Under the cover of anonymity “Paul Saunders” Courageously tells his shockingly true story of how he and his step-siblings were repeatedly abused by their mother and step-father. It doesn’t make “easy” reading, But living through it wasn’t fun either.
DISCLAIMER: This book is a true story of horrific child abuse, and does contain passages that most readers will find disturbing.
So Sad that children had to suffer such abuse. this book is short but to the point and to be honest I feel a little guilty that I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book.
This is a story of horrible abuse as wielded by a step-father to his family. Told by one of the children he emphasizes the particular cruelty he used in one of the siblings..
This is a true story of the abuse that Paul and his step siblings suffered at the hands of both his mother and step father.
After Paul's father walked out on them his mother started a relationship with a black man - which back then in the 60's was very much frowned on and there was a lot of racial hatred. From then on their lives were never to be the same again.
Their parents were very clever at hiding what was going on, I honestly don't think they would get away with it these days. It makes you question why social services never got involved. The cruelty that those poor children suffered is heart breaking but for me, it's little Paul who seemed to have suffered the most and makes you want to cry. I can certainly see why Paul has dedicated this book to him. It was a very heartfelt book and one that wouldn't have been easy for Paul to write. I'm very happy to give it four stars.
My grateful thanks to the author for bringing his book to my attention. My copy came via Kindle Unlimited. This is my honest and unbiased review.
This guy is unfuckingbelievable. This story wasnt a tribute to his horribly abused stepbrother. It was all about him and how hard it was for him to have mixed race siblings, and how black people were so racist to him (what an ignorant piece of shit!), and how the abuse of his brother affected him. In the end he selfishly wasn't even there when his brother died. The ultimate takeaway here is the author is a downright terrible person in every conceivable way.
One of the most harrowing and popular experiences in a book is ‘A Child Called it’
The story was short and so intense, I couldn’t read it all until I was older in years. I attempted to read it initially as a very young adult and then finally read it all closer to my 30’s. I read the sequels and they were easier to read.
I’ve read many books by adults abused as a child and they are all sickening but some more so than others if one can really classify such depravity. I like how PT Saunders puts it perfectly…being raised by Demonic parents!
Anyways, Mr Saunders mostly wrote this book to honor his little brother and gave us a peak into the living hell he and some of his siblings had to cope Witt and the repeated failures of the systems responsible for taking care of such kids. Sadly, we read these scenarios over abs over despite many laws, greater training and mandatory reporting. Too many Kids are still let down or ignored despite evidence and allowed to remain in life threatening environments.
Little Paul… my heart breaks and shatters… once you read the book, it will all come together for you.
It’s not for the faint hearted abs Mr Saunders is very fact based writer. Very engaging but also not sugarcoated either
I’m impressed by his willingness to protect us from certain information and identities our of respect to whom ever it if he is discussing. His horrid childhood formed him into a compassionate man. He could have just as easily become a law breaking con man or other sociopathic type person who prey on others as a consequence of there childhoods.
I wouldn’t suggest reading this book if depressed or anxious as a survivor or at least be prepared for extremely triggering information.
For me, I can handle it and it puts my own personal traumas into other perspectives.
Im so grateful that Mr Saunders took on this therapy suggestion as it all started as and ended up publishing pieces of his life.
First, let me say that any abuse of a human or animal is horrific, and it's brave for a survivor to tell their story. I was interested in this book because of the decades it was set in/happened in (wanted to know how social services operated then). I understand that this book was written to pay homage to the brother who suffered the most abuse, but honestly feel that he deserved way more than this very short book. If the author respected and loved his brother so much, why ignore the letter that the brother sent? I suspect that this was written (at least,in part) to assuage the authors guilt. Another thing I have a few issues with is that this was written by a TEACHING ASSISTANT! Really? The typos and punctuation made it hard to read.
