Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir

I so appreciate and admire people who take the time to reflect on, write down, and share their life stories. This book was hard to read at times, so I’m sure it was hard to write, and even harder to live. But it was also beautiful in so many ways. The writing, the emotion, the perseverance, the healing. Having also been born and raised in Indiana in the 80s and 90s myself, I enjoyed being able to connect and relate to the author, as she talked about her time in Fort Wayne, Ball State, and Indianapolis. Reading about her complicated relationships and interactions with her abusive mother, incarcerated father, grandparents, love interests, and other people in her life was heartbreaking, inspiring, and so much more. It’s always difficult to rate a memoir, because it is someone’s personal thoughts and life experiences. Even though I wanted to know more, I totally respect people setting boundaries and limits to what and how much they share of themselves and their life. I applaud Ashley C. Ford for taking the time and energy to share with us, and for writing so well and from the heart. I give her debut memoir five hearts, for continuing to love and live and heal and grow through it all. 💗💗💗💗💗

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zoopalsfanaccount's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.25

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

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emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

“We don’t give up on our people. We don’t stop loving them.” She looked into my face, her eyes watering at the bottoms. “Not even when we’re burning alive.”

There is something about memoirs that are written so beautifully they almost read like magical realism that just does it for me. Ashley C. Ford's voice is one of the most lyrical and emotional I have come across this year - I couldn't stop reading it.

This book is so incredibly crafted, you can feel all the love and hard work Ashley has poured into it. I especially loved following this up with Ford's interview with Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, which touched on so many aspects of the book that I was curious about while reading; it cemented this book as a real masterpiece in my mind.

Considering how short this book is, I do not want to go into a summary of the novel, but I will mention what my favourite aspect - besides the prose - was. This is, of course, a trend for me at this point, but exploring different family dynamics and familial love was the highlight of this book. It's something that never fails to grasp my attention, but the way Ford approached it made me feel like I was experiencing everything she described for myself, particularly when it came to her relationship with her mother and grandmother.

The reason that I cannot give this book the full 5 stars is that I found the beginning to be difficult to get into and I almost put the book down. I am so glad I powered through it, but it was a little bit of a challenge. I also this that certain very important events in Ford's life were glossed over due to the conciseness of this book. I think it would have been very impactful to explore these (no spoilers!) in more detail.

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