This book was literally breathtaking. I gasped, I shrieked, I whimpered, and I held my breath multiple times! O'Donnell digs into emotional abuse in a masterful and thoughtful way that I've never seen before. 

In NESTING, Ciara is the mother of two young girls, and she is trying to decide if she can leave her husband Ryan. Ryan has never beaten Ciara, but he has scared her many times, and she's tried to leave before. The feeling she gets when he's angry is hard to hold onto when his mood flips and he is sweet again, leaving Ciara feeling confused about what is real and what is worth a reaction. And how big of a reaction is warranted when one's husband is critical and mean but not straightforwardly abusive?

This story is tight with tension, and the stakes are so cruel and so clear. The women who show up for Ciara and who huddle around her through her misery are warm and welcoming, but they have also been through so much. The problems Ciara faces around housing, employment, and travel are not hers alone, and her neighbors' and friends' stories help shed light on the prevalence and insidiousness of emotional and domestic abuse. Through it all, there is a thread taut with determination that continues to give you both hope and righteous anger.