I was lucky enough to win an e-ARC of CLASS by Stephanie Land in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thanks for the early look, and have a safe and happy summer!

Class
Stephanie Land

Like many, I discovered Stephanie Land through the Netflix series, Maid, which was based on her memoir. As always, the book was so much better than the screen version, and when I heard of her next book, Class, it immediately went on my TBR and I scored an ARC thanks to NetGalley.

Class picks up right from where she left off in Maid. After leaving Washington state and making it to Missoula, Montana, Land finds herself navigating the world of higher education while struggling with the challenges of poverty and single motherhood along with hanging tightly on to the dream of making a career out of writing.

While my life and my struggles are very different from the ones Land experience, I feel like she was talking directly to me in her acknowledgements:

“All of this is to say I believe your story is important. I want to see it in the light of day, occupying spaces where people might read it. I want people to know about your struggles. I want people to know how impossible life feels at times. It’s fucking hard, and it’s not your fault that it’s hard”

The stories that are the hardest to tell are the ones that need to be told. I keep this in mind as I pursue my own storytelling.

I liked Maid a lot. Land's writing is always so easy to read and keep your attention.
This one looks at her life and her daughter's life as they deal with poverty and trying to make it by.
This is such an encouraging story of not giving up and working hard for our family.
I enjoyed reading her story and had so many feelings reading it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Stephanie Land's second memoir about the struggles of being a single mother, living in poverty, and the injustices she dealt with while trying to earn a college writing degree.

She is a great writer, and her books are straight-forward and easy to read. I did not enjoy this one as much as Maid. This one felt too personal and with a great deal details about her life. There were still overall themes about socioeconomic difficulties as well the challenges of being a single mom, but the overall writing was more focused on her and some lifestyle choices. There were some eye-opening moments about struggles many don't have to face but honestly this one was just TMI at times. This one just missed the mark for me after Maid was so memorable.

It was very thought provoking. It changed the way I view pregnancy and loved that Stephanie used her voice to discuss how pregnancy is not just for wealthy people. No one should be revoked the right to have a child no matter their social. economic status. There needs to be better systems in place for those who need financial help

Naturally, most people will compare this book with Land's first and highly successful book, "Maid". The writing is well done and the book kept my attention. However, there were instances in which she was highly specific and other ones within the book that were vague. Stephanie managed to highlight how hard it is as a single mom and how much the system is against you trying to succeed. I did find myself trudging along to just complete the book - not necessarily out of enjoyment. But that could just be me!

I was THRILLED to receive an ARC of this memoir; I'm such a fan of Stephanie Land, and I thought Maid was a compelling and powerful read. Land has a straightforward writing style that lends itself well to her storytelling, but Class vacillated between hyper-specific details from her life and then more general statements about class inequity and hunger in the United States. I would have liked to have seen more connective tissue between Land's personal story and the larger points she wanted to communicate in Class. I greatly admire Land's perseverance and tenacity; she's certainly dealt with challenging circumstances beyond the grasp of my personal experience. That said, I think she also gave a few too many personal details in Class (including many rather specific details about her sex life) that also distracted from her larger points about living below the poverty line, the flawed child support systems in the United States, and the challenges of applying for both educational funding and food stamps. That said, it's really remarkable to read Land's memoir now as a successful published author when you read more about her intense journey to earn her undergraduate degree in English as a pregnant single parent cobbling together multiple jobs and caring for her six-year-old daughter.

I read Stephanie Lands Maid-and was curious to see how her life had changed.Class was interesting but sad watching her continue to struggle to survive still cleaning still fighting with her daughters father.She is a strong resilient woman who will do what it takes to survive.#netgalley #attia

Having read and watched Maid, I was very excited to have access to Stephanie’s newest book!! The section on “resilience” and “strength” among trauma survivors resonated deeply with me and I appreciated that insight. Her writing invoked heartbreak, fury, annoyance, anger, sadness, and compassion in me throughout the entire book. That being said, a lot of the book felt disjointed and I got confused with the different time jumps back and forth. I felt, as with Stephanie’s first work, there could have been more commentary on the privilege that being a White person in her situation afforded her. My ARC was provided by the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book so much. Maid was one of my favorite reads and I absolutely loved the Netflix adaptation however; this book fell flat for me. I tried several times to push through and just could NOT for myself to get to the end. I sometimes think it is better to leave a story as is and not to try to recreate the same feeling or even success as the first one.

I loved Maid so when I saw that Ms. Land wrote a memoir, I was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I found it monotonous and self-serving. She talks about never having any money, but thinks she can spend money on things that aren’t necessary. I was a single mom raising two kids and had no car. There were no luxuries in my kids’ lives whatsoever. You can’t have it both ways. If you’re broke, don’t spend extra. Anyways, it was a book about complaints on how difficult single parenting is while having to work and earn a degree. I didn’t care for it. I give it 3 stars since Ms. Land is a good writer, it’s the content that didn’t work.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC of Class by Stephanie Land in exchange for my honest review.

Class is Stephanie Land's second memoir about her struggles of balancing life as a single mother and student in poverty. She discusses how barriers make it nearly impossible to survive as a single parent trying to get an education. "Resilience as a virtue is assigned, especially to marginalized groups, when systemic structures have created countless invisible barriers to living what the privileged consider a normal life."

