Rise

My past is something that is extremely hard to talk about.  There are glimmers of goodness but the majority of my past is peppered with darkness due to domestic violence.  I survived physical, mental, and emotional abuse and am thankful that I did survive, but telling my story is extremely hard and painful.  Who wants to relive a nightmare?

I love hearing stories about other women who also have survived abuse and commend any woman who can tell her story because personally I am not there yet.  Rise: How A House Built A Family is the story of Cara Brookins, a woman who takes control of her life and family after an extremely abusive situation, and builds her life back while also building her own house.

The premise of this book is intriguing, especially when you have came from an abusive situation yourself.  I can't imagine going through what I went through AND building a house from the ground up!

I wanted to love this book, but it was a hard read for me.  There are FALL chapters, which go into detail about her trials with her two abusive ex-husbands, one who is schizophrenic and continues to terrorize Cara and her children.   These chapters brought back a lot of memories for me, and in that regard, were hard to read.

The RISE chapters go into the details about building your own home and struggles and injuries that the family endured.  I did find these chapters pretty neat since I have helped build a house before but I struggled to get through these chapters.  You feel the author's pain as a mother and a woman, but Cara tends to get a little wordy and it's easy to get lost in the details.

Mixed throughout the book are two characters that are seen in the authors mind while she sleeps and meditates and I thought that whole part of the story was odd.  I could not relate to these "beings" at all and did not think that they were pertinent to the story in my opinion.

My favorite part reading Rise was reading about Cara's four children and how they overcame despite everything they had to endure.  My children were very little when I was going through my own abusive situation and I've always worried about how it would affect them.  These kids dug deep and did what they had to do to build this house and I find that awe-inspiring.  They built a house and they were stronger people for it, both mentally and physically.

Inkwell Manor

The story itself is a wonderful testament of strength, endurance, and focus.  You walk away feeling like you can accomplish anything you set your mind to!   For me, the author's writing style was not in my taste and I don't see me reading any of her other books, but despite my reservations on writing style, I would still recommend this book.  This woman built her own house with the help of YouTube!!  Why would you NOT want to read that story!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review