I have very mixed feelings about this book. I loved some of the chapters - the one about her daughter was especially moving and beautiful. However, I was also annoyed with a lot of them. This is a very self indulgent memoir, it's me me me all the time, everything is about the author. Even when she almost drowns her son it's about her. She's reckless and doesn't learn from her mistakes, continuously putting herself in danger for really stupid reasons. I like memoirs in which the writer reflects on their mistakes and works through their errors, and she just doesn't seem to do that. I wish she was more apologetic, and genuinely analysed her mistakes, as opposed to finding excuses, such as her need for freedom and rebellion, for repeating them over and over again.

The writing, I have to say, is stunning. Sometimes she overdoes the imagery, making it all a bit heavy to read, and I often found myself drifting off and not paying attention, because she was just putting the same thing into too many different words. But that is perhaps just because I like very straightforward writing.

A lot of people love this book, so I would recommend it if it seems like your kind of thing - it just wasn't what I wanted it to be.