Saturday, October 29, 2011

Review: Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Title: Stolen Life
Author: Jaycee Dugard
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publish Date: July 12, 2011
Source: Library



Why You're Reading This Book:
  • You like strong, resilient characters.
  • You like memoirs.
  • You like true crime stories.
What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who 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 survived.

A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it."


My Two Cents:

I was very excited for this book to come out after watching ABC's interview with Jaycee Dugard a couple months ago. When I finally got this book from the library, I couldn't wait to start reading it! I was definitely sucked into the book very quickly. It did not disappoint.

Jaycee Dugard's story is frightening. One day, she was a normal little girl living a fairly ordinary life. The next day, she's kidnapped by two people who can only be described as psychotic monsters. Not everyone would come out of that situation with as much resilience as Dugard seems to have. Luckily she seems to be adjusting to the outside world just fine.

The treatment that Dugard received while in captivity is appalling to say the very least and some parts of the book were very hard to read and digest because of the treatment that she received. It's hard to imagine anyone, let alone someone so young, going through such treatment.

This is truly a story of strength. Even if you have seen the interview with Ms. Dugard, this book is still definitely worth a read. There is a lot of detail not discussed during the interview that Dugard sheds some more light on in the book. I was so impressed with her strength for her and her children. This is a really wonderful story of the triumph of the human spirit.

Bottom line: This book is an engaging story of how a person can come back from a really horrible situation.




7 comments:

  1. Great review, I will love to check out that book.

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  2. Thanks for the review. I've gone back and forth on whether I want to read this one. Looks like I will be adding it to my TBR!

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  3. I never really planned on reading this maybe because I felt like I already knew so much just from watching her interview. But it sounds like this is still worth the read. It's so scary and awful imagining what she went through but sooo wonderful that it had a happy ending.

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  4. @Jenny One of the things that amazed me the most is how relatively well Dugard and her daughters seem to be adapting to the outside world! It's so wonderful to hear!

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  5. I LOVED this book. It made me feel happy, sad, scared, hurt, and loved. I felt like I was Jaycee Lee Dugard in her situation. And it really made me count my blessings even more.

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As of 6/6/2011, this book is now an awards free zone. While I appreciate the awards, I would rather stick to reviewing more great books for you than trying to fill the requirements.

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