Ohhh boy. There are a few things to say about this.

I don’t doubt the existence of dissociative identity disorder, but I doubt the entirety of “memory recovery” under hypnosis. The whole time this is set is full of disproven charlatans (read: Satanic Panic) who used that method for patients.

Second, When Rabbit Howls is just hard to follow. Perhaps it is supposed to be since it is an alleged manuscript written by multiple people within one woman; however, to label it nonfiction does not feel right since there are so many elements of an omniscient narrator.

Compounding paragraph two, I don’t doubt the abuse that took place causing this woman immense pain. We believe women in this house, yet so much of this is…something else.

Takeaways: do not regret reading, but do not recommend. If reading, do so with a grain of salt.

I decided to read this after I found it on my mum's bookshelf. She read this book and was subsequently so interested in multiplicity that she wrote her thesis on it. I found it a really challenging read, but by the time I got towards the end, it all started to come together. I did find the writing confusing at first but now having finished it I can understand that things were confusing for the authors. It might not be the best-written book, but it is interesting if nothing else. You need to keep reminding yourself that it is not a work of fiction, but someone's true experiences. The story is so troubling that it can often be hard to imagine the events being real.

An interesting first person view of DID. I appreciated seeing the internal dynamics of the inner world. Though I felt like the therapist broke the rule of maintaining the highest level of functioning in order to fish out more trauma, and the birth father should have known to intervene when his daughter attempted to give him a handjob. (As much as one can critique the plot of a biography)

I was also extremely surprised by the choice to introduce the survivor to a group of incest rapists fathers/stepfathers as an advocate so early in her treatment. But it also humanized them, and gave space to respond to myths like 'my ten year old daughter didn't say no' and highlighted childhood incest/pedophilic rape as a men's issue as well. The struggle of shame for survivors, especially for feelings of arousal and pleasure was courageously depicted. I really did not enjoy the supernatural fetishization of the electronics going haywire and the static etc… element, just felt super forced to make the story more exotic, although after looking it up, anecdotally it seems people with DID do experience that.

Some descriptions of the sadistic abuse are so visceral and disgusting it's hard to accept this happens to innocent little children. But it's nice to see someone coming forward with such a difficult and personal story, and I'm sure it has helped many people come to terms with their experiences.

The book When Rabbit Howls tackles hard themes surrounding rape and trauma, and takes a personal approach to the issues of child abuse. Speaking from experience, Truddi Chase and her “troops” wove a narrative to educate people on her condition— dissociative identity disorder— and to destigmatize its prejudiced representation. It is a book worth reading because of its basis in reality, and its aim to help the reader understand what DID really is.

The book is supposedly a memoir of one woman, Truddi Chase, but is in actuality more of a journal for a slew of personalities present in her body to reflect upon and compile information to synthesize into an accurate retelling of their life. The writing style is very narrative, using imagery and dialogue in a third-person perspective to bring in a reader before firing a barrage of trauma at the reader. Not only does this style of writing connect the reader with her message, but it also puts them in the place of someone with that disorder, of someone who can’t seem to stay attached to their memories or thoughts. The flashbacks and trauma that are retold in the book are as new to the author as they are to the reader, and that component of the story is very well executed. The book not only serves as a way for her to recount her experiences, but also to cope with them and to create empathy for others in situations like hers.

The plot of the book is non-traditional; though the ending does resolve in a satisfying way, the path the book takes is very much one not widely taken. Because of the introspective nature of the book and the uniqueness of its authors, it offers perspectives not typically available in memoirs. The different voices that shine through in the pages of the book might be directly compared to another book that features dissociative identity disorder: Sybil. Though both center around a woman who experienced DID, Sybil was not written by a first-hand account. Its portrayal of DID is much more sensationalized because of that, and suffers from the absence of the intrinsic understanding associated with having the actual condition.

