I didn’t expect this memoir to be as hard hitting as what it was. But it truly left me sat in my seat thinking about what I had read for a long time. Hard to read, but a brilliantly written tale.

Could not finish this book. Everything moved slower than I liked and it couldn't grab my attention. DNF

So Damn Sketchy
By: Bonnie Kent
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars

"This is a story about love, loss and hope." -Amazon

📢Trigger warning: Drug use, eating disorders, suicidal themes, sexual abuse and homelessness.

When Bonnie loses her father at 9 years old, she starts a journey to find herself. This loss was such a tragic experience for her that she started to look for him in the boys and men she starts to allow into her life. Including, those that she should be able to trust to not hurt her.

As she gets older she trys to fill the void with drugs, one night stands, and all the parties she can find. Eventually she starts to push those close to her away and she finds herself alone, broke and homeless.

After hitting rock bottom, she slowly begins to climb back up to a living healthier life which is no easy feat.

Bonnie's story reminds me of my own past and the tough self love journey that I had to go on to find the best version of me.

Thank you @netgalley and @victoryediting for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Wow, it’s been a long time since I felt a book like this one. Any millennial woman can relate to this story. So many things many of us either experienced or were just a decision away from experiencing. Definitely recommend.

This review was posted on Goodreads under PenguinPages YT.
I will also post a similar review on my YouTube channel.

I thought this book was. . . probably about 3.5 stars at best.

Now, I don't normally read memoirs, so maybe this is a problem for all of them, but I thought that this book was waaay to fast paced, and, because of this, it felt impersonal. Don't get me wrong, I could feel the emotion that Bonnie was feeling, but I couldn't feel myself in those experiences with her, simply because time was moving to fast to feel relatable. I realize that this book is trying to cover a very large period of time in a very short span of pages, and I don't have a solution to the problem except to say that maybe the author took "show, don't tell" to the extreme and perhaps could have skipped some of the less important years and simply told us what happened. But I digress.

I do wish Bonnie spent a little more time on the "climbing out" aspect of her life, because I needed it after that roller coaster of a book! The ending felt very rushed, and while I get that the book is about the worst years of her life and not all about her recovery, I wish there was just a little bit more of said recovery, or maybe even an epilogue about where she's at as she writes.

I do think that Bonnie did a great job of convey her emotion. I could feel what she was feeling all the way through the novel, which really helped illustrate what she was going through. The writing style of this book was also amazing. It was written in an easy, light tone, all without taking away from the weight of the experiences described. I also loved how she put her age at the time in the chapter titles. This really helped me, because I often have trouble picking up subtle text cues involving things like age.

So all in all, an okay read. It had some things about it that I really liked, and some things I really didn't, and in the end, they cancelled each other out.

Please check trigger warnings before reading this, as it covers some pretty deep subjects.

This book broke my heart, and then fixed it, and I genuinely cried towards the end of the book. The story is told in such a beautiful way, and it felt so raw and original, and I truly did feel connected to each of the characters.

Bonnie had such an incredibly hard life and had to fight through so much, and she truly made you feel like you were reading the story of Bonnies life and felt everything she did. I enjoyed reading about all of her different romantic relationships, some more strange and maybe less ethical than others.

I truly fell in love with Lachlan and enjoyed all of the scenes with him in this book, his character was so sweet and so caring, and even after a difficult start, the ending to the story truly hit me in the feels.

The last line truly had me crying, so if your about to read this, then please wait till the last sentence and it is so worth it after everything that happens.

I read this book in one day and basically one sitting, so if you start this just be warned that you won't be able to put this down, and that you will need tissues with you at all times.

Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Bonnie Kent, you have lived a life I very much so relate with and it was a pleasure to read all about it. as I don’t often feel like a book hits me the way So Damn Sketchy has. This is a memoir-type of book I believe mixed with fiction dealing with a lot of heavy and raw themes. It’s a very emotional book with talks of death, suicide, drug and alcohol use, homelessness, and sex. The book has a great flow and I feel like I was with Bonnie that whole time she was growing up and changing over time. It was powerful and insightful and inspiring.

The ending had me smiling and crying. A reminder that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, darkness before the dawn.

Bonnie is a 9-year-old girl who speaks about the trouble she faces as she grows up, with her dad passing away, her mum growing distant to completely abandoning her. She relies on care and comfort from her big brother Adam and Sean who’s a family friend that has been living with the family for years.

Bonnie Kent’s writing makes you feel like you are in the moment and can physically feel like pain and anxiety that she is dealing with in each situation and life change.

