Title: God Answered Me: True Story Chapter One
Author: Marsha L Ceniceros
Publisher: Marsha L Ceniceros
Genre: Non-fiction, Autobiography
Feathers: 
Description: Incredible story and insight into the world of child maltreatment. This is a book series of the survival of child maltreatment, bullying and hate. This is a must read true story of actual events.
Marsha L Ceniceros is an American writer, born in Indianapolis, Indiana and raised up in Southern California. A high school drop-out, she attended four high schools, and left home at fifteen. Her favorite saying. “To understand the present state of affairs of a child, teen or an adult, one must see the past of their difficulties.” A fiction and non-fiction writer, with an incredible story and insight into the world of child maltreatment.
My Review: This is a tough, dark and gritty book to read but I found myself compelled by Marsha’s story. ‘God Answered Me: True Story Chapter One’ is the first part of this autobiography which I hope will go on to recount all of the author’s tale. Although this is the first chapter, given the title, there is an introductory sort of prequel to this called ‘God Answered Me: True Story’. The introductory book is very short and I didn’t enjoy it as much as this one but it’s good to read to understand key aspects of this book such as who the authors parents are.
The first part of this book talks about the authors parents in more detail before moving on to living in Indiana and all that occurred there. Reading this part of the book was especially compelling given how young the author was at the time. The life she experienced is hard to read at times due to just how dark the things that happened are. I won’t go into any detail but there is a string of abusive behaviour and a deep lack of love in the home from the parents and some of the things, especially those that are done by both parents, just seem unbelievable at times. It’s a very different experience to one I’ve lived but I somehow couldn’t stop reading.
As the tale progresses we learn more about the authors family, some of her siblings and things that happen between them and to them. The third chapter in this book veers away from the main story, set in the 60s, and talks about a specific sibling named Pamela. While her story is also interesting to read I didn’t personally like the way the book veered off course into future events, I would have preferred a more linear tale but that’s just my preference. What happens to this sibling though makes for very tough reading, especially towards the end of this.
The grittiness and dark life led by this person is horrible to read but compelling. The things that happen in this book often feel like something you see in a shocking movie. But what makes this book so interesting to read is that it’s a true story of the life the author and her family lived. The story isn’t one made up for entertainment, these events really happened. The abuse and particularly some of the violence described makes for very tough reading and there are graphic descriptions of some of the violence which some people may find difficult, but in an odd way it was this that compelled me to read on, to find out if the story has a happier ending. There are lighter moments in the book despite all the sad ones and I especially enjoyed the interesting accounts of some spooky and creepy things happening in the house in Indiana.
The last chapter of the book is far from the last chapter in the authors life and I’m not sure I like the way the book ends as it ends on an abrupt and kind of sad note. It does make you want to read further though so I’m looking forward to ‘Chapter Two’ of this series. The book has abuse and violence in it as well as a couple of uses of the s swear word and brief mentions of drug abuse. I wouldn’t recommend this for young readers given the dark content, however some mature teens could handle reading this.
Though I found the book hard to read in parts because it jumped about in a way I don’t like the overall tale is just so different from anything I’ve read before that it kept me going throughout and I would read this book again. It’s not a book that is easy to read, there are parts of the story that are difficult to read and sad, but it is also a very interesting autobiography and I am eager to read more of this author’s story.
Would you enjoy reading a book like this? Have you read or know of books about abuse, is it hard to read a book like this? Let me know any thoughts you have and please don’t forget to follow My Peacock Books in these places and a big thank you if you do 🙂
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