First off, I absolutely loved this book. It touched me in a way that few books do. It felt very personal to me and I related to Leni's situation a lot. It often felt like I was reliving my childhood: abusive, alcoholic father, mother, who just puts up with it, children who keep quiet about it and sink into the background in an effort not to upset their violent parent.

I know I should have felt sorry for Dad, but all I felt was hatred for this character. I've seen the same excuses firsthand and I recognise they're always just lies. I felt frustrated with Mama, and this story gave me a glimpse into what my life could have been like, had my mum not been strong enough to leave with us.

I know the pacing of this book is off. It starts off very slowly and continues to build up slowly, until 

Mama shoots Dad dead.

After that, the pace picks up and everything happens fast. The change of pace didn't bother me as much, as I already loved Leni's story and I tend to enjoy fast-paced books more anyway.

My only issue with this story is that the author used the same trope she did in 

Night Road – girl loses the most important person, is revealed pregnant so all she has of him is his baby. I'm not a fan of the have-secret-baby-and-reunite-at-the-end trope.

Even so, five glowing stars from me because I just could not put this book down.