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on July 4, 2015
Amelia's Story, Book 1 tells the struggle of one girl's challenge to remain a part of her family with an abusive mother. She grows up in and out of the child welfare/orphanage system in England, while trying to maintain contact with her brother, form friendships and finish school. Technically, Amelia isn't an adoptee, but I chose to read this book because it was closely related to adoption and foster care and takes place outside the USA. The cover is appealing and wistful.
Everyone in the foster and adoptive care system has a worthy story, and all of our voices need to be heard. Unfortunately, the writing style is less literary and more like reading a factual report. It reads fast, but it lacks detail and deep feeling. Clearly, the writer has the feelings, and perhaps the subject matter is so sensitive that she felt unable to delve much beyond just reporting events.
There is a sequel to this book, and I am undecided about reading it at this time. I wish author D. G. Torrens well and much success with promoting her books. I hope that her writing has brought her some peace.
Everyone in the foster and adoptive care system has a worthy story, and all of our voices need to be heard. Unfortunately, the writing style is less literary and more like reading a factual report. It reads fast, but it lacks detail and deep feeling. Clearly, the writer has the feelings, and perhaps the subject matter is so sensitive that she felt unable to delve much beyond just reporting events.
There is a sequel to this book, and I am undecided about reading it at this time. I wish author D. G. Torrens well and much success with promoting her books. I hope that her writing has brought her some peace.
on March 3, 2014
I had trouble deciding whether to give this book three or four stars. As mentioned in many other reviews, there are some issues with editing, grammar, syntax and story flow. However, I cannot deny that the character of Amelia is well developed and compelling. We have all met people in our life time that seemed to be dogged by tragedy; Amelia is certainly one such person.
At the outset, the author is writing her memoir to be given to her young daughter when she grows up. It is meant to explain the childhood that Amelia cannot bring herself to talk about when asked about her past. The rest of the book depicts a life filled with cruelty, abuse, deceit, bullying, unfortunate circumstances, and the insensitivity of society toward the plight of children who are too young to defend themselves. Amelia's mother is an alcoholic and a drug addict who is unable to forge a loving relationship with any of her husbands or her children, Amelia and her brother Jake. Later on she has two more children, one of whom is disabled. Amelia's mother beats and locks up her children, she drugs them with sleeping pills, and leaves them on their own. But their mother Heidi is always successful in deceiving the Social Welfare authorities. Eventually the children are placed in daycare and foster care. They must face a whole new set of challenges. Amelia is much stronger than Jake, but she alternates between striving for success, and following a path of disobedience and resistance. Every time things seem to be looking up, she must face a new challenge either from the authorities or her peers. How will the spiral end? As an adult, will Amelia triumph or fail?
I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. Warning, do not read this book when you are feeling blue; it certainly is not one to lift your spirits. The fact remains that this is story that needs to be told, and a problem that remains hidden under the surface but one that needs to be brought out into the open and addressed. For children like Amelia are at the mercy of those in society who are bound and sworn by conscience to protect them.
At the outset, the author is writing her memoir to be given to her young daughter when she grows up. It is meant to explain the childhood that Amelia cannot bring herself to talk about when asked about her past. The rest of the book depicts a life filled with cruelty, abuse, deceit, bullying, unfortunate circumstances, and the insensitivity of society toward the plight of children who are too young to defend themselves. Amelia's mother is an alcoholic and a drug addict who is unable to forge a loving relationship with any of her husbands or her children, Amelia and her brother Jake. Later on she has two more children, one of whom is disabled. Amelia's mother beats and locks up her children, she drugs them with sleeping pills, and leaves them on their own. But their mother Heidi is always successful in deceiving the Social Welfare authorities. Eventually the children are placed in daycare and foster care. They must face a whole new set of challenges. Amelia is much stronger than Jake, but she alternates between striving for success, and following a path of disobedience and resistance. Every time things seem to be looking up, she must face a new challenge either from the authorities or her peers. How will the spiral end? As an adult, will Amelia triumph or fail?
I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. Warning, do not read this book when you are feeling blue; it certainly is not one to lift your spirits. The fact remains that this is story that needs to be told, and a problem that remains hidden under the surface but one that needs to be brought out into the open and addressed. For children like Amelia are at the mercy of those in society who are bound and sworn by conscience to protect them.
on June 23, 2016
Although this story is fiction, I totally believed every word of it. I just wanted to pick up Amelia and her siblings and bring them home with me. No child should ever be abused, and especially not to the extent that these little ones were. I have to believe that many things described in this book really happened, as the author references actual case studies.