This is a truly remarkable read. Not because it's a good read (which it truly is), but because, if you have a heart (i hope you do), it will sincerely break and cause tears in your eyes. I give the author TREMENDOUS kudos and a trillion thumbs ups 👍👍👍 for his bravery, ability & willingness to let others into this true "portrait of pain & evil". Mr. Saunders --- if you ever see this review, I want you to know how much I admire your bravery!! I hope your journey continues to healing ❤️❤️🙏
Finished in one day, I hope this book speaks out and let's others know as the author says there are many forms of child abuse and if there are more than one child in a residence found to be abused or let's someone know, the proper people need to conduct a thorough investigation to really get a sense of what's going on in a home. Those figures of people need to let the child know they are safe and can speak up you are there to investigate do it to the fullest. R.I.P Lil Paul
I will be clear that there are many gramicatical errors and such s if that bothers you dont read. I found them nice. Made this more real and authentic. You were able to feel the emotions in the words being said. It is a shorty story but with so much detail and insight. You feel every emotion as you turn this the pages wondering what happens next. I did not want to put this book down. Looking forward to reading other books by him.
A getting shot book about the early life if a man that has battled in wars from childhood.
This is the first of three books that are the life of P T Saunders. This short first part autobiography goes into some detail of his early life and the horrific things he and his siblings were forced to endure at the hands of his step father and their careless mother. I really enjoyed this book, and will be reading the second one in the series next.
It is horrible how bad this man was to lil Paul. However i feel the author has a touch of racism in himself as well. The way you kept pointing out that Roy and his friends were black as if that explains the awful people they were. However it seems to me that every adult in your life was messed up to put it nicely. Your mother is just as much the abuser. Your father was a horrible man. Your grandparents. The list could go on
40 minute read. I think the author fails to realize just how racist he is. Someone should also inform him that there is no such thing as reverse-racism. While what happened to these children is appalling and I'm sure that left the author traumatized, he paints himself as a perfect victim. More should have been done to ensure the safety of those children, but the author should not find himself blaming his father's race for his cruelty.
This short story shows just how bad child abuse is now and was in the 60s and 70s and social services just ignored all of it my heart goes out to these kids they deserved better and what little Paul suffered was horrendous and all the time then do called mother stood around and let it .I have 5 STARS for this for Paul's courage in writing this .
While the story is one that is filled with such heartache due a vicious monster, it does get to be a bit distracting to make your way through all of the poor sentence structure in so many places, along with poor grammatical errors. If you can move past that (I managed to ignore my brain screaming at the errors), it is a good read.
Reading this book was hard for me to get through and understand what he had been through. I can't understand how a mother would let a man do what he did to her children it makes me so furious. And that doesn't even count the child protective service who are suppose to help protect children and failed along with the school staff. When will situations like this one stop
I am wondering why this man, Roy is still allowed to walk the streets a free man? What about the Mother too? They will have to answer for their actions in the end. In the meantime I hope there are no more victims from these two loser parents.
A true story is neither good nor bad. It's the truth. Interesting story this is BUT the grammar and typos are horrible. I dont know if this is due to the translation to E noom but it is very distracting. Too many ill-placed exclamation points.
This book is another example how child protection and juvenile courts gamble with the innocent. This is a tear jerker that will leave you shaking your head. of
Was this book self published? The editing was terrible for spelling , sentence structure and capitalization for starters. Poorly written . Sorry for the situation just not done very well.
Ive read a lot of books about child abuse but this one tops it...what this kids had to endure by this monsters..is just unbelievable..i wish the author and his (half) siblings only the best..
I appreciate this mini story and never stoped reading until the very end. So many of us go through this same dysfunctional life style and most the time not know how to come out from the norm of hatred. I appreciate this book. Thank you !
This book will break your heary and horrify you at the same time. The author's retelling of his and his siblings childhood abuse should be read by all social workers and law enforcement as well as any officers of the court involved with children.
God has a special place for people that hurt children.
Very detailed I personally can't imagine the pain and shame that these children endured. God works in mysterious ways and he has a special place for people that hurt children. This is the what I believe.
This book had me in tears. It's hard giving this book a five star because it almost feels like I'm rating the abuse. My five star rating is given to this very brave soul of an author. I hope writing this book gives you some sort of peace
This book made me not want to put it down, but afraid to read what was going to happen next all at the same time!! Definitely brings out various emotions throughout the pages.
A wake up call for social services, neighbors, and teachers, who either never notice or when they do, turn a blind eye towards child abuse. Shame on you all!!