The consistent comparison of “the Troops,” another name for the alternate personalities, to warriors and survivors emphasizes that the story is about strength. It is about recovery, and having the strength to survive in horrific conditions— a message that applies to all survivors of abuse. Internal dialogue between the personalities also offers insight into the condition as well, that the personalities are not meant to function separately, no matter how much conflict arises between them; the book stresses the need for all of the members of the troops because they were made for a reason. This is a lesson that can be applied to fully integrated people as well, that we shouldn’t shut part ourselves off when faced with challenges— that we are made the way we are for a reason.

Though the book is definitely beneficial for survivors of abuse or extreme trauma, its message is still valuable for a wider audience as well. It instills empathy and understanding in readers that don’t have to cope with excessive trauma, and offers ways to be a better friend to victims of abuse through different characters, like Doctor Phillips (the Troops’ therapist). It humanizes the experiences that a person with DID has, breaking them down in a way that a person without the disorder can digest. The book was by no means easy to read, but its utilization of the less savory scenes were extremely valuable to the core messages of the book, creating a fitting sullen atmosphere.

A more modern take on the "Sybil" acount of Multiple Personality Disorder. This book moves more quickly and is a bit more graphic than "Sybil" as it was written more recently. Although, it may not make you a firm believer in the disorder it will certainly make you think twice before doubting the possibility that it does exist.

One of the saddest, most disturbing books I have ever read. Psychologically intriguing and I couldn’t put it down

The subject matter of this book struck very close to home, which made it a difficult read. It was so difficult to experience it as the reader that it took me 4 tries and almost 6 years to get through it.

It is not the writing that is difficult to read it is witnessing, even through the written word, the experience of the writer.

It is a book that will always have a place of honor on my bookshelves because it is a book of true heroism and filled with hope.

Reading this book brought me to understand how the mind works to help the body to survive, no matter the trauma or challenge being experienced. It also helped me to understand the behavior of both friends and family who had experienced abuse in early childhood and how those experiences formed their personalities and the way they function in the world.

A friend had this book delivered to me through Amazon just as I was about to take a 4 day greyhound trip cross country. I read it through twice, crying in front of strangers at several intervals. The tale is heartbreaking. Multiple Personalities and Dissociative Identity Disorder are two topics that have always fascinated and horrified me. There are some experiences that a person cannot face having lived through, the mind breaks, shatters, hides bits to protect itself and even changes facts. Or realities. Unable and/or unwilling to face that experience, the mind gets lost within itself. If the person is to survive, they must find some way to cope, and madness is a tempting escape.

Truddi Chase was a victim of the worst kinds of abuse from a sickeningly young age. The core personality was essentially destroyed, several layers of personalities developed. Some were unaware of one another. Some knew others. Some interacted. Only one new all, and it was his job to protect the rest from the deepest part of the cave.

Truddi, however, only knew enough to recognize missing time, blackouts. She went to a doctor who agreed to help her, having no idea what he was getting involved with.

The tale is written by many of the personalities, and with the help of other personalities. Nearly all of them are given a voice, and in the process the full story is uncovered.

With her doctor's support, Truddi chose to share the tale. Knowing some would refuse to believe, some would mock... But also knowing that others would see, understand, recognize... and some of those would be people with similar stories who might desperately need that lifeline to cling to.

It happened, she survived, they can too.

Whether real or fiction, the message is intense and the tale devastating.

Normally, I am trash for these kinds of novels, but this one is just so confusing. Between the jerky transitions, the flowery language, and the switching POV’s, it was hard to gain an understanding of Truddi Chase at all. The plot was all over the place. The book just kept losing focus… I grew so frustrated that I just stopped reading after the first 100 pages.

For my full review, please visit: https://www.krwardbookreview.com/

As a clinical psychology student, I found the introduction far more valuable than the content of the book, for in the introduction the therapist revealed enough of his methods to discredit every single word that was written by the patient herself. Nothing she wrote or came to believe about herself can be trusted.

From 1985 to 1995 an estimated 40,000 Americans, most of them women, were told they suffered from multiple personality disorder. The author of this book is one of those people. She entered therapy due to generalised anxiety, and after 6 years of 'recovered memory therapy' that employed techniques such as hypnosis and participation in group therapy with victims and perpetrators of child abuse, this woman who had no prior complaint of sexual abuse or voices in her head came to believe that she had been repeatedly and brutally sexually assaulted by her step-father from the age of 2, and that 90+ separate personalities had formed as a coping mechanism to help her survive this abuse.

