Well written account of the kidnappings of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus. These young ladies were taken from their neighborhood, by Ariel Castro, the father of associates/friends. These girls were abused for nearly a decade before by chance or mistake, Amanda Berry escaped with her daughter, fathered by Ariel, with the help of neighbors, who then freed Michelle and Gina while Ariel was out of the house.

Ariel plead guilty and within a month of captivity committed suicide while in jail.

Did Ariel get what he deserved? I don't think so, he robbed these young women of so much, I'm not sure there is a sentence that would have even touched the surface of "justice."

I don't know if these young women will be able to heal, but I'd like to hope that they can, and that they can go onto live happy lives and close the door on this terrible, terrible nightmare. ( )

I found the story too upsetting to read the book in its entirety. Instead, I read the part about the rescue and its aftermath. This part provided a solid summary of everything ever published at the time, mixed in with quotations from friends and family of those directly involved. ( )

Wow ... :-O
Wow Wow Wow!

Violent. At times graphic ... very very violent ... and Part III of the book makes up for all of it. Wow!!

Adrianne ( )

On May 6, 2013 the neighbors of Ariel Castro were surprised to see a woman trying to get out of his house, their disbelief deepened when the woman revealed she was Amanda Berry who had been missing for 10 years. When she revealed that Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were also in the house, they realized that Castro was not the man they thought he was.

The book opens with the dramatic escape and rescue of the three kidnap victims. We go on to learn about their lives and the life of their abductor who, before imprisoning these three women had terrorized his wife and children. He beat his wife so badly her health was permanently damaged. His good neighbor image was just that, an image, a façade. What he wanted people to believe so he could keep his little captives.

It has been so long since I read this book that I can’t remember many details, except that I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads which means I recommend it. ( )

This was a hard book to listen to. Not because it wasn’t well written, because it was, but because of what these women went through. Ariel Castro was a monster. He abused those women and then said they asked for it and that he treated them well. It’s shocking that people were in the house, stayed over in the house with the three women in there. Having a daughter, this book was even more chilling to listen to. This was a really good audiobook. ( )