This was a heartbreaking memoir. Check your trigger warnings because this covers a lot of very heavy topics. 

I really appreciated the style this was written in. It is straightforward. There aren't flowery metaphors or silly stories. Everything you are told is to the point. McCudry writes the story as of she is that that age. Reading a 9-year-old being emotionally abused by a parent and her just saying, okay, Mommy, I love you was difficult. As an adult, you know what's happening, but reading a child, not understanding, made it so much more emotional. Every detail hit harder. 

Even reading the After, where she's understanding that she was abused and that her life isn't healthy and that she still struggles was hard. McCurdy tells her truth in a very raw and honest style. I would really recommend the audiobook hearing Jeanette McCurdy read her own words and tell her own story was very powerful.