Due to its unique nature, this book's rating was a tug-of-war between three and four stars. On the one hand, the author has an amazing way with words, but on the other hand, the words sometimes run amuck, and the reader cannot always track them at first glance.

This book deserves dedicated time. Read slowly to absorb the genius behind the sentiments shared fully. If sped through, you won't fully grasp what's said, but with time given, you can adequately dissect. This book is a layered read. A book in which an English teacher might assign and ask the students, on page _, paragraph _, what do you think the author was trying to convey to you as the reader? What's the meaning behind the words? What's the more significant story at play?

This book can be confusing, disjointed, hard to follow, and repetitive in parts, yet it's a journey towards freedom. Journeys away from abusive situations are confusing, disjointed, and hard to navigate. Lessons are repeatedly learned, but liberty can ultimately be attained. This book is to be studied, gems taken from, hope, and inspiration found for those locked up in hard places who wish to leave. It's not a one-size-fits-all. Each person's stories are always different, even within similarities; however, you can gather gumption and courage when you see other people share stories of survival, knowing you are up against extreme odds not stacked in your favor; but, who said odds need to be in your favor to come out the victor in the end? As a reminder, forgiveness doesn't equate to acceptance. Forgiveness is merely another form of walking away and leaving the past in the past.

Due to specific subjects that became mainstays in this author's narrative, such as her ex's secrets hidden underneath the truth of the Truth he so passionately espoused, I could not grant more than four stars for this read. However, this book could become a five-star read with a bit of polish and less repetition. This book is filled with truths not often shared and done so in what I have come to describe as mad genius at work - a unique take on a life lived for the betterment of this author's own with grit, determination, a dog by her side giving her life permanence, meaning, and a reason to continue onward against all the ick of ills that rallied against her and led her to a life of beauty from which she lives out of today.

As a woman living in Juneau, Alaska, fleeing a domestic violence situation myself, I felt a special kinship with this author while reading her words. I have spent eight years in Juneau specifically. Ten in Alaska total. When compared to the author's twenty-five years in Juneau, my years are short; however, knowing of the tides and the harbors and the raptors, ravens, and gulls, a shared lived experience emerges that creates a bond between reader and writer that I could not overlook nor not fail to mention. For authenticity like none other you have ever read, this book is recommended - quirky, radically artistic, wholly unique, and individualistic, there is nothing to compare it to!