culture, some twists more interesting than others, but all insightful and rewarding.

An autobiographical collection of essays concerning different facets of contemporary American culture.