My Story

Elizabeth Smart. 

Read in February. 

The true story of a fourteen year old girl who was taken from her home and held captive for nine months. 

This book is not exiting, but it is interesting. There isn't a lot of emotion, it feels disconnected, but I liked that. I liked that I didn't want to read more because I was compelled by emotions, but because she deserves her story to be read. 

The only issues I had with the book were: The repetitiveness. So many times she makes the point that she was just a little girl, only fourteen. She was raped everyday. That's a tragic thing no one should have to go through, but it was said so many times it lost its meaningful impact after a while. The helplessness toward the end was very aggravating to me, that David was gone for seven days and the women just sat up there and starved. They weren't chained. They were perfectly capable of walking down that damn mountain to get something to eat, then going back so he wouldn't kill her family as she feared. I get that she was so scared he would hurt her family and that's why she stayed, but to just let herself starve to death when she could have gotten food rubbed me the wrong way. 

Those issues aside, her attitude is very uplifting. She thinks on the good memories of her family and the faithfulness of God. My favorite exerpt is when she said, "I don't think what happened to me was something that God intended. He surely would not have wished the anguish and torment that I was about to go through upon anyone, especially upon a child. But since that time, I have learned an important lesson. Yes, God can make some good come from evil. But even He, in all His majesty, won't make evil go away. Men are free. He won't control them. There is wickedness in this world." But she realized God is always near and she could still lean on Him, He would be there for her. A close second, and I think everyone's favorite part is the quote from her mother at the end.  “You be happy, Elizabeth. Just be happy. If you go and feel sorry for yourself, or if you dwell on what has happened, if you hold on to your pain, that is allowing him to steal more of your life away. So don’t you do that. Don’t you let him. There is no way that he deserves that. Not one more second of your life."

I can't recommend or not recommend this book. You're either interested or you're not. You either want to read her story or you don't. I wouldn't have known about it if it weren't for Bon's Book Club. When I read the description I wanted to read it, and I'm glad I did.