Monday, June 25, 2012

Behind the Mask- Juliet M. Sampson

2





Pages: 176
Published: February 1st 2011 by Brolga Publishing Pty Ltd
Genre: Contemporary/ Adult Fiction
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Direct from Juliet.
Date Finished: June 25th 2012

Synopsis:
A young girl dreams of finding her Prince Charming and falls head over heels in love, only to discover early on that she has been completely deceived. Caught in a resentful, angry, emotionally and physically abusive relationship, she tears away the mask behind which hides a love without compassion. Only a few years earlier she had graduated from university and was blissfully happy and enjoying life. Love, she thought, would just add to her blessings. Now she finds herself stranded on an island in Thailand with no passport or return ticket to Australia and fearing for her safety and life. Still dreaming about a love without hurt, she is determined to control resentment and focus on shaming the behaviour that let her down.

Thoughts:
I was very blessed and grateful to receive a copy of Behind the Mask from Juliet at the begging of June. After reading the synopsis and various reviews I was more than curious to read it.

This has to be one of the hardest books I have ever given my thoughts on because so many thoughts conflict with the authors own personal journey of abuse throughout the novel and the honesty and rawness of the situations she detailed. Coming from a background of abuse myself I honestly struggled at times to continue reading it. It was painful, emotional, riveting and at the same time frustrating to the point that I had honestly had enough of hearing the ordeals of the narrator and how she stayed in that situation for so long.

Her story is powerful. It is told simply, but with every unfolding event I found myself nervous and back in the situation. So kudos to Juliet first and foremost for making me feel like my heart was being wrenched open, because while I did find it hard to digest I did actually find it compelling to read. However this is not for those who do not like to true accounts and crime, because when we get down to the nitty gritty it is a crime what the author had to go through and even though it is based on her experiences I found that I was only able to find real strength after the novel was finished. It is the after that really makes you think and question just what would you put up with to make someone happy?

I would certainly recommend it to any man or woman and honestly to younger people as well. Because it can happen to anyone at any time and we never truly know someone. I was grateful to be able to share the experience with Juliet and I love that she continues to help those in need and promote Anti- Bullying.  Pick it up, and give it a read it is not for everyone, but I still strongly believe that we can all learn from these experiences no matter the medium and I even learned a little bit more than I thought I did about myself and my relationships.

Thanks again Juliet for being so kind as to give me a copy of your book. You can find Juliet here:

I am giving this book:

★★★.5

I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but the content was hard to enjoy until the end.

2 comments:

  1. An excellent book. I have read it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Everyone should read Behind the Mask.

    ReplyDelete