Let me start by saying this right now: be mindful of your triggers going into this book, because Kimberly Brown does not sugarcoat trauma. She gives you the real, and sometimes the real is hard to sit with. When the people who are supposed to protect you fail you over and over again, you start doing whatever you have to do just to survive… and that desperation can change the entire course of your life.
Alayah honestly never caught a break. From her teenage years straight into adulthood, she was dealt the worst hand and forced into situations she never asked for....while everyone around her somehow missed the pain she was living with every single day. After spending ten years behind bars, all she wants now is a quiet life, to find her sisters, and to finally build the family she never had the chance to have.
Her aunt and uncle were the only steady support she had, and the way they showed up for her? That part really touched me. They were determined to make sure she knew she wasn’t alone anymore that she mattered and that she deserved peace.
And then there’s Killian. He knew Alayah back when they were teenagers and had always cared for her, even if he didn’t fully understand what she was going through at the time. He carried guilt for not seeing the signs back then, and when he’s asked to help with her case years later? He sees it as a second chance, not just to help her legally, but to finally be there for her in the way he couldn’t before.
This story was packed with pain, healing, love, friendship, struggle, and some hard truths. Alayah had been fighting for so long that even she wasn’t sure if she’d ever really escape the darkness that followed her. Watching her slowly find light again was emotional, exhausting, and beautiful all at once.
It wasn’t an easy read… but it was absolutely worth it.