Review: An Emotionally Gripping Story That Will Leave you Shaking!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2014
This book starts out by immersing you in the past and present of a woman named Stella, with a history so horrific...it's a miracle she emerged with her sanity in tact. Not only can she function, but she also overcomes insurmountable horrors to become a survivor determined to succeed in life. By this point in the book there is a lot of angst, and you're getting back story interwoven into the plot like breadcrumbs, not quite comprehending the depth of what's about to take place.Wesley resurrected her. Tried to break and make her submit, which eventually would have healed her demons. Then, without intention, he inadvertently destroyed her. Nothing before that or after that could break her because she was DESTROYED. In the end, it was love that broke her, but thankfully, it happened just in time to face her final challenge, while in a complete and utter state of defeat and numbness. Stella became a fractured, disassociated mind that could no longer physically, emotionally, or psychologically feel.The same intense love that heals all the broken pieces of your soul has the same power to shatter you beyond recognition. In Stella's own words, she tells us what it finally destroyed her when even years of the most heinous horrors couldn't break her spirit or desire to live."Falling in love with the man I swore to hate, trusting him, being honest with him. Giving him absolutely everything that I could, and watching, as he walks away like it never mattered. In the end—love is what destroyed me."With a final showdown, and an ending so disturbing, there's no possible way you'll see it coming. And it will hit hard, and fast, and absolutely take your breath away.To say that someone reached into my chest cavity, and ripped my heart out with their bare hands and held it out in front of me, still thumping, is an accurate description of my emotional state while reading That Which Destroys Me. Never in my entire life have I read anything as emotionally powerful, shocking, disturbing, and heart breaking. I never saw it coming...at all.As an author, I write what I read. Many times, I have attempted to write a gritty memoir disguised as fiction, but even my own messed up life, literally pales in comparison to what Stella not only endured, but also survived until the very end. She is, and will continue to be a fighter. The human spirit is, and will continue to be...the strongest substance on earth.