Counting Backwards by Jacqueline Friedland ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 Pub Day: March 11, 2025 Bethany's Review: What an amazing story inspired by true events. Jessa Gidney, a lawyer at a high-profile firm, falls upon a pro bono case regarding fighting against a deportation order. While talking to this woman, she finds out that without her permission, she was sterilized. Digging deeper into the facts, Jessa finds out the unimaginable and that her family was involved in the past. Dealing with her own struggles of getting pregnant, Jessa works to bring a class action suite regarding medical malpractice and the practice of eugenics. The story is told in two timelines and two POV tying together nicely throughout. The writing was easy to follow, and the storyline kept me from putting this down. Many important issues were discussed such as the practice of eugenics, fertility, deportation and family secrets. The author’s note at the end showed the amount of research that went into creating this novel and summed everything up. This is an important read that would make great discussion for a book club! Sara's Review: Wow, what a difficult, yet incredibly well written story. Two timelines, two characters, centered on the horrific eugenics and forced sterilization programs. The timelines are woven together smoothly- connecting in ways the reader doesn’t see coming. The characters are well developed and real - the emotions are felt through the pages. A complex story, based on truth, that is so important to share. I thought that the author did an incredible job of creating an emotional story that is impossible to turn away from. LTKSeasonal LTKFamily LTKFindsUnder50