In reaction to reading this book, I immediately ordered Elizabeth Loftus's book on "The Myth of Repressed Memory", "Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder" by Joan Acocella, and "Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case" by Debbie Nathan.

It concerns me that consumers of books such at this have no context from which to critique its validity, and shames me that members of my chosen profession were so disastrously wrong on so many things, so recently in our past.

I will say that I fought long and hard to read this book, because, at times it was very cruel to read what had happened to this women and sometimes I wished that she did in fact kill the stepfather. She didn't deserve what had happened to her and he deserved to be punished for that. As a law student we learn that it would have still been a crime, but If I was the lawyer of this women I would definitely plea not guilty and would argue that she acted on self defense

This is a very difficult book to read, but if you can power through it, I can promise you it will be worth your time. Not to mention, it will be an experience you will never forget. When Rabbit Howls is a gut wrenching, explosively emotional book that recounts the brutal events of a little girl none other then the author herself. Standing in her corner are the heroes that dared to uncover her life shattering story, made up of over 90 personalities, but combined together, they just call themselves "The Troops." You'll get a chance to meet some of them, but some of her personalities stand front and center, and seem very protective of the victim from here on out, particularly a personality who just calls themselves Sewer Mouth. The reader should be warned that almost all of the material involved in When Rabbit Howls is in very graphic detail, so there are absolutely no pulled punches here. The book successfully does a tremendous job of seeing the world through the eyes of a child, a child who only wanted to be loved and protected, but fell victim to a helpless mother and a hideous monster just known as "the stepfather." Yeah. Scumbags like this don't even deserve a name. Within the pages of numerous times of being sexually assaulted in every manner possible ( picture the worst, that's what he did to her!) the reader gets the sense that they are actually standing there beside her, but powerless to save her or stop anything bad from happening. I think the most upsetting part to this book, was the fact that I never could finish it through all the way, I got about three quarters through it, and I finally skipped to the last chapter where they finally kill him off. It's the only chapter in the book that didn't happen, unfortunately, the final chapter to the book, it was just written to make The Troops feel better. He got away with it all. This was the most upsetting thought, is that I couldn't finish it, and this poor child LIVED IT! Although I admit I didn't finish the book, I know enough of it to review it, and I can tell you that the scenes of abuse get repetitive, and they just angered me to no end. As we read the book, too, we get familiar with Dr. Stanley, who does a lot of behavioral studies on the victim, a fully grown woman, but dominated forever by multiple personalities. The book has countless highlights. First and foremost, When Rabbit Howls is written by the victim herself. It's a very brave achievement to come out and tell your story as is, but to come out and tell your story regardless of your mental impairments, it just speaks volumes. Make no mistake, Truddi Chase is a hero, as she and The Troops blow the lid completely on pedophilia in general, and how emotionless and heartless these kind of people are in their actions. She's not only telling her story, she's telling the story of other victims just like herself. Truddi Chase passed away in 2010, and all we can do is thank her for giving us the opportunity to experience the raw and painfully heart breaking story about a 2 year old baby who managed to survive the terrifying minutes within the presence of a hideous monster who is just known as "the stepfather"...a cold hearted man with cruel intentions.
I think one of the most positive highlights of When Rabbit Howls, is that after you're done reading this, you will walk away and live the rest of your life knowing you would never hurt a child, ANY child, after reading this. Does any man out there REALLY want to walk in the footsteps of "the stepfather"! after reading this. And does any woman out there REALLY want to be the mother of the child who just wanted to cover her ears when she tried to have a voice. Rest assured, Truddi Chase, you weren't just heard, you were felt. You were felt by thousands, maybe even millions of readers, and I was one of them. You've touched our lives with your story, and many more will feel your story too as the years go on. And much thanks to The Troops themselves for helping to make it all possible. As much as I want to hand this a 5 star review, this book is just way too much of a force to be reckoned with.