Domenica Ruta

This was a very difficult book to read because it was very raw and emotional and made you think about addiction, abuse, and neglect, but that's what made it so good. Having grown up with some of these same issues, it brought a lot back that I wasn't prepared for, but that's not a bad thing. A good book should make you feel something, whether something good or something bad is up to each person's own experiences, and this book did that for me. There was a whole lot of "there but for the grace of God," let me tell you.

Highly recommend - 4 out of 5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and Domenica Ruta for the opportunity to read and review this book.… (meer)

I read With or Without You by Domenica Ruta as a NetGalley offering. This memoir recounts the life of Domenica (Nikki) from childhood through her early adult years. Hers was not the normal life since she grew up with a mother who used drugs and dealt drugs. Through the years her mother even amazingly amassed a million dollar fortune only to squander it and live in squalor. This is the same mother who thought it best for her daughter Nikki to get pregnant as a teenager.

Unfortunately, Nikki suffered from the effects of such upbringing and seemed to have little self-esteem. In spite of all of this, she was a good student. She escaped her mother and Danvers, Massachusetts by going to college only to fall into the same habits as her mother by using drugs and drinking alcohol.

Nikki’s life story is not a pleasant one to tell. I certainly give her credit for writing this memoir full of heart-breaking traumatic events. I suffered along with her while reading. Given that, as I was reading, many times I felt it difficult to follow the strands of her life because of the awkward transitions and the abrupt changes in the recounting of events from one time period in her life to another. Many times I wasn’t sure of the time and place of the event mentioned. I know that she indicated some effort at journaling but also did wonder how clear she was about all of the events that took place when she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol herself. All in all, this memoir offers the reader an insight into the workings of a very dysfunctional family.

… (meer)