Review: Gut-wrenching, awe-inspiring, a true survivor's tale of triumph
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 24, 2014
An unbelievable, often gut-wrenching story of Katherine Svoi Smythe, who emerged from horrific abuse to rise above and take flight to a better life.  I have read numerous case studies of children who were relegated to living with the dogs, of sadistic parents who've done unthinkable cruelty to their children, and thought I was ready for her story. However, Unbreakable does what the case studies never could; it makes the pain, and by extension the eventual triumphs, hit home as if Katherine were family.Her pain returns with the breakup from her first true love, and as she comes to terms with sorrow the buried memories of her horrific childhood come flooding back, forcing her to at last confront and deal with the trauma she had managed to suppress for most of her adult life.Understanding the pain and heartache she endured only makes her journey to become the strong, powerful woman she is now that much more amazing. Throughout it all she managed to cling to hope, to dreams of a better, happier future, and eventually break the vicious cycle that her family had been stuck in for nearly a century. She is a far stronger person than I could ever hope to be, and her story inspires me.