Author: Kimberla L Roby |Website| Twitter| Facebook| Instagram
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Christian Fiction
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, Paperback
Genre: Christian Fiction
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, Paperback
Cost: $19.99
Pages: 179
How I got it: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Publication Date: Sept 29, 2009
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:
****Trigger Warning for those who are sensitive to books about child abuse, sexual abuse, rape and suicide.******
I went into this book like normal, completely oblivious to the synopsis and my gawd I needed that warning. The first time I tried to read this I had to put it down because I couldn't make it past the first chapter I wasn't ready. Now two years later I [icked it up and flew through the book. It's short read but it's devastating in its content.
Told from the perspective of a young girl who is being sexually abused starting at age five until age twelve when the abuse escalates and she begins to try to find ways to end it. I was so devastated reading this because 1) you know it's true for some children who are abused. The stats here in America is 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 8 boys have been abused * and that is severely under-reported* 2) the manipulation described was spot on and oh gawd I just wanted to rescue her and keep her safe.
I became so emotionally invested in this story, the young girls struggle to find her way to safety, to not just leave it all behind, her desperation when she realizes there is another possible victim close by. Just the reality of her journey and the devastation one person is causing in her life. Reading how she reacts and how her friend is reacting to her journey as well, a friend who is 'boy crazy' and what she's willing to do to have someone love her. Consent was also discussed in this book as the protagonist began to explore being a pre-teen who wants to feel something for the cute boy in her class.
I'm so glad that Kimberla wrote this because it's a book every single black mother needs to read, it's a book that needs to be in the church, it needs to be given to students in school so they can read the story and see the manipulation and how it worked to silence her for so long. I need teachers to read this and see what the signs are. There were so many who should have seen something was wrong but no one dug deep enough, no one asked the right questions and these girls were left to fend for themselves.
The ending was great, I loved that we saw the two varied reactions to the truth coming out. I'm glad we got to see how those closest to the survivor acted, and how they have changed by telling their truth. It's a necessary read and I just felt all the emotions reading this.
Publication Date: Sept 29, 2009
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:
Kimberla Lawson Roby explores the consequences of a life-altering family trauma in A Deep Dark Secret, tackling controversy with the same storytelling brio and startling insight into human nature that made her previous books New York Times bestsellers. Leaving behind the world of philandering preacher Curtis Black and his family—featured in her acclaimed novels Too Much of a Good Thing, Love and Lies, Sin No More, and The Best of Everything—Roby enters the life of a little girl hiding A Deep Dark Secret and gets to the troubling root of an all too prevalent societal and family issue. Both groundbreaking and ultimately hopeful, this coming-of-age story is powerful, brave, and unforgettable.
I went into this book like normal, completely oblivious to the synopsis and my gawd I needed that warning. The first time I tried to read this I had to put it down because I couldn't make it past the first chapter I wasn't ready. Now two years later I [icked it up and flew through the book. It's short read but it's devastating in its content.
Told from the perspective of a young girl who is being sexually abused starting at age five until age twelve when the abuse escalates and she begins to try to find ways to end it. I was so devastated reading this because 1) you know it's true for some children who are abused. The stats here in America is 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 8 boys have been abused * and that is severely under-reported* 2) the manipulation described was spot on and oh gawd I just wanted to rescue her and keep her safe.
I became so emotionally invested in this story, the young girls struggle to find her way to safety, to not just leave it all behind, her desperation when she realizes there is another possible victim close by. Just the reality of her journey and the devastation one person is causing in her life. Reading how she reacts and how her friend is reacting to her journey as well, a friend who is 'boy crazy' and what she's willing to do to have someone love her. Consent was also discussed in this book as the protagonist began to explore being a pre-teen who wants to feel something for the cute boy in her class.
I'm so glad that Kimberla wrote this because it's a book every single black mother needs to read, it's a book that needs to be in the church, it needs to be given to students in school so they can read the story and see the manipulation and how it worked to silence her for so long. I need teachers to read this and see what the signs are. There were so many who should have seen something was wrong but no one dug deep enough, no one asked the right questions and these girls were left to fend for themselves.
The ending was great, I loved that we saw the two varied reactions to the truth coming out. I'm glad we got to see how those closest to the survivor acted, and how they have changed by telling their truth. It's a necessary read and I just felt all the emotions reading this.
★★★★★
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
- Live Through This by Mindi Scott
