The sequel to Daddy’s Little Earner tells Maria’s story as she tries to rebuild her life. Determined to escape from her past and be the best wife and mother she could possibly be, Maria throws herself into her marriage. But it is never that easy to escape from such a traumatic start in life. Maria tells the story of her marriage into the gypsy community and the emotional demons that rise up from her childhood to haunt her as she becomes the victim of violence once more. She leads the reader through her own personal and inspiring journey out of a nervous breakdown, through two marriages and on to becoming a personal development teacher, helping many others to overcome their pasts, and a strong, empowered single mother of two boys.
I wrote a review of this book and put it under the wrong title of the prequel book! Yes I'm a diddy, feel free to point at me and laugh! OK this book follows on from Maria's life as a 13 year old prostitute being pimped on the streets by her evil, abusive dad. Here she struggles to come to terms with her past, dealing with severe depression, suicide attempts and an abusive relationship with her first husband. She stays with him, too afraid to be on her own and her life spirals totally out of control before she can start to pick herself up. A brutal life and a mentally draining book to read. I can relate to the depression though thankfully I did not have her past to deal with. An ok read but there are better books in this genre.
It was only a few pages in when I realized that I was reading a sequel, but I thought I would finish it anyway. I think that it will help if I read the first book, but as of now, this review is based on this version alone.
I finished this book and it left me feeling a sense of disdain. I felt like the story was repeating itself over and over, which is very well was. Maria has issues, no doubt about it, but when someone repeatedly assures you that they know it was a wrong thing to do, whether it was in marrying these men, or going back to them, you can't help but wonder why she kept throwing herself into these situations. I understand why, the psychology behind it, but that doesn't mean it's not frustrating to read about on virtually every page. The epilogue left much to be desired and it didn't show any definite improvement in my opinion. I know she feels like she has "escaped", but I don't really understand how. I hope everything is going well for her, don't get me wrong...but this book was quite tedious.
Very quick read. During the first chapter everything happened very fast and you pretty much got the whole story in one. I finished it, but not overly keen on it. Obviously a sad story though with a better ending.
True story so can't change history, but was frustrated reading this as she continuously put herself in terrible situations. Was anxiously waiting for the happy ending.
As a reader I scoffed at moments that Maria made decisions that were obviously for the detriment of herself, but having realised it being a true story a sense of pain and anger was sparked at the evils of the world. It truly opened my eyes regarding the long-term impact of child abuse, and how people cope with the memories. Whilst being a true story I must admit it was a little hard to regain the concept of time as dates were given in no chronological order. The words also while being kiddish connected with deep emotions all brewed on by the story. I also didn't realise it was the second book in the series, but it didn't really matter much.
Despite some of it's shortcomings the story really made me rethink my perspectives on struggles; seeing how insignificant our problems are compared to others. The book also felt a little like an auto-biography at times, slipping advice onto our hands.
What a heart-breaking, harrowing tale based on the true story of a little girl whose life was filled with violence and abuse. Her mother left the family home when Ria was only small. She was in the "care" of her father .... "care" being nothing like you could imagine. He sexually abused her .... he emotionally cut her down, and he "trained" her to be a prostitute. In effect, her father was her pimp from the tender age of a young teenager. She is eventually able to leave the house where she lived with her father, but sadly ended up in other abusive relationships. Would she ever be able to get off this destructive roller-coaster? Tales such as this are harrowing as I said, and only serve to make me more appreciative of the safe upbringing I had.
I was lent this book today, and I've just finished it.
It's hard to know how to review a memoir, especially one dealing with such horrible events. It must have taken a great deal of courage and patience to be able to write about her life, and I commend the author for that.
Obviously, there is nothing to comment on in the way of plot, as there is none - though I will say that the order in which events are placed was a little confusing at times, but worked well overall.
I didn't read the book too deeply, because there isn't a lot of depth to it - by this I mean, there was no metaphor, allegory, or symbolism. Events that happened are described in this book, and that's all there is to it.
Overall, a well written book of its type, and I wish the writer a lot of luck with her career in the future. Should she have any novels out, I will probably take a look.
