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megot78's review against another edition
3.0
Truly 3.5 stars from me, but since we can’t do halves, going with 3. Couldn’t put it down, but also kind of disturbed by it.
sarah_hi112010's review against another edition
5.0
Intense. Heartbreaking. Beautiful story of a mothers never ending love for her child
mcdunnc's review against another edition
4.0
Such an emotional rollercoaster throughout the whole book, especially being a mother of a little boy. The mother’s judgment call for the safety of her daughter and her lack of listening to not only the therapist but also her husband annoyed me. I also didn’t care for the ending from the father, I didn’t find it necessary and I wish we would have had more from Noah at that point. But overall the story was captivating and made me sympathetic towards something I never thought I could be before.
tbecker2258's review against another edition
4.0
I had an inkling of the ending but didn’t think it would go as smoothly. Still a little bit of a shocker for me at the end. Another good one by Lucinda
v_nez's review against another edition
4.0
Not my normal kind of read!
TW: suicide, assisted suicide, SA, pedophilia, Rape
Poor tortured Noah. Never would I have thought I would feel bad for someone who SA’d two little girls. But his story was beyond tragic. Golden Boy grows into his perverse attractions to little girls. He goes into counseling while he watches multiple ppl being SA’d and raped. He gets out of therapy and attempts to take his life and his mother is trying to stand by him regardless what’s wrong with her son. He finally opens up to her and she finally understands and he then asks her to help him kill himself. As a mother it hurt my heart for that mom that she had to kill her own kid for him to feel finally happy with his decision. Cried way more than I wanted to. My heart is broken for this fictional woman and I don’t know what to do about it.
The twist of his father doing the same thing as a kid tho was super unexpected and I’m beyond angry at that man!
TW: suicide, assisted suicide, SA, pedophilia, Rape
Poor tortured Noah. Never would I have thought I would feel bad for someone who SA’d two little girls. But his story was beyond tragic. Golden Boy grows into his perverse attractions to little girls. He goes into counseling while he watches multiple ppl being SA’d and raped. He gets out of therapy and attempts to take his life and his mother is trying to stand by him regardless what’s wrong with her son. He finally opens up to her and she finally understands and he then asks her to help him kill himself. As a mother it hurt my heart for that mom that she had to kill her own kid for him to feel finally happy with his decision. Cried way more than I wanted to. My heart is broken for this fictional woman and I don’t know what to do about it.
The twist of his father doing the same thing as a kid tho was super unexpected and I’m beyond angry at that man!
francesca_aiello141's review against another edition
5.0
This book was extremely uncomfortable to read. I know other reviews comment about some of the writing and thoughts the mother had and how wrong they were. But some parents can be completely blinded by their love for their children. And I feel this book really pushes that boundary into uncomfortable. I’m not saying the mother’s feelings and thoughts about the girls is right. But she was trying to compare the life long struggle her son would have versus the different type of struggle the young girls would have. Not sure if anyone considered the view of how normal it is for woman to go through sexual abuse and maybe her thought process was stemming from that. Who knows. Either way this book made me uncomfortable, confused, and had me questioning so so many things. It reminded me about how I felt reading All the Ugly and Wonderful Things. Another very uncomfortable read that will make you question everything you thought you knew.
naeliii13's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, I’ve had time to sit on my thoughts for this book. It was a short book, short chapters. Straight to the point. I found myself infuriated with Adrienne, which you’re supposed to be. However, I find myself even more frustrated with people who say “this book shows a mother’s love and I related to it” … no, you didn’t. I highly doubt you’d react the same if your son/daughter were a pedophile.
This book hurt for so many reasons and I cannot find why a mother would be proud in saying they can relate to Adrienne’s feelings and how she warped reality. Adrienne tried to say the little girls won’t be scarred for life from what Noah did. Yes, they indeed will. And I wish people didn’t see this just as a “mother’s love” story. It’s not that in the slightest. It’s the reality of having a pedophile in your life.
I was revolted at specific chapters and wish people didn’t romanticize this story. Lucinda Berry doesn’t do this herself. She makes her writing vivid and blunt so readers understand. However, I find too many people glorify this book to portray how much they love their kids and what they’d do for them. To wrap it all up, I believe this is the reason I couldn’t give this book a higher review. Did I enjoy it to where I’d give it 5-stars? Absolutely not. Was the writing good to be 5-stars? Possibly. But I just can’t justify giving this book 5-stars when the topic is hard and this is not an “enjoyable” read.
This book hurt for so many reasons and I cannot find why a mother would be proud in saying they can relate to Adrienne’s feelings and how she warped reality. Adrienne tried to say the little girls won’t be scarred for life from what Noah did. Yes, they indeed will. And I wish people didn’t see this just as a “mother’s love” story. It’s not that in the slightest. It’s the reality of having a pedophile in your life.
I was revolted at specific chapters and wish people didn’t romanticize this story. Lucinda Berry doesn’t do this herself. She makes her writing vivid and blunt so readers understand. However, I find too many people glorify this book to portray how much they love their kids and what they’d do for them. To wrap it all up, I believe this is the reason I couldn’t give this book a higher review. Did I enjoy it to where I’d give it 5-stars? Absolutely not. Was the writing good to be 5-stars? Possibly. But I just can’t justify giving this book 5-stars when the topic is hard and this is not an “enjoyable” read.
das3838's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 I've always been fascinated by the mother's perspective when her son has done something awful. I'm raising two boys and am a survivor myself, so I was curious. I knew what I was in for when I picked up this book, but it was all just so upsetting. From the mother's excuses to the victimization of the perpetrator to then the SOLUTION??? Is Berry suggesting we just put all pedophiles down, so to speak? Ugh. Just, awful.
Since the topic is so close to my own experience, I'm having difficulty separating my bias from the reality of the book, which is why I rounded down. I do think the writing leaves a bit to be desired and the characters are pretty two-dimensional. (The mother says some truly disgusting things about the little girls who are her son's victims.) And the ending is just all together very, very upsetting. Would not recommend.
Since the topic is so close to my own experience, I'm having difficulty separating my bias from the reality of the book, which is why I rounded down. I do think the writing leaves a bit to be desired and the characters are pretty two-dimensional. (The mother says some truly disgusting things about the little girls who are her son's victims.) And the ending is just all together very, very upsetting. Would not recommend.