Lessons: Shattered Pieces Being Restored by LaDonna Marie is an inspirational and self-motivational read. The book follows the stories of three different girls, Chantel, Casey and Mandy, as they navigate this hard journey called life. The author writes a short scenario for each girl, explaining their current place in their lives, along with their feelings, and then utilizes multiple thought-provoking poems to further express the feelings and resolutions for each situation. LaDonna Marie covers a multitude of common situations, such as bullying, past regrets, anger, parental loss, self-esteem and love, to name just a few.

I found Lessons: Shattered Pieces Being Restored to be such a beautiful book. The poems were inspiring, lyrical as well as reflective. The author takes a Christian viewpoint to show people that life is worth living, each person has worth and no matter what, everyone can prevail if they just try. Nothing is too hard or too bleak to overcome. The book directs readers to have faith that God will see you through, and to believe that you can beat all odds and make it. I would recommend this book to young (tween to teen) girls especially, as I believe they can relate to the struggles and lives of the three young girls mentioned. Parents with teen children can benefit from reading this book as well, as the author provides so many inspirational and motivational solutions to dealing with life issues. A positive mindset is a powerful tool when dealing with life’s hardships. Kudos to LaDonna Marie for providing such an empowering book.

Five Star Review

Lessons: Shattered Pieces Being Restored 

Full of poems to inspire and provide girls and women the guidance and strength necessary in order for them to overcome their hardships, Lessons: Shattered Pieces Being Restored by author and poet LaDonna Marie speaks volumes about the tenacity of the female spirit. Exploring the difficult themes of heartache, pain, fear, hurt, and shame, Marie uses her own experiences to relate to her readers, as she begs them to look inside themselves, knowing that each and every woman has the power to be the leader of her own life. Through the introduction of the book where the author gives a few words of encouragement, we get a sense for the work and what it is going to try and accomplish. The poems that follow cover many different topics, using the love of God as a guiding force to navigate through the complexities of life.

Poems such as ‘No One Loves Me’ and ‘Constantly Struggling’ show how vulnerable and honest the author is being as she admits the times she has felt alone and betrayed in the world. This is a nice juxtaposition against later poems such as ‘Breakthrough’ and ‘Stand Firm’ that fully display the strength of the voice of the poet, as she refuses to back down and let the world trample upon her spirit as it has done so in the past. One of the best things about this collection is the journey that it takes you on as you read, the poems staying pretty consistent in their form, but changing in their attitude, as the reader learns and grows along with the poet herself. This is a great collection for any woman who has felt downtrodden before, as LaDonna Marie’s powerful words aim to lift her spirit up.