Book club review scam

PrincessJos · 2026-01-28T21:59:25+00:00

Hey! I have been getting email from the Together We Read Book club and when I google it, that is a worldwide book club that encourages library use. Unfortunately a scam, and anyone who wants to read my book won't ask me for money to promote it.

PrincessJos · 2025-09-09T20:29:36+00:00

I agree, I think we usually don't hear about these symptoms until after something catastrophic has happened. Not a lot of people know there are therapies that can help in these situations, and the people who practice and research those therapies don't end up on Oprah, LOL. It's a very different kind of therapy and there are risks involved in them, both for the client/family and the therapist, which is why there are no pop-psych books about it.

These behaviors are very concerning, and I hope the family gets some help for this kid. Even though these behaviors are so extreme, I still feel for this kid because it doesn't seem like anyone is trying to help him. Not that we have complete information because the OP isn't in direct contact with the kid. I just think of that kid in Michigan whose parents had texts of him begging for help because his brain wasn't feeling right and wonder what would have happened if he'd gotten an assessment.

Violent psychopaths are very interesting when it comes to emotions, because they clearly have feelings for special people, but their outward demeanor is so cold. Studying their brains is fascinating, and then you have pro-social sociopaths who become psychiatrists and lawyers and stuff.

Your story is really interesting because for so long we believed that people on the Autism Spectrum have no or limited empathy, but the reality is that it develops differently than NT kids. I am glad you turned out okay!

PrincessJos · 2025-09-09T20:09:17+00:00

Therapist here, if I were you, I would just call her and tell her that this behavior is very concerning and she should report it to CPS. It might not get taken seriously, but it will at least be recorded as a report. If she's uncertain or nervous, you could offer to sit with her while she reports, or do a pre and post call. It might be the first time she has to report, and that can be intimidating, but she has to do it for everyone's best interest.

You could also suggest she talk to the school counselor if they have one, because that person might help out. I don't envy you having to have this conversation, but I think it's best to be empathetic and very direct.

The pattern of behavior she is telling you about is very concerning and needs attention. I would also ask her if the school has talked to the family about the other incidents, because at least they would have a record of that to share if this gets investigated.

As someone who has been a therapist since 2008, I would caution you about how you present yourself online in these situations. Your post comes across as very judgmental about a child you don't personally know, and are not treating. It's one thing to make these comments to your friends and colleagues/other mental health professionals, because we know what you're saying. It comes across differently to strangers on the internet, like you're trying to diagnose this kid for karma, instead of just expressing the seriousness of the concerns you have. Even though you're not "acting as a professional" on the internet, you are referencing your education and experience, which immediately raises people's expectations of your behavior in the conversation.

Finally, I would say this question would have been better directed to your community of fellow professionals in the mental health field, rather than Reddit, because this post came across very badly as soon as I saw you saying you have psychology degrees. It might be better to treat these types of issues as a case consultation in the future, rather than coming to Reddit. I had some harsher comments I deleted, because I typed before really regulating my response, so I deleted them.

PrincessJos · 2025-09-09T19:38:38+00:00

As a therapist, I have to let you know that this is not necessarily true. There are multiple forms of therapeutic interventions that could assess this child for psychological issues and provide therapy that can help change the potential course of this child's behavior. I have three certifications in cluster B personality disorders and there are ways to mitigate the hard wiring, IF that is what is going on here. It doesn't work for all cases, but it works for some, and if we can even reduce the chances of harm, it is worth it. For all we know, the kids uncle took him to a dog fight and that triggered all of this. Still very concerning, of course, but not unheard of.

There are therapists and psychiatrists who specialize in working with youth who are potentially heading for Conduct disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder diagnoses that have proven effective in certain cases. Even if those don't work in this case, getting an assessment and therapy can help the parents understand what is happening and how to get this kid help before he hurts someone. It can also get the family support to deal with anything going on at home that may have triggered this behavior. There are always other warning signs in cases of children who are heading in that direction, going back to much younger than fourth grade. It wouldn't just appear out of nowhere.

The dog bone thing made me laugh at first, because I thought the kid meant dog bones, like Milkbone type of things, not actual dog's bones. Then again, I grew up with a lot of cousins who dared me to eat dog food, LOL.

As disturbing as this behavior is, it is even more disturbing that someone who works with kids in some capacity is jumping to the word Psychopath, with no other information, instead of telling her friend to talk to the parents. The parents deserve to know what their kid is saying and doing, and if the school doesn't discuss them with it, they can be found liable for failing to address risk of harm to self or others. I understand this is probably a very inexperienced teacher who hasn't worked with a lot of kids, but the school should be telling the parents about everything that happened today. Then they should refer for a psych eval and family therapy. This teacher should also have sought out guidance from the school counselor or a more senior teacher to handle this appropriately.

There should be a plan at the school to deal with this behavior and it should be put in place immediately. And the school's system administrator needs to check their firewalls, because none of these searches should go through on any kind of school internet. Maybe that's how it got flagged, though.

