Wednesday, February 6, 2013

A Stolen Life

A Stolen Life
by Jaycee Dugard

Genre: Memoir

Synopsis: In the summer of June of 1991, I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother that loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.
For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse. For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation.
On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don’t think of myself as a victim, I simply survived an intolerable situation. A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.
From the publisher

Review: This book is heart wrenching as you read a true story of Jaycee Dugard while she retells her story of  living in captivity and abuse for 18 years.  Dugard starts out in the preface of saying that the book may jump around and have tangents but that is how she is.  That was my major problem with this book.  Dugard would write a chapter and then have a reflection piece which to me should be reflecting on what she just wrote.  That's not what happened!  She would reflect on something that didn't always have something to do with the current chapter.  I'll be honest that drove me nuts.  The writing style was also very poor but I equate that to the fact that she only went to school up to 5th grade due to being kidnapped.  The story did keep me reading and I was so intrigued by what kept her in captivity for so long.  I was astounded to find out how many times she went out as she got older and I can't even imagine the mental abuse she suffered that she didn't even try to seek help when she was out. Dugard writes very openly and honestly about her situation.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars (due to the writing quality)

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