Crackles like a bonfire: fierce and wise, bearing light and warmth. Hoppe’s stunning book invites us into the next, necessary chapter of our collective recovery.Leslie Jamison, New York Times bestselling author of The Recovering and The Empathy Exams

A rich excavation of one woman’s descent into addiction and the power found in laying it all bare. A triumphant example of hope where breaking harmful cycles is not found in the individual achievement but in a collective one.Lilliam Rivera, Award-winning author of Dealing in Dreams

Truth-telling at its finest. At once raw and brilliant, Jessica Hoppe's debut memoir breaks not only family cycles, but the cycle of the American Dream: a patriarchal, white, racist, misogynist nightmare that doesn’t stand a chance in the face of Hoppe's cutthroat pen. Javier Zamora, New York Times bestselling author of Solito

Sings with love and shouts with rage, offering an uplifting account of resilience and recovery even while calling out the seductive dangers of the American Dream. Carl Erik Fisher, M.D., author of The Urge

A powerful reckoning combined with an inspiring sense of freedom. Perfect for anyone looking for an honest account of what it takes to navigate sobriety as a woman of color. Lupita Aquino, LupitaReads

First in the Family does the mammoth work of bending backward and forward, weaving a multivalent story that asks all of us to consider the actual, and often awesome, debris of necessary fracture. A beautiful piece of art. Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir

A gripping narrative of generational addiction . . . This is an essential read, offering profound insights into the complexities of addiction in families and the often-obscured and difficult path to recovery. Booklist

Hoppe debuts with a bold and illuminating account of getting sober and her attempts to ‘decolonize recovery’ by deconstructing ingrained narratives about people of color and substance abuse . . . She presents her findings in sharp, forceful prose, effortlessly weaving together her personal story and her insights into the intersection between race and sobriety. This is essential reading. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

An illuminating and intense reading experience. Kirkus Reviews

First in the Family is a riveting memoir, but also a tender guide to overcoming—addiction, trauma, colonialism. It takes a writer with great emotional intelligence and generosity to trace the harrowing moments of her life back to the invisible systems and structures that damage every one of us. Jessica Hoppe has done that more. Alejandro Varela, author of The Town of Babylon

Jessica Hoppe writes with grace and gripping candor about being the first in her family to recover from addiction in this fiery debut memoir. Esquire