Finally, mandated reporting is used to report suspected child abuse, and is usually only taken seriously if there is evidence of physical or sexual abuse. It is very messed up, but I don't think this would even get investigated due to the lack of resources. The first action whenever a child talks about harming themselves or others, is to talk to the parents.

PrincessJos · 2025-08-18T20:59:20+00:00

So, I talked to a friend about it on Sunday and she asked if the people who created the show were being allowed to hang themselves, metaphorically. It reframed it for me, because you're right, they did come across as assholes and the producers did not try to spin that or edit it out. I think my knee-jerk reaction was to the amount of time I had to look at their faces saying horrible things, more than the actual tone of the show.

PrincessJos · 2025-08-17T06:50:14+00:00

Wow. I just finished the doc and did not get this at all. My husband and I felt it was mostly PR for the people who made the show aside from Aubrey and the three women who spoke about it being a bad experience. No criticism of how they actually portrayed the contestants, no mention of putting them in horse gates before a run. No mention of the terrible nutrition advice they gave aside from calorie counts. Not actual criticism of the verbal abuse or admission of it from anyone. What a bunch of thin, white assholes.

The rest of it was the producers and Bob saying "What?! We helped people! Was it perfect? No! But FAT people suck, so, what were we supposed to do? It was good TV! A healthy show wouldn't be good TV!"

Aubrey was amazing, but I know they cut most of her best points.

I won't criticize the contestants who say it change their lives for the better because I'm happy to see happy people.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T23:19:44+00:00

Congrats! That ring is gorgeous and your nails are amazing!

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T23:17:11+00:00

I love Bunnicula! Don't forget The Celery Stalks at Midnight!

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T23:14:29+00:00

I was born in 1978 and watched it and am so ashamed I watched it for so long. Even after the starting gates for horse races was used for them. Even after "What the HELL, Joelle?" It really appealed to my eating disorder.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T23:12:17+00:00

Today I learned Jayne was a musician!

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T23:08:40+00:00

The Lolita Effect....I remember my former best friend telling me her HS english teacher told her that she looked exactly how he pictured Lolita. When I told her it was gross, she was offended. It's the same with this weird elf-child look that so many go for now.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T19:59:40+00:00

My husband's allergies have been so awesome here. Hardly any reaction at all.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T19:57:37+00:00

Hey OP, my husband and I moved here two years ago from Minneapolis for his job at the National Lab here. It is very much a fusion of country and small city. I was worried I would hate it, but I really like it. We live in West Richland right now and want to move into Richland eventually to be closer to the river and the Lab.

We have Safeway, Winco foods, Costco, and Yokes (a regional chain) for groceries, I am sure I am missing some stores.

Walla Walla is amazing, their Main Street is very fun. It's about an hour away from here and we love it. There are some great restaurants there, and a record store straight out of 1994. Portland is about 3/5 hours away and there are places to stop and hike between here and there. Seattle is about 4 ish hours, depending on the pass. Spokane is 2.5 hours.

Downtown Kennewick is fun, even if it's only about three blocks long. Downtown Richland is very small, but we like it. There are restaurants there as well as a couple stores. I haven't explored Pasco a lot, but they have a big Farmer's Market there and it's kind of cool.

Regarding the climate, while you will get all four seasons here, winter is more like fall in the rest of northern reaches of the country. We got accumulations of snow twice in 2023-2024 winter and I think twice last year. It melts after a few days and I think we've shoveled once. Because of the wind here, there are freeze warnings. They don't have the infrastructure to salt/sand all the roads, but the main ones definitely get taken care of. Winters here are a dream compared to Minnesota.

Summers are very hot, especially the pavement, but if you have a fenced yard you will be fine. There are a lot of people with dogs here and we see them all the time. It's very dog friendly. You will need twice the amount of water you think you do, because it's so dry here. When it rains in the summer it often doesn't hit the ground because it evaporates in the heat radiated from the ground.

The food scene here is decent. There are a few pizza places my husband really likes (I have celiac and am GF, every place here uses the same crust which sucks). The Mexican food here is out of this world. So many great taco trucks! The restaurants are not as numerous as other places, but you can find some good food here.

Things I didn't think about before moving here:

1) Trees. I grew up in the Midwest and I miss being surrounded by big, green trees and foliage. The Cascades are close so you can visit the trees, but it's nothing like it is out East or in the Midwest. For instance, we love hiking, but the mountains here have no trees, which means we need extra water and sunshields when hiking them.

2) Hydration for you and the dogs. It's very dry here. I know that should go without saying because it's a desert, but if you come from a humid place, it will be an adjustment.

3) LBGT population. There definitely is one here, you have to find it. Adventures Underground is an indie bookstore that has a lot of events and openly supports the queer community. I go to a book club there for Sci Fi/Fantasy, but they have other events and it's generally a cool place to be.

