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Forever Exposed: The Nikki Catsouras Story
"It’s like something out of a movie. First responders stand guard to keep the public away. I pull up next to the blockade and step out of my car. As I walk over to the area, three Caltrans’ workers walk in front of me. The guy in the middle reaches his hand out to stop me. “I’m sorry sir, but you can’t go down there.”
I look over his shoulder where I see a large crane. I can’t see any wreckage, but I know there has been an accident. I guess that’s why my mouth just opens and speaks for itself. “I think that’s my daughter in that car. I need to go down there. I need to go see...”
What Reviewers Are Saying About Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story
“Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story” has all the elements of a Lifetime TV movie, which in this case is a good thing. From the moment readers pick it up, they are drawn into the world of the Catsouras family. Even devices that normally may not work such as interspersing husband Christos’ diary with Mother Lesli’s evocative, almost lyrical writing in this case pull the story forward because the points of view are so clear, focused and obviously written by two different people. The concise and often anonymous and appalling Internet comments add fuel to the plot as well. This family tragedy is a page-turning thriller, yet it is tastefully and exquisitely (but painfully) rendered.
This book is as (if not more) unputdownable than any New York Times bestseller.
“Judge, Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards”
As an author, Lesli Catsouras immediately pulls readers into a story that is so tragic and moving. “Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story” is not just a memoir about Nikki’s life but about her death and the pain her family endured after it. Her mother Lesli shows readers how much the media really plays a part in our everyday life and that it’s almost impossible to escape. This story doesn’t just leave the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to read more, it leaves readers with a story that they will share and will not forget.
“Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story” is written in what seems to be journal entries from both Lesli and Christos Catsouras. Readers get to feel what both parents felt during the death of their beloved daughter. The main storyline is how Nikki`s death was exposed on the internet and the news and the judgment that this young innocent girl received from strangers.
Reviewed by Kaitlyn Kashman for Reader Views
I look over his shoulder where I see a large crane. I can’t see any wreckage, but I know there has been an accident. I guess that’s why my mouth just opens and speaks for itself. “I think that’s my daughter in that car. I need to go down there. I need to go see...”
What Reviewers Are Saying About Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story
“Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story” has all the elements of a Lifetime TV movie, which in this case is a good thing. From the moment readers pick it up, they are drawn into the world of the Catsouras family. Even devices that normally may not work such as interspersing husband Christos’ diary with Mother Lesli’s evocative, almost lyrical writing in this case pull the story forward because the points of view are so clear, focused and obviously written by two different people. The concise and often anonymous and appalling Internet comments add fuel to the plot as well. This family tragedy is a page-turning thriller, yet it is tastefully and exquisitely (but painfully) rendered.
This book is as (if not more) unputdownable than any New York Times bestseller.
“Judge, Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards”
As an author, Lesli Catsouras immediately pulls readers into a story that is so tragic and moving. “Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story” is not just a memoir about Nikki’s life but about her death and the pain her family endured after it. Her mother Lesli shows readers how much the media really plays a part in our everyday life and that it’s almost impossible to escape. This story doesn’t just leave the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to read more, it leaves readers with a story that they will share and will not forget.
“Forever The Nikki Catsouras Story” is written in what seems to be journal entries from both Lesli and Christos Catsouras. Readers get to feel what both parents felt during the death of their beloved daughter. The main storyline is how Nikki`s death was exposed on the internet and the news and the judgment that this young innocent girl received from strangers.
Reviewed by Kaitlyn Kashman for Reader Views
- GenresNonfiction
190 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2012
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251 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 1, 2023
As someone close to the other half of Nikki's family (her birth father's side), in my opinion, by writing this book, Lesli is just exploiting this tragic and heartbreaking event to garner fame and retain sympathy for herself. I'm concerned and saddened that by publishing this book, more people will search online for the offensive and heinous pictures of Nikki's remains.
In her Prolouge, Lesli states that, "I see her eyes--- Christos' eyes". This cannot be the truth as Christos is not Nikki's biological father. If she is claiming that Christos was Nikki's only father, Lesli owes her ex-husband repayment of 18 years of child support.
Just to set the record straight for the readers and sympathizers out there, in fact, Christos only technically became Nikki's father after Nikki became an adult, approximately 5 months before her death. The adult adoption papers submitted stated that the Catsouras' did not know where Nikki's biological father lived, which I believe to be completely false. Had the proper notifications been made, the adoption would have been contested and it is possible Christos would never have been able to represent himself as Nikki's sole father in the press. Even after the adoption, Lesli kept each and every child support payment made by Nikki's birth father. But make no mistake, Nikki maintained a relationship with both sides of her family.
