Amy's Reviews > Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House

A REVIEW FROM SOMEONE WHO'S ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK!

I pre-ordered this, and pretty much devoured it over the course of last night and this morning (allowing for a few hours of sleep). I wanted to read the tell all written by someone who supports Trump and his platform, and was willing to be honest about his experiences no matter how that honesty might be interpreted.

Reading Team of Vipers was difficult, primarily because I have a very low tolerance for bullshit, like people making excuses to themselves why voting for a man like Trump - pretty much the antithesis of these christian, family values everyone keeps telling me about - is a good, moral, and religiously right thing to do. Every time the excuses or conspiracy theories came up, I just wanted to smack the author upside the head. You're an investigative journalist, so act like it! Evidence is important not just when it hurts rivals, but also when it exposes flaws in your own reasoning that you should address.

At the same time, Sims has earned my grudging respect. He's published his experience and put his name on it, for good or ill. He was remarkably respectful in addressing dissenting opinions (with the exception of anything to do with HRC, where his conspiracy theory fueled dislike gets the better of him), such as religious people who decided not to support Trump (though he neglects to mention that they outnumbered by religious Trump supporters). Sims' point of view fills in some blanks where other exposes and memoirs have not reached, and does an admirable job of at least trying to be fair in coverage of both Trump's faults and strengths (although on the latter I think he is a bit too gracious).

Team of Vipers wasn't a horrible book, though it's probably not something I would have picked up if I wasn't interested in the Trump administration. It is a book that I would recommend, especially to readers who are more skeptical of portrayals of that come from mainstream investigative journalists (like Bob Woodward's Fear: Trump in the White House).