A grueling novel, this one; it is that intense. It's so painful you would want to drop the book and never pick it up, but you find your mind drawn to it, wanting to know what, why, how, and what next. You find yourself feeling all kinds of emotions; Alessa's pain, her frustrations, her loneliness. You feel angry for her, and you feel angry (even disgusted atimes) at her. You feel her happiness, her sorrow, her fears and her doubts. You feel it all. Believe Like A Child is heartbreaking, eye-opening to what really happens to molested kids, to homeless men, women and children. It moves you to the core, opens your eyes to things you never would have thought, situations you never would have imagined. It offers a fresh perspective to what it is like to live on the streets, with nowhere to go, not knowing where your next meal is going to come from, or where you'll lay your head for the night. It's painful. It's appalling. It's breath-taking literature.
Reader's discretion is strongly advised when reading BLAC. The language used is definitely strong and rough, and will be offensive for some. It might take you longer than usual to finish it up; you might find yourself taking breaks in between reads, giving yourself time to digest the mount of intense information you've just read. Or, you might finish the book very quickly and within a very short time; it all depends on you as the reader and how much intensity you can take all at once.
I thought the author laid it out a little too raw. I would've preferred if the beginning had started a little gentler, more subtle. Perhaps Dearth was trying to get the reader to feel the same intense shock Alessa felt when her uncle Danny started sexually violating her, with no warning, and her innocence gone in an instant. Nevertheless, readers want to be captivated, strung along...they want to feel eager enough to read on. Not every reader wants to be hit with sexually assaulting images in their minds right on the first page, every move described in graphic detail. It is indeed a given, sad fact that child molestation happens to children constantly; it is horribly sick and horribly sad. However, not everyone wants his/her mind conjuring up images of a sleazy uncle doing unspeakable, despicable things to his seven-year-old niece, and certainly not on the first few pages. The last thing an author wants to do is lose his/her audience at the start of the novel before they get to see the true brilliance in the author’s works.
With that said, BLAC is indeed a brilliant, exceptional read by an equally exceptional author, who went through very similar circumstances with the novel's main character, Alessa. I do indeed feel privileged to have had the opportunity to read this novel. I have learned quite a few life lessons, and I hope readers will learn a few from it as well.
GENRE:
General fiction
COARSE
LANGUAGE: High
VIOLENCE:
High
SEXUAL
CONTENT: High
MATERIAL
CONNECTION: Given to me by author
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