I was disappointed to see how many of these reviews on Goodreads blamed Stephanie. As a society, we shame poor people for doing anything "extra" for themselves. She wanted to better herself and her child by getting a degree, but then she's being shamed for being self employed. She had to pay a price to leave an abusive relationship, which she's blamed for! Imagine if she had stayed in that relationship...she'd be shamed for not leaving. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Stephanie captured these moments of being shamed and ridiculed for every single decision she made. in such a way that I could feel her pain. I cannot even imagine how exhausting that would be. "Who I had to prove this to or who actually judged me for my choices was never clear, because it felt like everyone most of the time: from what I bought with food stamps to if I went out for coffee with a friend in the middle of the day. The paranoia that I would somehow get caught in a frivolous moment never left me."

This story was raw and real. This book made me feel something. While I overall enjoyed the writing style, there were pieces of the story that lagged for me. Stephanie's story of survival is raw and gut wrenching.

Recently, I read “Maid” by Stephanie Land, so when I noticed she had written another book, I knew I’d want to read it! She writes in a way that continually pulls me in and has me wanting to hear more of her story. Land doesn’t shy away from the details of her challenges, sharing stories of hunger and longing for a better life for herself and her child. One element that really stood out to me was how judged she felt during these years in poverty. Although she was giving her very best, it was often perceived as less than enough. Land’s memoir details themes of perseverance, courage, and commitment. I hope that Land continues to write and tell her stories!

I first watched Maid on Netflix which lead me to reading the books so I wanted to read this one to see what happens. I feel for the author as this is her life story and how difficult it is to get help when you really need help. However, all of our decisions have consequences and I couldn’t deal with all the bad language, stories about sex, and abortion and not regretting it. I was also an English major in college and college is majorly overrated. It’s not the answer to all things. The book at times went on and on and I speed read through a lot. Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

I was absolutely enthralled with Stephanie Land’s story in “Maid,” and couldn’t wait to hear how the next chapter of her life played out. Where “Maid” was a harrowing story of escaping from poverty, abuse and neglect into a new life, “Class” seems more a series of essays and vignettes, almost diary-like, on how hard it is to be poor, and the few choices afforded to people living below the poverty level.

I was especially struck by the stigma Land faces as a single mother attempting to obtain a bachelor’s degree outside of the normal undergrad experience. It begs the question of whether higher education is a right to everyone, or a benefit afforded to only those that can afford it. Do people on food stamps deserve the right to aspire to something more? If so, does the public have the right to dictate how people receiving assistance may go about aspiring to more?

While I was reading, I did wonder as to why her sights were so specifically set on the difficult path she chose: university instead of a community college, English degree instead of something “marketable,” not taking classes that fit around a full-time job, etc. It didn’t seem as if she was getting any kind of career guidance from anyone, and she mentions a couple of times how much it would have helped to know about the freelance writing world.

Like her first book, “Class” was a struggle to get through. It’s dark, depressing and brutally honest and she sucks you right into it all with her. Just when things seem their darkest, they get darker. Plus, unlike the nice arc of Maid where you have a glimpse of something better on the horizon, this story just kind of ends. I get the feeling that another is in the works, so I’ll be watching for that in the future.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was another eye opening look at a world I cannot relate with. Earlier in the book I could follow along with the decisions the author was making but I had a hard time understanding why the author chose to keep a baby in the midst of a broken car, loss of food assistance, unreliable child care, and an abusive sperm donor. Nothing in the prose made me understand or empathize with her decision making process at that moment

I received a copy of "Class" from Netgalley. I read Stephanie Land's book "Maid" so I was glad to see she came out with her book "Class" this book picks up where Maid left off. She has now moved to Montana to tend College to get her bachelor's degree in literature and writing. Her little girl, Emelia is four when the starts out. Over the next two years she tries to make ends meet while attending college. Her struggles are just as difficult. Her ex- husband fights paying the child support he was supposed to pay trying to get it scaled back. It is like taking one step forward and two steps back over the two years.
When her second year of college starts she finds she is pregnant and ponders if she should go through with the pregnancy. { I hope this is not a spoiler, but she does choose to go through with the unplanned pregnancy.] This book is similar to her first writing of the constant struggles of poverty and trying to get a degree and hopefully a career to support her two children. The book ends with her giving birth to her baby.
I enjoyed reading this book and learning of the next two years of her life. I would give this book a 4.5.

Having read Stephanie Land's first book, "Maid", and seen the Netflix adaptation, I was very interested to read her follow-up.

While I enjoyed it, I did not think it was as compelling as "Maid". Land focused more on her personal life, especially her sexual relationships and her time spent in writing classes working toward her degree, rather than the hardships she faced as a single mother, which was at the core of her first book.

I enjoyed "Class", but do not think it is essential reading, as her first book was. This seemed more like reading someone's diary rather than a continued expose of the plight of poor, working, single mothers in America.

This second chapter of Stephanie Land's life has the same frenetic pace that Ms. Land lived through. She draws the reader into her life and feelings of inadequacy; sometimes reading it actually hurts because the reader will think what now???? and yet the book can't be put down because--she's got to come through it ok, after all now she's a best selling writer. The ending was a surprise for me as I thought everything would work out fine and it kind of left the reader hanging. I felt a little better after reading the acknowledgements, but now I am anxiously awaiting a third book to let me know how she ends up (I know what happened, just now how). I hope Stephanie Land writes fast...

Maid is Stephanie Land's memoir of living life below the poverty line in great debt and making it as a house cleaner. She continues her story of living as a 35-year-old college senior and mother at the University of Montana in Class. She has a six-year-old daughter, and she is pregnant. Her book is a comment on the economic class of students -- who has the right to be a student and at what cost?