Review Detail

This book was interesting and really wasn't the type of book that I stop and read, so this was a first for me. The book starts off really weird because I have no idea what's going on but, the next few pages make it pretty clear. I never really knew what I was in for, but I am very glad that I read it. I felt like you were watching a young girl blossom into this strong independent woman. Her family and the choices that she made really made her who she is.

You are introduced to Shae Byrts who is a young girl who is not living the good life. Her and her family have a mix of love and hate that come together in the worst way. Her mother is an alcoholic who forces Shae into a motherly role for her siblings. Mrs. Byrts is nothing nice to her family and you really only see her doing two things in this story. Leaving to get drunk and yelling at her kids and those two combined make for a nasty tale. In this house, she also lives with her grandmother and three brothers and each of them have their own story that will touch your heart in some kind of way and you will start to understand Ma Violet and Toby's character as they progress. What I have noticed with each of them was that they were all suffering from something within the family.

You meet two dudes named Larry Walker and Diamond Dog Dana. I know, the weirdest name I have come across yet. Larry is really all about her and she sees that but doesn't really want to acknowledge it at first. Dana is this dude who you look at and see why she just saw dollar signs. All thought went out the window when she met him. Larry, to me was really the love of her life and who she really wanted to be with. I was reading their story and I was thinking to myself that their love is rare even at their age. But, when she realizes this, it's too late and Dana has already got his hands all over her. The nightmare that she went through with Dana and her family was enough to make any sane girl go crazy.



You are moved from one extreme to the next as her family start to take a downward spiral. A family member is killed and the book starts to go all over the place. But, don't worry you will keep up and from this point you are not going to want to put the book down. Her brothers are pulled away from her and this is where you see her starting to fight tooth and nail for them despite her own circumstances. Where is mother? You might be asking, well she's there and probably the one who is really causing all the havoc. Shae makes the best decisions for her family and pays the price when in Dana's world she is breaking all the rules.

Shae lands in the hospital and this is where you see her start to rise and you would think the story would end there but alas it doesn't. With the bad, there is also the good. Love is renewed; a part of her past is revealed and resolved. Want to know what it is, well go out and read it for yourselves. I would love to know what you thought.