Review: A Stolen Life

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I don’t want to discount the real life experiences of Jaycee Dugard, who went through hell for 18 years after her abduction in 1991 and her slavery until she was recovered in 2009. But this book was awful. And I don’t just mean the events that it described.

Yes, there is an author’s note at the beginning that pretty much states that it’s poorly written, but she wanted control over telling her story and that is why it is how it is. That’s fine, but I’m honestly amazed the publisher went through and released it. I just read the entire book and I don’t really know what happened to her. I had to read the Wikipedia page just to get the skeleton of her story. She definitely should have had a co-writer, and saved this draft for her personal therapy. The story could have been amazing, heartfelt and fascinating, but instead it was like reading the diary of an 11 year old. It was stream-of-consciousness style all through, with too little editorializing to insert much needed context.

So if you are interested in the story of a young girl who was kidnapped at 11, look for a documentary or something. Because this was just awful. Actually, I recommend the Wikipedia article.

1 star.

This book fulfills the memoir requirement for the challenge.

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