Our Reviews
A Must-Read, According to Readers
Discover what readers are saying about the story.
This book gave me permission to stop pretending I was fine. Burnom writes with a rawness that cuts through all the self-help platitudes. Her honesty about suicidal ideation, financial struggle, and the aftermath of sexual trauma is both devastating and necessary. I have recommended this to every veteran I know.
— Patricia M.
I picked this up thinking it would be another military memoir. It is so much more. Burnom does not flinch from the ugliest parts of her story, and that courage makes her victories feel earned. The chapter on her mother’s declining health broke me. The Discovery sections at the end of each chapter helped me understand my own patterns.
— Kevin L.,
As a survivor of MST, I have read many books looking for someone who gets it. This is the one. Burnom captures the shame, the self-blame, the ways trauma rewires your relationships. But she also shows that healing is possible even when it feels impossible. I finished this book feeling less alone.
— Mitch Glenn
The journal format makes this feel like you are sitting across from a friend who is finally telling you the truth. Burnom does not sanitize her anger, her depression, or her poor decisions. She owns all of it. That honesty is what makes this book powerful. You see her fail, you see her fight, and you see her refuse to quit.
— Jasmine T.
I am not a veteran, but I am a single mother who has battled depression. So much of this resonated with me. The financial struggles, the guilt about not being enough for your child, the nights you question if you can keep going. Burnom writes about these things without sugarcoating or dramatizing. She just tells the truth, and the truth is enough.
— Maria G.
This memoir does something rare. It holds space for both the trauma and the triumph without making one erase the other. Burnom shows you that you can be healing and still have bad days. You can be successful and still carry scars. The complexity of her story is what makes it believable and what makes it matter.
— Dr. Raymond S.
The Discovery sections hit me the hardest. Burnom reflects on what she learned from each year of chaos, and her insights are profound. She talks about strength not as the absence of struggle but as the willingness to keep going despite it. I have gone back to reread those sections multiple times.
— Lena K.
As someone who works with veterans, I wish every provider would read this book. It shows the long-term impact of MST in ways that statistics cannot capture. Burnom makes visible the invisible wounds, and she does it without asking for pity. She asks for understanding, and she earns it.
— David H.,
This is not a book about becoming a better version of yourself. It is a book about becoming the version of yourself that survives. Burnom is unflinching in her honesty about the nights she wanted to die and the mornings she chose to live. That choice, repeated over and over, is what makes this a story of resilience.
— Angela W.
I read this in two sittings because I could not put it down. Burnom writes the way people actually think, not the way we are taught to present ourselves. The result is a memoir that feels urgent and real. Her story is specific to her experience, but the emotions are universal. Anyone who has ever felt like giving up will find something valuable here
Marcus J.
The chapter on her relationship with her father stunned me. Burnom writes about the pain of conditional love with such clarity. She does not villainize him, but she also does not excuse the hurt he caused. That balance is rare in memoirs. It shows emotional maturity and a deep understanding of complexity.
— Stephanie R.
What I appreciate most is that Burnom does not position herself as having all the answers. She shares what worked for her, what did not, and what she is still figuring out. That humility makes her insights more trustworthy. This is a book written by someone who is still in the process of healing, and that matters.