The Only Girl in the World by Maude Julien is the non-fiction tale of her upbringing. She was raised by a controlling father and an absent, self-righteous mother. Throughout her telling of her childhood she goes into detail how her mother treated her, and how her father used every thing in his power to assert control over her. Maude grew up alone, in a large house, with no friends except a few animals, and sometimes, her mother.

This story does have some hard parts to read. There are a few detailed descriptions of sexual abuse, physiological abuse, and mental abuse. Maude's mother continually tells her that she hates her, and is jealous of the concern her husband has for Maude. She constantly tells Maude that she is trying too hard to get her father's attention, but she also laughs at times with Maude. The mother/daughter relationship is awkward and unloving, although it seems as though the mother does have feelings for her daughter, because of her own upbringing she doesn't know how to show or be appropriate to her daughter. Maude's mother was raised by Maude's father is a sort of incestuous grooming relationship.

The father seems to be the main abuser in this story, but throughout most of it, it seems as though he is a sad old man who is controlling because he has nothing better to do. There are several uncomfortable scenes, but throughout the mother seems to be crueler than the father. Included in the abusive, imprisoned upbringing, there are several instances of animal abuse. These instances are used to teach Maude and the animal, which further separates her and causes her to be depressed, self-abusive, and so very alone.

After saying all of this about the book, I do have to say that I didn't think it was as well written as it could have been. For a story of an abusive upbringing I felt that the author distanced herself too far from the situation, and this made the book a little flat. Yes, there were horrifying moments, but they didn't resonate as hard as they could have if there was some emotion behind them. I understand why the author has distanced herself, but this created a book that I didn't feel I could connect with, or feel for. There were few moments that I felt upset by what was happening, but most of these moments were things that happened to animals, so obviously the author has a strong connection with the animals.

I can't say I would or would not recommend this book. I think some people may be more disturbed by it than I was. I wanted to feel more, and some might not want to feel what the author was going through. However, that being said, it is an interesting look into a controlling, abusive, and dysfunctional family.

*I want to start by apologizing for not writing anything last month. It is the first month since I started this blog in April of 2014 that I haven't written a single thing in one month. I will update everyone on my life this week, but for today, here is a new book review. Can't say I loved it.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware was not the best book I've read of hers. The main character, Isa, is a new mother who is unable or uncomfortable leaving her new child, Freya, and who continually states she isn't sure she loves her partner. One night she gets a text, one she dreads, and she finds that she in entangled in something with friends from her childhood, something that is a secret she doesn't want to deal with. Her friends, Kate, Thea, and Fatima, all were in on the secret, something that happened and caused all of them to leave the boarding school they were attending together.

The entire point of this game was in part the title, the lying game, a game the girls play and enjoy while in school. This game was something they did to entertain themselves and something they used to combat the boredom they felt. However, the secrets were all mostly harmless, until they weren't. When Kate's father disappears things go to hell, and her step-brother, Luc, is sent back to live with his drug addict mother. Kate, at sixteen, is unable to take care of both Luc and herself.

I didn't find the main character, Isa, to be very interesting or very entertaining. She was annoying and I thought she was not at all likeable. There were times during my reading that I wanted to switch to another character, I begged for one of those books that followed more than one character. This novel did go back and forth between present day and the past, but it wasn't anything special. None of the characters were very interesting, and the rest, to be honest, weren't very developed. I would have liked more about Thea and her alcoholism, or about Fatima and living a Muslim life with her husband and children, or Kate and how she had been living in the house she had grown up in, the one where bad things happened.

The biggest issue I had with this book was that it was obvious pretty early on what happened, and it wasn't what the author was trying to lead you to believe. While I have enjoyed one of the three books I've read by Ruth Ware, I feel that she tries too hard to try making things "surprising" but in reality they never are.

This was not a great book, in my opinion. I understand others enjoyed it, and I will admit that Ruth Ware isn't a terrible author, I only think her sense of disbelief is misplaced and that she should try a little harder to write a cohesive and appealing story, and not try as hard to mislead the reader as to what is happening.