Furthermore, it is my opinion that Lesli was not a fit parent. Knowing Nikki's medical history, I think she was too lenient. I know people who attended both Nikki's 17th and 18th birthdays in which they say alcohol was present for minors, even where no adults were. They witnessed Christos warning the kids to keep the alochol on his (private) property in case the cops came. To me, it seems that Nikki had their permission to be underage drinking, something her birth father never would have permitted or gone along with.
Nikki had a daddy- the only parent that spent the night with Nikki in the hospital room the first night of her brain surgery when she was a little girl - and it wasn't Christos! Her daddy also donated the blood she needed for her spinal surgery- also NOT Christos. Her daddy is also the one who bought the stuffed animal Big Bird when she was born- the one mentioned in Lesli's Prolouge.
In addition to Nikki's half sisters listed in the Dedication (Danielle, Christiana, and Kira Catsouras), Nikki has 2 half brothers, a step-sister, and 2 other half sisters- all of whom she loved and still grieve her loss. Especially as the anniversary draws near.
The June before her accident, she graduated high school as Nikki Mayo, not Nikki Catsouras.
Her daddy is the one who regularly brought Nikki to church- the church Nikki herself requested to be, and was, baptized in, alongside her step-sister (in 1993).
I don't begrudge Lesli the right to mourn the loss of her daughter, but I do seriously resent, what is in my opinion, her attempt to remove the history of the close relationship Nikki had with her biological father and her other remaining sisters and brothers. I believe it would have been a much better healing process if all of her sibblings and parents would have been able to come together to grieve and celebrate together- instead of portraying her family in the media as the only immediate family who were victims.
I also wish Christos had hidden his own car keys in light of the fact he had taken Nikki's away. I'm thankful no one else was seriously hurt.
In her Prolouge, Lesli states that, "I see her eyes--- Christos' eyes". This cannot be the truth as Christos is not Nikki's biological father. If she is claiming that Christos was Nikki's only father, Lesli owes her ex-husband repayment of 18 years of child support.
Just to set the record straight for the readers and sympathizers out there, in fact, Christos only technically became Nikki's father after Nikki became an adult, approximately 5 months before her death. The adult adoption papers submitted stated that the Catsouras' did not know where Nikki's biological father lived, which I believe to be completely false. Had the proper notifications been made, the adoption would have been contested and it is possible Christos would never have been able to represent himself as Nikki's sole father in the press. Even after the adoption, Lesli kept each and every child support payment made by Nikki's birth father. But make no mistake, Nikki maintained a relationship with both sides of her family.
Furthermore, it is my opinion that Lesli was not a fit parent. Knowing Nikki's medical history, I think she was too lenient. I know people who attended both Nikki's 17th and 18th birthdays in which they say alcohol was present for minors, even where no adults were. They witnessed Christos warning the kids to keep the alochol on his (private) property in case the cops came. To me, it seems that Nikki had their permission to be underage drinking, something her birth father never would have permitted or gone along with.
Nikki had a daddy- the only parent that spent the night with Nikki in the hospital room the first night of her brain surgery when she was a little girl - and it wasn't Christos! Her daddy also donated the blood she needed for her spinal surgery- also NOT Christos. Her daddy is also the one who bought the stuffed animal Big Bird when she was born- the one mentioned in Lesli's Prolouge.
In addition to Nikki's half sisters listed in the Dedication (Danielle, Christiana, and Kira Catsouras), Nikki has 2 half brothers, a step-sister, and 2 other half sisters- all of whom she loved and still grieve her loss. Especially as the anniversary draws near.
The June before her accident, she graduated high school as Nikki Mayo, not Nikki Catsouras.
Her daddy is the one who regularly brought Nikki to church- the church Nikki herself requested to be, and was, baptized in, alongside her step-sister (in 1993).
I don't begrudge Lesli the right to mourn the loss of her daughter, but I do seriously resent, what is in my opinion, her attempt to remove the history of the close relationship Nikki had with her biological father and her other remaining sisters and brothers. I believe it would have been a much better healing process if all of her sibblings and parents would have been able to come together to grieve and celebrate together- instead of portraying her family in the media as the only immediate family who were victims.
I also wish Christos had hidden his own car keys in light of the fact he had taken Nikki's away. I'm thankful no one else was seriously hurt.
March 30, 2025
This is a powerful tribute to a Beautiful Soul and a story of unimaginable tragedy, unbearable pain, resilience, and an uneven fight for dignity and justice against a conspiracy of incarnated evil. It is a surreal tale of a dark moment in the history of humanity when what is morally right or wrong cannot be taken for granted anymore. It is a tale that leaves no part of a human soul untouched. 🕊️
May their courage inspire generations to stand for justice. A Divine Soul taken too soon, yet forever immortal in the hearts of those who refuse to forget.
🕊️🕊️🕊️
May their courage inspire generations to stand for justice. A Divine Soul taken too soon, yet forever immortal in the hearts of those who refuse to forget.
🕊️🕊️🕊️
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews