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portlandjess's review against another edition
4.0
This was a book that encouraged me to learn more about the New England region, which I enjoy doing. Though this was a memoir, it also touched upon the historical aspects of the New England Mafia, in Providence and beyond. I found myself following up on many of the topics.
Leah Carroll did a wonderful job describing an unusual life, and I felt like I knew all of her family members by the end of the memoir. Being the same age as the author, I was able to identify and relate to many of the fads, language and concepts of the era.
This is a great book to remind everyone that families are complex and messy, and that everyone is not afforded the same childhood background. Leah seems like someone I would like being friends with!
Leah Carroll did a wonderful job describing an unusual life, and I felt like I knew all of her family members by the end of the memoir. Being the same age as the author, I was able to identify and relate to many of the fads, language and concepts of the era.
This is a great book to remind everyone that families are complex and messy, and that everyone is not afforded the same childhood background. Leah seems like someone I would like being friends with!
ashmarie716's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it. Couldn't put it down.
Was given this book by a friend, that got it from a former coworker that was apart of this book. I literally couldn't put it down, I wasn't expecting to like it because it's true events. And I only started reading as a filler book between stuff I have on preorder with Amazon, but I picked it up and got sucked in.
So many things in this book I recognized as a RI child from the 80s. Leah did a great job and I recommend this to anyone that remembers that time.
Was given this book by a friend, that got it from a former coworker that was apart of this book. I literally couldn't put it down, I wasn't expecting to like it because it's true events. And I only started reading as a filler book between stuff I have on preorder with Amazon, but I picked it up and got sucked in.
So many things in this book I recognized as a RI child from the 80s. Leah did a great job and I recommend this to anyone that remembers that time.
earlyandalone's review against another edition
5.0
In one passage, the author tells of finding reference to Rhode Island in an article she's reading. Her stepmother tells her, "No one ever writes about Rhode Island. The only thing is when they're saying how small something is." And it's true.
I wasn't expecting to be as affected by Carroll's writing about Rhode Island as I was. Part of it is because Carroll was born in 1980 and I was born in 1982, at the same hospital. Though our experiences diverge after that, her references to the place and people and culture of RI really resonated with me.
Carroll's mother, a drug addict, was murdered by the mafia when Carroll was just 4 years old. After that traumatic event, one she is shielded from for years, she lives with her father, a brilliant but troubled Vietnam vet who soon loses himself to alcoholism and depression. He dies when Carroll is just 18.
Even if you've never been to Rhode Island, this is a beautiful coming-of-age story, of trying to grapple with who we are and where we came from.
I wasn't expecting to be as affected by Carroll's writing about Rhode Island as I was. Part of it is because Carroll was born in 1980 and I was born in 1982, at the same hospital. Though our experiences diverge after that, her references to the place and people and culture of RI really resonated with me.
Carroll's mother, a drug addict, was murdered by the mafia when Carroll was just 4 years old. After that traumatic event, one she is shielded from for years, she lives with her father, a brilliant but troubled Vietnam vet who soon loses himself to alcoholism and depression. He dies when Carroll is just 18.
Even if you've never been to Rhode Island, this is a beautiful coming-of-age story, of trying to grapple with who we are and where we came from.
tonythep's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a little while to get into this memoir that begins with the disturbing description of the murder of the author's mother at the hands of her drug dealers. Perhaps the shocking details of the murder colored my reading of the scenes of domestic life of her parents that followed. But I think the main reason is that since the author is only four years old when her mother is killed, the few actual memories she has are pieced together with facts and stories providing some emotional distance from the material.
It didn't take long, however, for the book to draw me in completely. While her mother continues to cast a shadow over her life, it is the complex relationship between the author and her father that is the real heart of the book. A charming, lovable alcoholic, her dad will be found dead in a seedy motel room when she is eighteen.
As heartbreaking and disturbing as this is, it's also an uplifting memoir of survival and love.
It didn't take long, however, for the book to draw me in completely. While her mother continues to cast a shadow over her life, it is the complex relationship between the author and her father that is the real heart of the book. A charming, lovable alcoholic, her dad will be found dead in a seedy motel room when she is eighteen.
As heartbreaking and disturbing as this is, it's also an uplifting memoir of survival and love.
iamshadow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
5feet_of_fury's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
5.0
The author looks back on her grief and complicated childhood in a very captivating way.