Kristen Kemp

I came across this book last year because my school's librarian had run out of shelf space and put all of the books that haven't been taken out ever or very little into a few boxes. She asked the Library Club (a group of my friends and I) to pick out any books we may want to keep. I figured, as long as they were free I might as well grab a bunch! This was one of them.

And I'm glad I didn't have to pay a dime for this.

Let me tell you, even though I am only 50 pages into it, it pains me to read any further. The writing isn't all that great, the characters annoying and forgettable, and of course, the coincidental bad things that happen to her are 1 in a million.

This book begins with Ellen, whose family is oh so annoying and out to get her, her boyfriend is SO gorgeous, she has a gossipy best friend, and a guy friend named Julian, who loves her a lot and can't bear her being with her jerk boyfriend. It starts with Julian telling a truthful story about how his friend saw her boyfriend and best friend making out together. Of course Ellen thinks Julian is jealous and FREAKS out and tells him that she will never love a weasel like him. She goes to her boyfriend's party, hoping to have her first time, only to realize Julian was right, and her boyfriend told her how lame she really was and there was no use waiting for her to be ready. Eventually, the parent's find out and freak out too, and ground her. She goes to pick up the phone, to find that her mother is having an AFFAIR with her English teacher. When she goes back to school, everyone tells lies about her to make her cry and she throws a pity party for herself when Julian won't take her back! Boo hoo.

I could not STAND reading another word of this story, mostly because of how pathetic Ellen is. She makes me physically sick, as she reminds me of some old friends who used to try to slither back into my life while throwing a pity party saying how they were so stupid and sorry. When even though, they had not learneda thing from how they had hurt anyone. Please. You think your best friend will take you back after you were a GIGANTIC jerk to him!? I cheered for Julian 100% in this novel.

And on another note, even when she heard her mother on the phone exchanging sexy, sexy words with Mr. English teacher, WHY OH WHY did she sit and cry about it? If you were going to confront her, do it then. Accuse her right after she gets off the phone and demand an answer. She couldn't possibly lie her way out of it when you recite every word the two exchanged.

And then of course, how many people have lost their best friend, lost another best friend AND your boyfriend because they were sleeping together, and found out their mother was cheating with your teacher in the span of A DAY!? It's like she won the unlucky lottery. I couldn't even pretend that this story could possibly be real.

All in all, I'm going to be donating this book as soon as possible. Hopefully someone will enjoy this book, because I couldn't possibly get any enjoyment out of it. It had a great concept, but was ruined by the characters.… (plus d'informations)

Product Details

Pub. Date: March 2011
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Format: Hardcover , 336pp
Sales Rank: 43,717

ISBN-13: 9780307592132
ISBN: 0307592138

Summary provided by BN.com:
“When I decided to look, I found more love and compassion than I ever imagined existed. Most significantly, I found forgiveness. I might even call it redemption.”
On July 4, 1990, eighteen-year-old Stacey Lannert shot and killed her father, who had been sexually abusing her since she was eight. Missouri state law, a disbelieving prosecutor, and Stacey’s own fragile psyche conspired against her: She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
Redemption is Stacey’s candid memoir of her harrowing childhood and the pain and protective love of her sister that led her to that horrifying night. It is also an extraordinary portrait of what happened after she found herself in prison and how she grew determined to live positively, even triumphantly, despite her circumstances. Ultimately, and most profoundly, she learned the healing power of forgiveness.
After spending as many years in prison as she had out of it, on January 10, 2009, outgoing Missouri governor Matt Blunt commuted Stacey’s life sentence. Six days later she walked out of the gates a free woman.
Redemption is the story of how Stacey learned to be free while living behind bars. It is a coming-of-age story set in a parallel universe of a maximum-security prison. And, it is a story of sisterhood, courage, and justice finally served.
My Review:
I had been putting off reading this book for a while. I read some of the reviews from other Amazon Vine participants and realized that it wasn’t going to be about the healing, but mostly about the abuse that she went through to get to the point where she was now. As someone who has gone through abuse, I didn’t want to read it. I find it much harder to not have flashbacks of my life when I read through another person’s tale. I finally picked up this book on Saturday, and finished it late Saturday evening. It was heart wrenching, and I traveled her journey with many tears. It left me with a fairly sleepless night. I honestly don’t know how to review this more than giving a warning to someone (the 1 in 4 of us) that have been through a sexual trauma. It’s violent and graphic and regardless of where you are in your healing process, it brings up things you would rather not think about. It is brutally honest though, and left me wishing the best for her. I never thought that I would be rooting for a murderer, but I do hope that she continues to recover and move forward in her life.

4.0 out of 5 stars… (plus d'informations)

Truly a moving book! The book is about a young girl who idolizes her father, only to find herself being molested by him at the age of 8 and until she was 18. At that age of 18 and completely abused, destroyed and confused she killed her father. This book follows her life from infanthood to her life sentence in prison and so on. Despite the lable of murderer, you will syphathize with Stacey on many levels. Loved the book. Everyone asked me if it was a good book...I can't say that it was but not as a reflection as how it was written. The content in fact is so horrific and what this little girl went through that the word "good" would be disrespectful. But the book is a must read for sure!… (plus d'informations)