Reviews with content warning for Rape - Spilled Milk

Not sure how this one popped up on my radar - the text was included in KU, the audio was not, but was available for a reduced/whisperSync price ($2) and was AudibleExclusive, so I figured it pay the little bit extra to have the audio. This was read by the author ... and it was a little dry. It totally felt like was at an author reading, not quite on par with professional narration.

This is marked as nonfiction/memoir/biography/true-story here on GoodReads ...not so on Storygraph (listed as fiction). I believe the latter is correct. While yes this is "based" on true events, and so much of it IS the author's life (as stated in the author's notes, and the "based on true events") but it is also pointed out "character names, places and incidents are used fictitiously, and any any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental" ... not sure how you say this is non-fiction with that statement.

While I did get sucked into the story, and cared about the characters, and really appreciated many of the insights given by Beth (the MC, based on the author) ... it was pretty choppy, especially at the start. There's a prologue which is the "present day" then it goes back to a day in the past when the MC was very young, swimming with her brother. The brother almost drowns. I wasn't sure exactly what starting with this story was supposed to do ... I guess show us (the reader) that the little girl had some understandable hero-worship of dear daddy to start, that he didn't want them to tell mommy (just one of the secrets she would be asked to keep). Chapter 2 starts with the words "I was seven" ... more seemingly random memories. Here, I guess showing that the dad lost his tempter and hurt one of the kids?), backgroup of why Mom isn't more helpful, and the introduction of our MC keeping a diary. The chapter ends with "Dad was home". Chapter 3 ... our MC is nine, and it stays at this time-frame for a bit, but still, just some scenes and happenings I just didn't quite understand why we were being given this random information, and mixed in, almost hard to catch, is the revelation of the abuse (by chapter 5/she's 11). Some of it was so obscure I wasn't actually sure when the first full rape took place, at what age.

I just didn't get some things ... beyond the "why doesn't she tell" which is actually addressed later on,

when she and her sister are going to run away, they wait until the middle of the night to sneak out, but the WAKE UP their mother to say goodbye, and of course are talked out of it. If her mother read her journal and cried over it ... why didn't she do anything? Why did she(the mom) want the move? I wondered at the jury being so involved "we believed you and here's exactly what to do on retrial to make sure you win"

I know I shouldn't be so hard on a teenage boy (so if this WAS being touted as non-fiction, Paul might have some haters out there), it's a tough time, but he was a pretty big jerk at time. Hard to believe Brooke would have had any lingering feelings for him.

It was interesting to have our MC lay out some facts ... this is what helped, don't assume this or that. This part of it is what made me bump up the overall rating in the end. I also think I'm more inclined to be more lenient when knowing it was based on true events - but I wonder how it would have read, how I would have felt, if it HAD been written as non-fiction, a biography.

I loved how the title tied in, that was pretty impactful.

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Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis

phily_g_123's review

mnicewaner's review

mob333's review

bookrecsanddnfs's review

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