Targeted at readers who have faced sexual abuse or sex trafficking, Thompson’s debut—a memoir about her own healing, written from a Christian perspective—reveals the story of suffering sexual abuse as a child that, in her words, “blinded the eyes of my heart.” Through church counseling, self-investigation, and her own relationship with God, those eyes, she writes, have been healed, not by her but by God. She’s crafted the book to share her path with readers, recounting how through prayer she found the courage to face these traumatic memories and the feelings of guilt that came with them.

Thompson traces the abuse inflicted upon her by her father to “generational sin” rather than any one person, writing “it festered from previous evil waged against my flesh and blood by Hell itself.” Understanding cycles of abuse has helped her to feel compassion and forgiveness, though she’s frank about the challenge of this, admitting that, when she felt God telling her it was time to “get well,” she responded “by yelling at Him some more.” She vividly paints the portrait of herself, in 2019, worn out, hyper alert, and struggling with past trauma at a time when her 25 year marriage seemed to be failing. Her accounts of breakthroughs and setbacks as she undergoes EDMR therapy and other forms of counseling is frank, direct, and moving.

When discussing abuse, Thompson’s never graphic, though the horror is clear. Her emphasis, instead, is on trauma recovery, with a focus on inner strength, the power of forgiveness, and the therapeutic techniques and intense, at times contentious prayer that helped her. While she offers some practical advice suited for Christian readers, Thompson has the humility to declare “This isn’t intended to be any kind of self-help guide.” Instead, it’s an act of witnessing and healing, a believer telling her story to an audience who might need encouragement to face their own.

Takeaway: This Christian memoir and guidebook focuses on nurturing the strength to heal after sexual abuse.

Great for fans of: Nicole Braddock Bromley's Hush, Justin S. Holcomb’s Rid of My Disgrace.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: B
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A