Ciężko mi się pozbierać po tej książce. Nie wyobrażam sobie budowania nowego życia po takim dzieciństwie.

read this for someone, didn’t like it

A tragic story that is only more tragic because it is true. A woman with a horrific childhood, grows up, marries, has a family and creates more horror for the next generation. Her daughter grows up, escapes and aids her foster siblings to escape as well. Then as she began to heal and grow she learned of her mom second marriage and family. Then she had to help her mom's children from this marriage escape as well. The lack of support from teachers, doctors, social workers was just heartbreaking to read and yet I am sure her complaints were so unbelievable that the professionals were compelled to accept the mom's side of the stories rather than the daughters. This story doesn't end with all the loose ends tied up and with every one living happily ever after. It's a messy book, chronicling messy lives, with an open ended conclusion. But it is full of hope and shows the resilience of the human spirit. She often refers to God and senses God even during the dark times. A sad book but one that leaves the reader with hope and resources to help themselves or others if needed.

Interesting novel written by a victim of Munchausen by Proxy. I've seen Munchausen in my practice and it is an ugly disease, and very diffcult at times to detect. I'm not surprised the abuse Ms. Gregory suffered went on as long as it did, because of how sneaky and insidious the disease is. She does an admirable job writing about the abuse without becoming maudlin or playing for sympathy. She seems to be a woman in charge of her own health now, and the story rings of her strength and ability to find meaning and peace in her life. I wish there had been more discussion of Munchausen and Munchausen by proxy so people who aren't familiar with it could really understand it. It is tragic that abuse is continued in families through this horrific illness and children are miserable and die because of it. It was an engrossing read and left me sad, horrified, and ultimately awed by Ms. Gregory's determination to break free of both being abused and being an abuser.

I couldn't put this book down. What Julie had to go through was a horrible form of child abuse. As a nurse, I was sick to my stomach when I read about the doctors and nurses at Julie's appointments and how they never spoke to Julie or advocated for her. I highly recommend this book. I would like to know what happened afterwards. Did her mother ever get prosecuted for her actions? So many unanswered questions.

This is an interesting personal account of a Munchausen by Proxy survivor.

As a "survivor" book, it's okay, though the topic itself (Munchausen) is somewhat more interesting than the writer and I don't mean that in a belittling or disrespectful way.

Much of the narrative was repetitive and felt bulky thanks to the author's penchant for metaphors, some that worked better than others.

Personally, I wish Ms. Gregory had delved further into her mother and father's histories (she gives some background, but I wanted more). I would have also appreciated more discussion of the disorder (stats, case histories, causes, treatments...etc). And I did not see the point of the excerpts from her medical records as I don't feel they added anything to her story other than proof this really happened, though the charts themselves weren't so damning.

That said, this is really a bizarre diagnosis with devastating implications and the book is competently written, if not the best of its kind.

Wow this book was so hard to read. It is difficult just to grasp how that mother (and the dad) treated there children.

I had to stop the first time but this morning I picked it up and could not stop reading.
At the end you are left with questions. What happened to the other kids.
If you want to know more you can visit Julie Gregory’s wesbite.
http://www.juliegregory.com/
4.5 stars

The entire time I read this book, I was screaming in my head. Giving the riot act to the doctors to the father to the social workers that turned a blind eye. I was just as bewildered and pleading as Julie as, watching the doctors slice her open when nothing was wrong.

I understood Julie. I can remember countless times, my eyes screamed volumes that no one wanted to hear or understand. And how everyone turns away, or shakes their head in disagreement but not one single adult will stand up for you. I understand what it's like to be a child confronted the rage of an adult, having done nothing to cause it. How you try to make yourself small, to try to stay out of sight. I know what it's like to try to do as many after school activities as possible because home was the last place you wanted to go back to.

This is why this story spoke volumes to me- it was the desperation. Children go through this everyday. They spend their childhood afraid, and once they hit adulthood with all these hangups-that are there no matter how well hidden they are. They have to work years at undoing what was done. . It's just so unfair.

I've read a bit about MBP, but this is the first account I've read from the child's point of view. An extremely in depth account of what happens and how the child feels throughout the process. Unfathomable how they must feel and not only the fear they may feel about speaking up but the constant wondering if there is something wrong with them. Julie does an amazing job taking us into the feelings and emotions a to get us as close to 'understanding' as possible.

I'm not sure how to rate this book - it is tough to read this level of abuse. There is also some terrible language, with the author quoting things her mother said. I can't even imagine. I am glad I read this instead of listening to an audio book so I could skim through parts that were too hard to read. I wish there had been some advice on how to prevent this from happening in the future - but the author is the victim, not an expert, and I don't think providing advice is her role. I also found the writing style difficult - a lot of adjectives and adverbs, and it was hard to follow a timeline. I got confused about what happened when.

It is my second encounter with cases on Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome. The first time I heard about it, was from the TV show " The Act" (which I still haven't watched for some reason I don't even know) where I was quite fascinated of the way this illness acts. I wanted to know more about it. One day while I went to my local library to study for a Math test, I saw this book standing in the shelves. I took a picture of it so that one day I would pick it up. Nine months later I finally did. And I am happy I did it. I was telling my sister the other day of how bad was Julie Roberts treated as a kid and a teen; of how hopeless she was. We both had tears welled up in our eyes.
Honestly, it hurts knowing that there are so many ways you can insert abuse on a vulnerable child. I did not grow around abuse, and wasn't a witness of it. To be truly sincere, before this book, I wasn't totally aware of how terrible and traumatic it might become. Even so, that you'd be sickened by everything around you. Worse than that, the abuse that has been upon you, is forced by your schizophrenic father and your MBP mother.
It feels terrible witnessing yourself growing in hospitals, doctor after doctor, running away and coming back to the mother that loved you, but also put you through hell. And when you grow up like that, you image yourself in the same way; sickly and unwanted. You have to work on yourself to fix all the holes inside of you. You have to fight your own mentality for the better good.
And this requires strength. It is necessary to be strong when you look back to all the hellish childhood you went through. to everything you saw in front of your eyes, and losing faith in the goodness of others.
I fathom the case of Julie and I sincerely hope for better days. To survive all that, is nobility in itself.



P.S. From now on I will not be rating any sort of non fiction book, because I do not believe I am compatible enough to criticize anyone's years of studies on a certain case in which I could show people if this book is worth reading only based on five single stars.

The early version of this book was excellent and held nothing back. However, due to the continued real life drama from Julie's mother, she was forced to edit out many of the gory, realistic details from latter versions of the book. The latter versions of this book still capture many of the horrors that this girl survived, however, it minimizes the full extent of her mothers illness. This has the potential to be a life changing book for anyone who reads and absorbs it. I was fortunate enough to get to know her on a personal level a few years ago, and she is one of the most down to earth, realistic, people out there. She does not gloss over child abuse, or pretend that it is possible to heal and start anew by age 25. This book is not for the faint of heart.

Reviews of this book have called it scattered and disorganized... guess what, that's how people who were severely abused as children write and think.