Written by a mother of the Late Aaron James M. a bright young man with his whole life ahead of him before opioids took him too soon, this book is as much informational as it is emotional. The heartbreaking details of Aaron's downward spiral as a result of addiction to painkillers.
Kathy Denver
Reviews Editor
The International Review of Books
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Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts 'Fentanyl the Killer'
Plot: 5 out of 5
Character Development: 4 out of 5
Flow: 4 out of 5
OVERALL SCORE: 4 out of 5
Which line stood out from all the others in the book?
Those drugs stole the most amazing person I have ever met. They robbed Aaron of his whole life --- his happiness, his joy, his self-esteem, his self-worth, his pride, his strength, his love of life --- and left no one untouched.
The title of this book says it all. "Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts" is a memoir about the life of a young man cut short because of drugs. The book author, Sylvia Abolis Mennear, is a mother who struggles with the grief of losing a son, and whose life after his death, will never be the same again.
Educational, moving and genuine, it is an eye-opening account of what drug addicts and their loved ones go through in their fight against addiction. It shows us how lives are stolen and often lost due to drugs. It enables parents and family members to see that substance abuse can happen to anyone, even to those we thought are not vulnerable enough to be victimized.
Through research and personal experience, the author makes a clear list of typical behavior that should warn us of possible drug addiction. It urges us to be vigilant. In a society where we are surrounded by people who can so easily influence our loved ones into taking drugs, ours should be a never tiring task to be watchful and to be pro-active. To act before everything is too late is a lesson the reader should quickly acquire as one reads through the book.
The book also stresses the kind of help needed by those who have already fallen into substance abuse. The stigma, which so often isolates the drug addict and keeps him from receiving the assistance he needs should be fought. Instead of judgement, there must be helpful information. Instead of blame, there should be a cooperative approach towards recovery.
This is definitely a book filled to the brim with a mother's love for her son. It is the kind of love that not only grieves but acts. It is the kind that decides to leave a legacy of wisdom for those who can still save the ones they love.
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We hear about the opiod crisis in North America and might picture a victim in our mind as a streep person, the proverbial man in ill-fitting clothing living under a bridge. In reality, this epidemic is killing our previously healthy, happy, even athletic youth in staggering numbers. Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts bring us back to reality; each one of these death-by-overdose statistics represents a human being, and in this case, someone who is loved very much.
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