I think more awareness needs to be bought up for people like Julie who suffered at the hands of her parents, mostly her mom but her dad wasn't much better. Julie was a victim of MBP, Munchausen by Proxy, which is the "falsification or induction of a physical and/or emotional illness by a caretaker of a dependent person." (excerpt from the book)
So this made my best books list not because it's remarkable for it's content but is very eye opening and helpful being told by someone who endured it. In fact I wish this book didn't exist because this never happened in our world. This book brings awareness to a very serious problem that is very hard to detect.
I won't lie that I had a hard time not hating the people in this book that didn't listen to her when she did start to speak up. I guess in a world now where schools can provide "healthcare" to students without even informing parents, it's hard to believe that no one listened to her even when she was 16. I do hope they read this book and feel bad for what they did and repent to do better. I pray they ask forgiveness and not just excuse themselves away.
I highly recommend the book if you can withstand stomaching this kind of raw book where the main character suffers a wide variety of physical and emotional abuse. I am proud of her for surviving and growing when most that suffer from this abuse don't live to tell the tale. It's good to read into it like a psychology student and learn signals that might determine something is off in those around you. Maybe you can spot a neighbor or a coworker that might be involved with something this horrible and speak up
The problem is the mom looked like a loving parent that desperately just wanted to get help for her kid despite the fact that doctors never really found anything. They appear to care, but signs can be seen in multiple kids in the house having strange health issue, the automated responses of a child, and so on. This mother went on to inflict this trauma on other kids besides Julie.
I would also have to say this is a great book to open your heart up to care about people and want to help others. Julie suffered so much between abuse by her family, bullying at school, neglect from healthcare professionals...you can't help but wish you had been there to help. All this trauma led her to act out as an adult in different ways with bad relationships and anger. It makes you think about that person that flipped you off or that person that screamed at you on the phone for no reason...what have they been through? What has made them like that? Maybe they really are a bad person, but I feel we all have layers and our life and situations mold us. They could just be having a bad day, in which we can all relate and should let it go, or maybe they are abused or were abused. God calls us to love everyone not just when they are being nice to us and showing love to us. Jesus' heart breaks for those people that are in pain and causing pain to others too.
I was listening to a podcast once about a woman that lost her brother to a senseless shooting and she talked about forgiving those people but it doesn't mean you have to keep those toxic people in your life if they won't change. Just something to consider as we all deal with our day-to-day interactions and relationships. Do what's healthy for you and try to help others when you can.
Anyway, so again I highly recommend this book but I do caution that it is not a light read. You will be mad at the injustice in the world, but maybe you can tell other and we can all spread awareness to try to make the world a little better.
I pray that God bless you as you go about the rest of your day!
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