My only reason for not giving a 5 star rating was that once again my pet peeve in any piece of writing was present throughout this book. There was a definite lack of proofreading, especially for sentence structure and punctuation. I don't know if this was intentional so the writing would seem to be done by a teenager, or if was simply lack of knowledge or lack of knowledgeable beta readers.
My only reason for not giving a 5 star rating was that once again my pet peeve in any piece of writing was present throughout this book. There was a definite lack of proofreading, especially for sentence structure and punctuation. I don't know if this was intentional so the writing would seem to be done by a teenager, or if was simply lack of knowledge or lack of knowledgeable beta readers.
on May 11, 2017
Amelia's story is simply written, a little repetitive and the punctuation sometimes leaves much to be desired. But I still found this book interesting enough to want to read to the end. What the story does do is demonstrate how an abused child might think and feel, and explains why even a child who wants to be basically good appears to be rebellious to those who have never had her experiences. Amelia's lot is not a happy one, with an abusive, unloving mother, bullies in institutions and a sexual predator in foster care. She is to be admired for wanting to rise above it all despite the odds being against her. The author explains the plight of such children well - probably because, although she doesn't exactly say so, this seems to be her entire childhood story.
on December 26, 2012
Amelia's Story is a heart-breaking drama of child abuse and the failure of institutionalized child care. It is compelling and heartfelt, detailing the recollections of an abusive childhood experienced by the author. The book is gripping, and while I had difficulty with some of the disturbing stories told here, I could not put it down. Still, despite the material, I often found myself smiling at some of the happier moments--it was reassuring to know that the author found joy in the simplest pleasures, like laughter and play. It is amazing what the human mind can latch onto to save itself from crumbling.
It is a testament to the author that they survived such a horrible upbringing and came to grips with their life, overcoming incredible adversity nearly every single day for years on end. In the end, the book teaches us that life is worth living and that we can overcome any challenges that face us if we hold faith in our hearts that tomorrow will be a better day. Highly recommended.
It is a testament to the author that they survived such a horrible upbringing and came to grips with their life, overcoming incredible adversity nearly every single day for years on end. In the end, the book teaches us that life is worth living and that we can overcome any challenges that face us if we hold faith in our hearts that tomorrow will be a better day. Highly recommended.
on September 19, 2015
I never write reviews, mainly because I use the Amazon Kindle app on my smartphone and it's a little difficult, but, I felt compelled to write this review. I feel bad leaving a one star on this book because the this is a true story, and it was personally relatable. However, the writing was redundant. There's only so many times you can read the words, "why does everyone hate me so much? What did I do so wrong?" before you become annoyed. I read up until 33% before I just started skimming paragraphs because I just could not deal with the poor pity me attitude anymore. Admittedly, I was interested to find out what had happened to some of the characters in this book, and that was the only reason I continued reading. However, the author did not write about what happened to them, so I'm assuming that she wrote about them in the next book. I don't think I'd be able to handle reading another repetitive book though, so I will probably pass on part two of this series.
on May 12, 2017
I love true stories like this. Amelia somehow survived her traumatic childhood and being essentially raised in children't homes most of her life. She had an inner drive to climb out of her past and make her future better. By the time the book ends she has gotten out of the Children's home and kicked out of the home of the family who took her in. I couldn't wait to get the next book to find out what happened to her.
on March 19, 2017
This book had no emotion whatsoever. Told strictly as facts. Too long. Really a disappointment as it was recommended by Amazon.
on February 23, 2012
D.G. Torrens' AMELIA'S STORY hurls readers into the depths of a dark and twisted tale of a young girl and her brother who suffer at the hand of a mother whose love seems to be long lost.
As hard and sad as it is to make your way through the story, the words that live within each of these pages are ones that need to be read. Need to be felt. In the deepest parts of each of our souls. It is not a book for the faint of heart. But it is a book that reminds us of the true horrors that exist in our society. The true horrors that so many face. And, above all, AMELIA'S STORY, is a tribute to those with the strength and courage to keep going, to keep moving forward, to try and create a happy future, even when the past has done nothing but fill you with heartache and sadness.
In this first installment, Torrens reminds us that when standing face to face with adversity, we MUST stand tall... and continue on.
As hard and sad as it is to make your way through the story, the words that live within each of these pages are ones that need to be read. Need to be felt. In the deepest parts of each of our souls. It is not a book for the faint of heart. But it is a book that reminds us of the true horrors that exist in our society. The true horrors that so many face. And, above all, AMELIA'S STORY, is a tribute to those with the strength and courage to keep going, to keep moving forward, to try and create a happy future, even when the past has done nothing but fill you with heartache and sadness.
In this first installment, Torrens reminds us that when standing face to face with adversity, we MUST stand tall... and continue on.
