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jenmooremo's review against another edition
4.0
Easy to read memoir with an author who not only has the knack for telling a story from her point of view, but has the maturity to recognize how the overall story unfolded. This is a book of love, stumbling and finding your place in life when family dynamics aren't what everyone would have picked out. I hope to see another book from Mary Anna King, memoir or otherwise.
rmarcin's review against another edition
3.0
Memoir of a woman who was raised first by her parents, and then by her grandfather and his wife. Story of how her parents gave away several of their children to be adopted.
earthseeddetroit's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this book was extremely well written. I particularly enjoyed the authors style of writing. I listened on audiobook and it was very enjoyable. The narrator, Christina Delaine was perfect for this.
It tells a difficult , convoluted story of a family that falls apart and comes together eventually as best as they can.
The way this unfolds there is a unique adoptee timeline of the author’s early life with her on again off again birth parents. She witnesses her younger sisters being placed for adoption as they are born and eventually she herself is sent from New Jersey to Oklahoma and there is adopted by her maternal grandparents along with another sister. Her brother is the only one who doesn’t get adopted and he’s raised by their father.
As we follow her life, it is haunting but ultimately ends on a hopeful note for her. She describes her journey to find her authentic self, and needing to get away and be a “stranger somewhere” in order to do that and I could really relate to that so much. That part is really sticking with me. As an adoptee, I have wrestled with the concept of knowing who I am and I think this author describes that so well. It really just hit me in the gut and is sticking there.
I would read this again. I actually think I will! Maybe try the paper version.
It tells a difficult , convoluted story of a family that falls apart and comes together eventually as best as they can.
The way this unfolds there is a unique adoptee timeline of the author’s early life with her on again off again birth parents. She witnesses her younger sisters being placed for adoption as they are born and eventually she herself is sent from New Jersey to Oklahoma and there is adopted by her maternal grandparents along with another sister. Her brother is the only one who doesn’t get adopted and he’s raised by their father.
As we follow her life, it is haunting but ultimately ends on a hopeful note for her. She describes her journey to find her authentic self, and needing to get away and be a “stranger somewhere” in order to do that and I could really relate to that so much. That part is really sticking with me. As an adoptee, I have wrestled with the concept of knowing who I am and I think this author describes that so well. It really just hit me in the gut and is sticking there.
I would read this again. I actually think I will! Maybe try the paper version.
susannnochka's review against another edition
4.0
I spent the first quarter of this memoir grumbling about the glut of third-rate, self-indulgent memoirs out there and how no one younger than me has any business writing a memoir, no matter what. Somewhere in the second quarter I shut up. And in the second half I became completely enthralled and engrossed, crying and occasionally laughing on the couch this morning, ignoring a long to-do list until I finished it and then embarked on several very lengthy conversations about the complexities of human existence, childhood survival, and family relationships. 4.5 stars.
megthegrand's review against another edition
5.0
I've had this book in my possession for months, but couldn't bring myself to read it because I knew it would destroy me...and it did. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and totally unforgettable.
heyjude1965's review against another edition
4.0
Seems memoirs are my thing; this is the second one I finished in a week. An interesting read about hard things. I'm thinking hard things make interesting lives. The author was one of 7 kids born of a dysfunctional "family"in NJ. The children are given up for adoption either at birth or later, but find each other eventually. Their mother chose life for them in a situation where death would have been easier. That took something, even in light of all her other failings. She chose life and sought a better childhood for her children than she could provide. That takes something. Not perfection, but that doesn't exist this side of Paradise.
annakmeyer's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't exactly what I thought it would be based on the description but I'm glad I read it.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
A 2015 staff favorite recommended by Becky K.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sbastards%3A%20a%20memoir%20king__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sbastards%3A%20a%20memoir%20king__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
pattieod's review against another edition
5.0
A compelling story, and well-told. Not a happy story, because adoption isn't win-win-win like we've all been sold, but it's a mixed bag from every perspective.
liralen's review against another edition
4.0
Thoughtful, painful. King's portraits are complex—her grandfather and Mimi, for example, aren't portrayed solely as people who took her in only because she needed somewhere to go; they're also people who did their best by her. King lets herself walk around in people's shoes, trying to figure out not just what her experience was but why they might have acted and reacted as they did.
King had siblings, a brother and multiple sisters, but she didn't grow up with them. Or—she grew up with her brother for a while. She grew up with one of her sisters for a while. The others disappeared into a void that was adoption, and it wasn't until King was effectively an adult that she had a chance to see them, to meet them, again.
This was the best-case scenario, she says after one such meeting, the best it could have gone. An instant connection, a day-long binge on genealogy, followed by a separation that tears a hole so deep in your skull that you'll want to have your friends' long-lost kids stick their fingers in it (173). Reuniting is, in many ways, all she's wanted since she was a childhood, but it, too, is a complex, messy process. King notes that, of herself and her sisters (all of whom were raised, in part or entirely, by non-biological parents), they all struggled to find their place in the world. Too many of their memories, maybe, have too much weight and too many questions.
King sometimes holds herself at a distance from her story, but perhaps that helps her peel back the layers just a little bit more. Well worth the read.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
King had siblings, a brother and multiple sisters, but she didn't grow up with them. Or—she grew up with her brother for a while. She grew up with one of her sisters for a while. The others disappeared into a void that was adoption, and it wasn't until King was effectively an adult that she had a chance to see them, to meet them, again.
This was the best-case scenario, she says after one such meeting, the best it could have gone. An instant connection, a day-long binge on genealogy, followed by a separation that tears a hole so deep in your skull that you'll want to have your friends' long-lost kids stick their fingers in it (173). Reuniting is, in many ways, all she's wanted since she was a childhood, but it, too, is a complex, messy process. King notes that, of herself and her sisters (all of whom were raised, in part or entirely, by non-biological parents), they all struggled to find their place in the world. Too many of their memories, maybe, have too much weight and too many questions.
King sometimes holds herself at a distance from her story, but perhaps that helps her peel back the layers just a little bit more. Well worth the read.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.