The only downside to So Damn Sketchy is I was left with questions and in need of a sequel!! I have already told friends about this book and that it is a must-read!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnie Kemp and the publisher for providing me with an E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.


The content in this book is heavy to read most of the time, so I’d advise checking trigger warnings.
It was raw and emotional and felt like reading diary extracts at times. I love how the story was in a timeline from when she was a child, as it gave more context about where her struggles began

This was a different style then I was used to but I still loved reading it. It was so raw. It was definitely a book I could not put down. Keep in mind of the TW's as this book felt heavy at times. I enjoyed reading her journey throughout her life. I don't want to spoil anything but I highly recommend a read.

Oh wow, I loved this book!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Victory Editing Co Op for allowing me the absolute pleasure of reading this.

Bonnie went through so much with her difficult at times family, and choices that she made. She seemed to hit rock bottom on more than one occasion. Ultimately she got help and love when she needed it most.

I cried a lot while reading this, and loved every second of it!

A memoir written like fiction. I utterly devoured this book.

Bonnie is at a loss when her father dies to cancer and her overwhelmed mother leaves her pretty much in the care of her 15 year old brother and his friend.

She grows up with very little support/supervision and runs a little wild. When her long term boyfriend breaks up with her before leaving for another country, she calls out a long term family friend, and her mother moves away with her two younger siblings she spirals downward.

After hitting rock bottom Bonnie gets her feet back under her with help from those who meant so much before.

Spoilery Spoilery from here on.

Ok so I don’t understand why Bonnie feels guilty for calling Sean a groomer. If he was in his 20s and engaging in escalating sexual behavior with her as a 15 year old - he was a groomer.

When Bonnie’s father passes from cancer when she is young, her long downward spiral begins. Over her teenage years, Bonnie faces struggle after struggle and doesn’t always handle them the way you wish she would. By the time she’s twenty, she’s homeless and deep in a depression. Fortunately, a chance encounter gives her the opportunity to reverse course and

After reading this book, you can’t convince me that every millennial women didn’t grow up in some weird shared experience. While Bonnie and I had very different experiences growing up, the pain and personal struggles we both faced are extremely similar. There were times when I wanted to reach through the story to shake Bonnie and yell at her, “No, girl. I’ve done that! Make another choice!”

Kent’s writing is deeply personal and unflinchingly raw. The book is heavy on dialogue and focuses on a lot of the bad things that happen in her life. I had to stop about half way through for a bit because her story gets very dark. In the end, while she doesn’t provide you with a sparkly happily ever after, the story ends on a glimmer of hope.

4 ⭐️

This was different from the books I’d usually gravitate towards and I wouldn’t often read a semi-biographical book but I really enjoyed this one and it was a fantastic debut novel for Bonnie Kent!

In So Damn Sketchy we follow Bonnie, from age 9 after the death of her father to 21, where she deals with grief, mental health and family troubles and just all the curveballs life throws her way. This book is told entirely from her POV.

This book was heavy, raw and real and it pulled all the emotions out of me. I just kept reading and reading hoping something good will happen for Bonnie because her life was tough and heartbreaking. The author really didn’t skimp when it came to the details and realism of the situation that was happening. It dealt with such heavy subjects that wasn’t glamourised or sugarcoated at all (so definitely check the trigger warning for this book before you pick it up) but I admired Bonnie’s strength, she is a real survivor and I could of kept reading more and more about her life once I got to the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this one and I highly recommend you give this a go if it interests you!

*Thank you to Netgalley & the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

“𝐼 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘...“

This book was not even close to what I expected. I first want to applaud the author for her strength and courage to open up and share her story with us. She is very brave for presenting and exposing her experience to the whole world to acknowledge, judge and learn from.

Bonnie was only 9yo when she lost her father. She feels that part of her is lost with him, and she sets out to find someone or something to fill the aching void. Feeling abandoned, broken and unwanted, Bon starts her rebellious “𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟“ life at the age of 12/13. She loses herself bit by bit in the world of parties, alcohol, sex and utter oblivion. By the age of 19, things seem to only get worse. Her whole support system is crumbling to the grounds. Family? Gone. Friends? Gone. Job? Gone. Home…? Gone. Finding herself broke, homeless and very lonely, Bonnie sought her final resort in the only thing she promised herself to 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 approach. Drugs.
This book was a roller-coaster of emotions. I cried, I laughed, I judged, I sympathized and then I understood. The way she narrated and titled the chapters was also very interesting! Each title got me more intrigued to know what happened next. At certain chapters, I panicked. I kept praying for her safety and wanted to know more about her situation in the now present.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC.