ABOUT THE NOVEL:
Alessa is just seven years old when her uncle rapes her for the first time. As the years pass, his sexual appetite becomes more voracious and his perversion more twisted, until the abuse has become almost a daily ritual, with the unspoken involvement of the girl’s mother.
At the age of sixteen, after the death of her only friend, Alessa finds herself at the mercy of her real-life monster, with no relief in sight. She flees her home to escape this hell, only to find herself descending into a more dangerous one. Alone and helpless in the streets of North Philadelphia, she encounters more human predators who want to take over her life and devour her. About to hit rock bottom, Alessa manages to break away from her new tormentors and finds refuge in a shelter for homeless and abused women.
Wherever she goes, however, trouble keeps seeking her out, until she meets three people who change the course of her life forever. Though Alessa’s bittersweet journey is perpetually fraught with challenges, she does, nevertheless, manage to find fleeting moments of joy along the way. But as she begins to settle down, a ghost from the past comes to haunt her again, threatening to destroy the very foundation of her small world and plunging her back into an abyss of despair, until she makes her final bid for escape.
Title: Believe Like a Child
Rating: ★★★★
Genre: ADULT
Publisher: Createspace
Release date: 06/22/2012
First I have to say thank you to Paige Dearth for sending me this book for review. You have changed the way I see things, and deeply humbled me. Thank you!
“Believe Like a Child” by Paige Dearth was unexpected. It was so raw, so disturbing that I found myself having to put it down for a while to process what I read, returning to it at a later time, after catching my breath. I just can’t imagine what the author went through herself to be able to think up such a catastrophe.
This book is not for the faint of heart. If you want a love story this isn’t it. While there are major love aspects to it. I wouldn’t recommend this to young readers. If you are easily offended do not read this book. There is much detail of what a young women went through, rape, molestations, prostitution, violence etc. If you have a weak stomach, or wish to continue seeing the world as a happy fairy tale, this is not your read. I will say it in bold—IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED DO NOT READ THIS!
This story is pure sadness, heartbreaking to think that people really experience things like this, and I am worried about what color lipstick to wear. NEVER AGAIN. It also radiated SO much love. Love for a child, love between a man and a women, love between friends, even love between complete strangers. LOVE for HUMANITY.
This story was written in explicit details. Starting with Alessa’s childhood. I believe age 5. It was hard to read rape and violence in such explicit detail. I found myself needing lots of extra love from my husband while reading this. Believe Like a Child has changed me for life. It isn’t just a book I read. This has actually changed the way I see the world. HUMBLED me SO much. Realized how lucky I am to be alive and have lived a pretty un harmed life. I will protect my daughters from the most unexpected in anyway possible. In a way I wish I had never been exposed to this kind of evil. But in the end I am glad I read it. The whole way through the book I was just hoping she would catch a a break, how could one person endure so much! I was literally weeping when I turned the last pages of the book.
