Tuesday, July 22, 2014

"Where Fault Lies: A Survivor's Story of Game, Shame & Blame" by Carrie May Lucas (5 Stars)

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Where Fault Lies:
A Survivor's Story of Game, Shame & Blame
by Carrie May Lucas

Genre: Non-fiction|Autobiography

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I don't normally read autobiographies but the author contacted me and asked if I would make an exception, so I did. I knew going in that it wasn't going to be an easy read, and that it quite possibly would trigger memories in me that I've tried hard to put behind me, but that was ok. The author had put a painful period of her life in writing and asked me to review it, so I was darn well going to do it.

Right from the beginning, I became uncertain about what I was going to read. The reason being, the author's very honest approach. This memoir is written like a fiction novel, a story you might pick up in the fiction section of your local bookstore, and for me, that made it better. But it also made it difficult to see what was going to happen, because the author didn't go into the story with hateful sidebars and little sarcastic snippets. She expressed how she felt at the time of each event, writing the antagonist as seen through rose colored glasses so that you wondered if the bad thing you were expecting was really going to happen. I was impressed. And appalled.

The "man" that Carrie May Lucas falls for made me personally sick, right from the introduction. I had no trouble seeing this person for who he was, and unfortunately, I felt a great deal of anger and sadness while reading because I could see the train wreck up ahead but she could not, and I had no way to warn her. This man's behavior was one big red flag to me, and when the horror of it was finally realized by the author, I felt intense fury at the lack of support she received.

It's hard to review this book, because just about anything that I say will 'give it all away'. I remind myself that the rules for no-spoilers are probably different for non fiction, but I'll still keep it brief.

WHERE FAULT LIES is a book filled with triggers. It is about one woman's mental anguish and physical abuse at the hands of a narcissistic predator. Written with skill and heart, brutal honestly and great courage, Carrie May Lucas has reached out and shared her experience so that others might be spared.


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