Picked this up because Shari deserves to get her story heard. Shari is a phenomenal writer and is able to articulate her emotions and thoughts about her ordeal in an almost poetic way. Despite the fact that I have never experienced what she has, I can relate to some of the struggles she had gone through and I felt so seen. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have those struggles in that house under the tyranny of Ruby. Her journey and battle to undo YEARS of trauma, abuse, brainwashing and manipulation was inspiring.

There were some loose ends in this memoir such as what happened to Dwight, how did Chad manage to break out of the brainwashing, has she managed to see and mend her relationship with her younger siblings. HOWEVER, I do understand that Shari wants to keep certain information, especially those related to her siblings, away from the public as they deserve their privacy and this is her way of protecting them. I admire her strength, resilience and the love she has for her siblings. 

While I did notice some people wishing she had seen the harm the LDS church had done and cut herself off from them, I'm only glad that her current ward and bishop seems to be a positive and supportive influence in her life. I admit to not knowing much about the LDS church, I never heard of this religion until this case blew up but I find it hard to believe that an entire religion is inherently bad. It seems that the ward the Franke family had been in was toxic and horrid but after the switch, it seems that the new ward is much better. Especially since the new bishop managed to get consequences delivered to Derek, thank you to him. 

I'm glad that Shari is safe and happy, and her siblings are no longer held captive, and Ruby and Jodi are in prison. Stuff is still unfolding such as details relating to Kevin and Pam's involvement in the abuse, but I only hope all the best for Shari and her siblings.