It was an easy read. A good book as the first pick for our book club. The first chapter hooked me and I think that caused me to set high expectations for the rest of the story that i feel it didn’t quite meet. The ending was a little anti-climatic but I understand why. Overall an interesting story and easy to get through. Loved the switching of perspectives too. It felt genuine.

I feel weird reviewing a woman’s life story, particularly a woman who had such a rough start as a child, but here it goes. Very very graphic. This book is not for the faint of heart. The book should come with a year of free therapy. With that being said, I think it’s a topic that is taboo and often not talked about, which is something she touches on in the book and I agree. It’s like any social issue that’s uncomfortable, we can’t just not y’all about it and hope it solves itself. To that point though, if someone feels that this might bring about trauma, I do not recommend.

The writing was casual. I liked that. It was as if, I was reading her diary. It was raw and real and the author held no punches as to the details of her abuse.

I also liked that I learned some things. Statistics about child abuse, signs to look for in a child abuse victim and even predator. Even just the different mental disorders she talked about where interesting and though provoking (made me think about myself tbh).

I also loved how she normalized therapy, which is something I desperately think our society needs to do.

Part 1 (the abuse) is a tough part to get through. My stomach was very queasy while reading it. Part 2 was a little less interesting. It was more self-evaluation/self-destruction, diary-talk and her adding in her (psychology perspective). For me Part 3 was the most interesting. It was her healing section. It was inspiring. I was amazed by her resilience and her faith.

If you can get through it, I think there’s a lot to take away from the book.