Reviews

A Member of the Family by Susan Merrell

writergirl70's review

4.0

Fascinating and heart breaking. The choices this family must make are impossible.

mslaura's review

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very well-written. The subject matter is not comfortable, but the fact that there are children who are truly as broken as Michael -- children with severe emotional, attachment or behavioral disorders -- is not a comfortable one to face. It is a heartbreaking reality for the children and for their families, and there are no easy answers. It is easy for outsiders to have opinions as to what should or should not be done, or how they would be able to fix the situation, but the sad fact of the matter is that love and discipline and good intentions are not always enough to heal a child. I thought the author did a good job of portraying the turmoil this family was going through, and the mix of emotions they were experiencing. I found the backdrop of a village in transition to be an interesting one which expanded on the themes of families both natural and adopted and of outsiders vs. locals. This is the second book I have read by this author and I was not disappointed. I look forward to hearing more from her.