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COMPLETELY agree. I think this book needed a lot more time and maturity (I know because I've been there) before she really has the insight and distance necessary to make this compelling.

I completely understand what you guys are saying but with this book she wasn’t looking for it to be a compelling and perfect. The reason she released the book is to show what people were not able to see behind the camera. I find this book extremely compelling when thinking about it because she is not looking for loads of money, popularity from readers, and a writing career from just the one book. The story is her truth and that’s what makes it a good read! This is the best memoir I have ever read :)

I agree! I went into this memoir cold. I had no idea who they were. But I really believe she is still too close to the continual trauma to write a published book.

I hadn’t really kept up with the case, so I went into this book blind. I came out of it a little confused still. I felt like she glazed over events and details, and the writing definitely would have more maturity to it if it had been written later.

Ditto. I’ve never followed any family vlogs and went into this pretty ignorant. I’m still not sure if I understand what actually happened.

Sometimes a very inexperienced writer -- Shari was 21 when she wrote this last year -- NEEDS a ghost writer and they sure an editor. The book is confusing & disjointed, and it counts on you recognizing the story from national news stories -- or being a fan of the "8 Passengers" vlog -- it's all over the place. By not identifying the younger kids (who any fan of the series would know anyhow), not even by initials... it is hard to make sense out of it. For example, I never have figured out why the 2 youngest kids were singled out for such vile physical abuse and not any others. I still have no idea why her weakling father let this go on for so many years, never intervening even when things were blowing up. The story of Shari's sexual exploitation from 18-21 by a church leader... is simply awful, and begs tons of questions (why was HE not censored or excommunicated?) BUT... it distracts from the main story and at least 1/4 of the book is focused on it.

I think this was rushed into print, to exploit this tragedy and to make Shari a few easy bucks via a big advance -- when she's just getting married -- it would have been better to marinate on the whole thing for 3-4 years and when even the younger kids were old enough to give permission to tell THEIR stories. I can't rate this above a 1-star.

I think the audience Shari chose to write this book for were people who were familiar with the family and/or case. that being said, i would agree, some info maybe lacks but for me, i did follow the family online. it really just puts into words how many of the viewers were right about Ruby and the toxicity behind the camera. There was always abuse, Shari doesn’t address it as much, but she also experienced physical abuse.. smack on the face and etc.

I also completely disagree with the “rushed to exploit a tragedy� narrative. Immature, sure. But Shari never wanted the online presence, to me this is her way of gaining back control being she was forced into the spotlight.

I thought the same. It would have been so much better if she had waited a few years to process it before telling it. I feel like she was getting book offers from publishers who wanted to strike while the iron was hot and everything was still in the news. I would love to read a book written by Ruby ...to see if her thoughts matched those of Shari especially surrounding the events that happened before Shari was too young to remember. I feel like she wasn't entirely fair in her assessment of Ruby ...casting her as a demon right from her birth before she was old enough to have memories of her mothers reactions to her.

Agreed. Much better stated than I did.

Agreed. I rated it 4 stars, but echo your review.