A review by beckyyreadss
The House of My Mother by Shari Franke

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I wanted to read this book because I have been following the case of Ruby Franke for a while and was so happy when those children got justice. I wasn’t too happy with the Disney+ series but when I saw Shari was writing this book, I was instantly intrigued. I want to hug those children so badly and smack the crap out of Jodi and Ruby. As it’s lined up, in May, our book club theme was that everyone reads a different autobiography and discusses it. This was my pick.  

This book is from the eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing. Shari’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a facade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube challenge 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface – Ruby's wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined. As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrant, together they implemented an inhuman and merciless disciplinary regime. Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.” for the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.” No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.  

I love Shari’s style of writing and how she describes everything without her naming her younger siblings. I love that she is giving them back some power after her mother has been exploiting them as long as they have been born.  It makes me so sad to hear her thoughts about thinking her mother doesn’t love her and how she went through life not being able to speak to her mum about everything. Especially after her sexual assault. I just wanted to hug her and be her ear and to smack the shit out of Derek for what he did to her. I’m so glad she finally has someone that she calls mum and dad and a safe place to go to. I like that she held Kevin accountable for some things. I know Kevin didn’t do anything to physical abuse them, but he knew something was going on and didn’t stop them. In the Disney+ documentary, Kevin seems innocent and also blind to it all. But he was in the house and saw Ruby’s behaviour change and didn’t stop it. When he hasn’t heard from his children in a few weeks, he didn’t try to get in touch with them or ask if they were okay. I applaud Shari for not giving up at all and constantly ringing DCFS and for trying to keep in contact with them all and for standing up for them with the Utah law about family vloggers.  

This is why I hate family vloggers, everything that I’ve seen hasn’t been done right – the Ballengers, the LaBrants, 8 Passengers, the Duggars, Daddy of Five. All of them shouldn’t be allowed to exploit their kids. All of them are now moving to Tennessee because they don’t have laws about child vlogging where California does now. Tennesse also need to enforce laws just to straight up stop this. This book made me feel guilty for watching YouTube back in 2010-2015, it makes me want to straight up delete my YouTube account just for liking or commenting on these videos. I have a feeling that the children in the families mentioned night have similar experiences and hopefully they can out and have some privacy soon. Especially when it comes to Everleigh LaBrant, I have so many concerns for that young girl.  

I really hope this isn’t the last we hear from the Franke family, I don’t think they need to be on the internet again, but I would love Shari Franke to write more because her writing is beautiful and the way she has a way of telling stories will have an impact on a lot of people. I wish nothing but peace to the Franke family again and if they feel at peace to come back to the internet, I’m sure they will be welcomed with open arms, if they decide not to come back to the internet, I'm sure everyone will understand. Also, Jodi and Ruby should never be released from prison ever for what they did to the two youngest Franke children. 
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