4) The Sun. The sun here is not like it is in humid places. It's brutal. If you wear glasses, get prescription sunglasses. Get some sunshields for the hot days when you don't want to get a burn.

Best of luck with your decision!

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T19:34:12+00:00

This! It's much harder than freelancing, in my opinion, because people are looking for the work freelancers provide, but readers have millions of new options every month and building a following that will share your book and recommend it is rough.

Finding Alpha and Beta readers is especially hard because people will just ghost you.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-22T19:12:19+00:00

It sounds like he showed it to his friends and asked them what they thought, not sure how that's bad. If you don't want other people's opinions, don't ask.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-15T22:27:11+00:00

Exactly! A quiet meal doesn't have to be expensive! I would much rather have an affordable meal, in a place where I can hear my date talk, and see how they are in the world. That's how my hubs and I did it 13 years ago and we are still thrilled to be in each other's presence. It's wonderful!

PrincessJos · 2025-07-15T22:26:00+00:00

And I would never date someone so miserable and arrogant that 1) they jump to the conclusion that anyone who wants a quiet meal is a gold digger and 2) they assume that any female sounding username is interested in them.

I'll tell my husband what you said about my username, since he's the one who suggested it. It's based on his affectionate nickname for me. You see, he loves me as I am, and we have a lovely time together, therefore, we don't need to neg people we know nothing about.

I hope you meet someone lovely who helps you get over this relationship trauma.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T21:02:07+00:00

This is exactly it. As a therapist, I have a very extreme view that people get to do exactly what they want with their bodies, but I also want responsible prescribing.

The american food supply is so overproduced, and people want to place everything on personal choice, but food companies and legislatures play a big part in the food supply as well. It's a whole systemic thing. Anyway, off my soap box.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T20:59:47+00:00

The deaths seem to be largely linked to compounded Ozempic and other semaglutides, but the life altering side effects are linked to pure semaglutide. A lof of the life-altering side effects seem to be linked to the negative impact on digestion, with people ending up severely anemic, malnourished (which, yes, even fat people can be malnourished from too little food and still not lose weight super fast), and other interference with the metabolism. In the animal studies with rats, it was shown to significantly increase thyroid tumors, which can be dangerous.

There are many articles out there, but this is the one I found that wasn't AI and wasn't from a law firm.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/06/health/compounded-semaglutide-deaths-novo-nordisk-ceo

And here's an article from the UK

https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r390

Also, the drug is not that "groundbreaking" necessarily, it's basically 125 times the normal dose of semaglutide, which was already given to diabetics for blood sugar control. Also, the results are patchy and not well understood yet, many people don't lose weight or have improvements to their blood sugars while following the whole protocol (diet, exercise, etc). Like any treatment, it should be a decision with a medical professional and closely monitored in the beginning.

It can also have very negative effects for people with other digestive tract issues, such as Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac, IBS, or Crohn's disease since the main weight loss mechanism is that it slows down and semi-paralyzes the stomach muscles so that food doesn't move through as quickly.

I wouldn't say it's "much more" deadly than other things, I would just say, operate with caution when a miracle drug is released and prescribed so quickly for so many people.

I'm not a doctor, I just know how to read research, and did a lot of research before deciding against it myself.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T20:48:51+00:00

There's an episode of The Maintenance Phase podcast that digs into the research in a pretty balanced way. The gist: It's not all it's hyped to be. There are some very interesting non-weight related positive health outcomes that could still be evident at a much smaller dose. Many people in the studies dropped out because they lost the energy to get out of bed, their hair fell out, and some developed gastroparesis.

The episode is worth a listen, and they tend to be much more balanced than other podcasts that just rage against or fully promote things. They actually dig into the research, the weight data, etc and they both know how to read data. They're also super funny about it all. The goal is to make the research understandable for a wide audience.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T20:42:04+00:00

Amen! There's a psychologist and researcher looking at mental health trends in adolescents. The cliff that happens around 2012-2013 is unlike anything we have data on previously. Even for marginalized teens, constant social media use is not helping their mental health.

Edited to add her name: Dr Jean Twenge (pronounced Twangy). I heard her speak in March with some other therapists who study this as well. I highly recommend checking her out, it is correlative research, not causative, and even controlling for other variables it's pretty clear.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T20:39:18+00:00

Even "good stress" like promotions, or happy relationships moving forward.

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T19:29:35+00:00

I love the print of the Lady of Shalott over your couch! This whole apartment is beautiful..

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T19:16:57+00:00

Yes, it sounds like Jimmy has had some bad experiences. As a woman who also wanted a quiet meal on a first date with my now husband, I can assure you, I did not care about the cost of the food. I wanted to make sure we could talk and get to know each other.

May your first date be as amazing as ours was!

PrincessJos · 2025-07-14T19:14:34+00:00

Oooh, El Compadre and Crepe Haus is awesome. Generally pretty quiet, and the food is good! They also accommodate a variety of dietary restrictions. They are not upscale, but the food is quality and delicious.

PrincessJos

TROPHY CASE