My Something Different

Remember how I stated a few entries ago that I was planning on starting something new over here? Well, today is the first entry! Yay! *happy dance*

At first I was hemming & hawing on if I was actually going to do it, but as I was going thru some of my books the other day I thought "I should do that." So, here we go!

The first book I'm going to discuss is one of my all-time favorite books. I remember the first time I read it and I kept thinking "This book is completely amazing!" And, it doesn't hurt that it's by one of my all-time favorite authors.

I reviewed this book not all that long ago. Let it go with the grade I'd given it and thought I had moved on. Ha! The book Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas is one of those books that really sticks with a person. I've seen mostly rave reviews about this book. I think 99% of the reason why this book resonates so much with people is because so many people have suffered from abuse in one way or another.

I've never been abused by a loved one, but I suffered from severe emotional abuse as a kid from my peers. Every day I would get up to go to school and would feel sick to my stomach. I dreaded each day and it got to the point where I would try to fabricate something so I could stay home, since home was the only place where I felt safe.

I won't go into all of the details, but suffice it to say, I can understand why kids break and do things that they can never take back. Any time I hear about a child who has snapped and done something bad to get back at the kids who tormented them... It got so bad at one point that I seriously contemplated suicide and if you knew what type of religious background I came from, well, that's plenty serious. My parents were wonderful though and got me out of the situation. I dropped out, got my GED and became an adult.

Reading Blue-Eyed Devil was one of those surreal moments in my life where I found myself seriously relating to a character I was reading about. Haven has so many qualities that I had when I was a teen. In some ways, kind of a doormat personality (at the beginning anyway). It was such a thrill to see her grow, not only as a person, but as a woman.

I've never felt comfortable delving into the things that happened to me when I was in school. I'll hint and tell of the basics, but it is hard for me to articulate just what that constant barrage of abuse did to me, emotionally and spiritually. By the time I dropped out, I was literally a shell of a person. I could barely function and honestly it's only by the grace of God that I survived to become the woman I am today.

And this is why this book is so important to me. It shows a woman who is able to get away from an abusive relationship, pick herself up by the boot strings and become a strong, wonderful person. It's not often a book resonates like this, but in this case, I'm glad it did.


***


So, this is the first book in my new Something Special entries. Each book that I discuss will be about how it resonated with me and why it's so important. If you'd like to share your thoughts and feelings about Blue-Eyed Devil, I would really like to hear your thoughts. Or if you suffered from any type of abuse, how did you find the strength to move on?