This book was so annoying because the amount of sheer copying from the previous book was incredible, just full sentences and small paragraphs copy and pasted from the first book into the second, i actually can't believe it.
Then there's the fact that the blurd said nothing about the fact that this was a sequel, in fact it made itself out to be the first book, and although technically this book did gloss over the childhood of Maria it wasn't actually about that which meant when i bought it i thought it was a different book then it actually was, it was like false advertising.
The actual book itself wasn't too bad, it was interesting and somewhat uplifting at the end but like i said, it sets you up to be dissapointed when the books blurd makes you think the book is about one thing and actually isn't.
Some part were recycled from the previous book, Daddy's Little Earner.I still think it's a good inspirational book.The author, indeed a very strong courageous person.At one point you couldn't help but feel angry towards her silly decisions, but that's what made her for who she is today.
I couldn't help but cry when she mentioned about her brother's death.I loss my father, eleven days ago to the same illness.
I think this story it the perfect example of marrying what you grew up knowing. Her father was a sick man. Who pimps out their daughter? Let alone sit there and watch it..poor child. No doubt why she grew up to marry such abusive men.I did not care for the authors style. I did find out at the end of the book that there is a part one..should have read that first. Even though I did not forcing myself to finish reading it..it did deserve at least the three stars I gave it.
I find the structure to be overly repetitive. Almost as if she is convincing herself of things as she pens. However, it's clear this is a sequel and a form of therapy for her and a way to put it all behind her once and for all. Not the best I have read, I wonder whether I would change my opinion if I had read her first.
It was nice though to see her triumph over her horrific past and show other survivors that a different life can be achieved and you are not defined by your abuse.
I wasn't a huge fan. I read through the first book very quickly though when I tried to read this one I just thought it was dry, slow, and repetitive of the first book. Was hoping to learn more about Landon's adult life through her second book though I just couldn't finish it. I didn't even make it past the second chapter.
There is something quite relatable about Maria Landon's writing. I loved this book so much I shared it with friends and family. I do not quite feel the same about Daddy's little earner. My suggestion is, read daddy's little earner first and then this book. But overall it is amazing and you feel the pain. The writing is easy, at most you can finish the book in a day.
This is a story of a woman who was abused from early childhood by her father, abandoned by her mother and who struggled to develop meaningful relationships throughout much of her life. As a very personal story, I hesitate to rate it on the star system. It isn't an easy read because what happened to her was horrific. Kudo's to her for surviving and having the courage to tell her story.
I've read Daddy's little earner, so I had to read this. I'm glad I did. It and me sad, angry, and then turned to happiness and respect for Ria. This book wasn't just written, it was Lived and I could feel that. Awesome read.
It's very satisfying to know that Ria finally managed to come to terms with her past and is now in a much better place. However, I found her writing to be very repetitive.
This was an very good book, it was encouraging, to see a woman to come out of her situation successful and happy in life, but it did take work. Good things can happen if you put your mind to it.
I didn’t realize this was a follow up book so I’ll go back and read her first one too. She describes such a challenging road, I can’t even imagine trying to overcome her past. And yet she’s done it. She should be so proud of herself! The book itself isn’t particularly emotional. Most of the nastiness is told is such a cut and dry way that it doesn’t really pull your heart strings, but you definitely can get a sense of the horror she had to live with and work through and the impact it made on her life.
I always hesitate giving a "like" rating to this kind of book - there is nothing to like about the harrowing experiences women such as Maria have gone through in their lives, especially at such young ages. However, I was so pleased that she was eventually able, with help, to confront and make a kind of peace with her past - so many others do not find such a positive resolution. I wish Maria continued happiness in her life.
I didn't realize this was a sequel, there was no indication of that on the book. Therefore, I felt like I was missing a lot of the story and thus couldn't relate to the narrator at all. Every decision she made made me cringe and I had a hard time finding anything likeable about her. I think if I had read the first book I would have had a lot more understanding and sympathy for her. So yes, you should probably read her other book before reading this one.