Review: An Inspiring Read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2013
I have a fascination with the human psyche, and often read memoirs of people whose lives have been shaped or twisted by mental illness.  This book tells the story of a woman's journey from a dysfunctional childhood of what must have been a very disturbing conflict of the emotions of fear, shame, happiness, and love, living with a mentally ill parent, to her own freefall into the world of abuse, promiscuity, drugs, alcohol, self-harm, and the diagnosing of her own mental illness.  I cringed with the author as she shared details of her life honestly and with candour, that must have been astoundingly hard to put down in a book for all the world to see, and I cheered with her as she used her own intelligence and strong will to fight her demons, to forgive, love, and try to overcome the hand that life had dealt her.  This book is the well written, honest, shocking, and also funny and interesting story of one woman's decision to swim and not sink.  I loved the tales of her travels around the world also.  A talented author with the ability to "take you there".  Kudos to Amanda Green for sharing her life story, so others with similar problems can see that there is always hope.