A review by poppincandy
January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her by Michael Schofield

4.0

Interesting, interesting book. I've spent time thinking about how to review this and I'm still not quite sure, but I'll mention a few things. I found the author (who is the child's father) to be someone with whom I could both feel empathy for and at the same time be wholly frustrated with at times. I bounced back and forth between completely understanding his motives and actions, and wanting to yell at him through the book to stop being so unhelpful. I suppose that's what makes this book so realistic, in a way: it's not all roses, and not every moment is perfect, it's the story of a family going through a horrible situation that thankfully most of us will never have to face.

I believe this book succeeds most in its honesty, and that's a credit to it without question.

And I'd just like to add, I feel terrible for the son and I do wonder what his life has/will be like.