Cubbyhole Kid by C.E. Joseph

This is a sad story but true story about C.E. Joseph life as a kid living in a dysfunctional family. The trauma he experienced is heartbreaking. The family was in crisis and C.E. Joseph paid for it in many ways.

This was gut wrenching and really pulled at my heartstrings the struggles you had was horrible and what your Alcoholic father did was just as bad. Your father was dealing with his own demons and played them out on you.

I thought that the story was good but it felt incomplete to me. I wanted to know if you got treatment and overcame. I wanted to hear that part of the story. I wanted to know if you healed any of this or is this still damaging your life?

I thought the story was good but it needed more. C.E. Joseph what you went through was just horrible and what your father did and brother was so traumatic. The struggles with you and your mothers illness that is so much on your plate. It made me look at my own trauma and how bad i thought I had it as a kid.

Thank you to Netgalley and page Publishing as well as C.E. Joseph for a free copy of this book for an honest review.

Emotionally heartbreaker.

I liked this book but was a little disappointed it ended so abruptly. I would love to read more and see the journey he went through.
Thank you to Netgalley/c.e Joseph for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book! It's definitely a sad story to read!

The Cubbyhole Kid is a heartbreaking account of one boy's disturbing childhood abuse at the hands of his father. This memoir brings to life the terrible events that C.E. Joseph lived through and will bring an array of emotions out in the reader.

I struggled with the writing of this book. I think it could have used a lot of editing. The structure of the story pulled me out of the memoir as the scene changes felt abrupt and placed oddly. Overlooking that, the story underneath is a beautiful one of survival and overcoming tragedy.

Content Warning:
Child abuse, domestic abuse

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

I am pretty indifferent to this read. It was sad to read about a child so young dealing with all the chaos of his family. It was repetitive in places, I guess to drive home the realities of his father's alcoholi and physical abuse. The writing style was fairly bland and not memorable either. Readers are warned that the content speaks of child abuse, child molestation, war, and alcoholism.

"Cubbyhole Kid" is the true, heartbreaking story of a four year old boy and his childhood days in California.
He feared for his life from his overly strict, abusive father. Unpredictable violence, and drinking. He constantly lived in a state of anxiety and thoughts of suicide to escape. His older sister, tried to shield him from the abuse by taking him everywhere she went. During those years in California, there was a hippie movement and riots in the streets that were terrifying.
Well-written novel of his experiences. I couldn't put this book down and cried at times finishing it.

Thank you to publisher, author, and NetGalley for the eARC

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle Arc of Cubbyhole Kid by C.E. Joseph. Cubbyhole Kid is a very painful account of C.E. Joseph's abusive upbringing. He grew up in a household with an abusive, alcoholic father and a mother that wasn't strong enough to attempt to stop the abuse. His sister becomes as much of a guardian angel to him as she can, but also suffers abuse at the hands of her father. The hypocrisy of their father is evident in that he takes the family to church on Sundays and is abusive the rest of the week. Some of the story hits a little to closely for a person who grew up in a similar situation. The account of Mr. Joseph's upbringing is truly troubling and cringe-worthy. I admire his plain, direct writing and willingness to describe his pain. I admire him and anyone who can survive this type of abuse.

Once I started reading this book, I couldnt put it down. As a teacher, it broke my heart. I am so happy he has overcome and was able to write this story!

Cubbyhole Kid
by C. E. Joseph
Page Publishing
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 21 Nov 2019


I am reviewing a copy of the Cubbyhole through Page Publishing and Netgalley:


This book tells the heartrending true story of abuse and dysfunction in a California family in the late 1960’s.


Cubbyhole Kid is the story of a four year old boy as he recounts his early childhood days being raised in a strict Irish Catholic family in Los Angeles while expressing his gratitude and love for two incredible women that saved his life—his protective fourteen-year-old sister, his godmother, and his beautiful, faithful mother. Together he and his other siblings had to figure out how to navigate childhood around an abusive alcoholic Father with a hair triggered temper. He would deal with severe Childhood anxiety, suicidal depression and both physical and learning disabilities , the boy traveled inside the cubbyhole of there station wagon a small, two-by-four middle section of the family station wagon where he unexpectedly experiencing his World War II veteran father’s life-threatening road rage.


The young boy continued to fear for his life due to his Father’s erratic behavior the boy witnessed his father’s familiar, unpredictable violence, explosive temperament, and heavy drinking during our country’s escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, the hippie cultural movement, riots in the streets, and arguably the heyday of rock-and-roll music.


He tells lovingly of his older sister who did her best to shield him from their Fathers violence. His sister had become like a second Mother to him. While he experienced the beauty of life outside the home during his sister’s “teenage years, along with her friends who were part of the youth cultural shift that seemingly took place overnight. The nightly demonstration of violence and abuse, coupled with his father’s unwillingness to accept the generational changes taking place with society’s youth, and his mother’s unexpected illness, would definitely test the young boy’s faith.


If you are looking for a powerful story of overcoming abuse then I would recommend Cubbyhole Kid!


Five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Cubbyhole Kid was an emotional read about a four year old boy and his tragedies faced through his very few years of life.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this true story; until the end- it just stopped. I would’ve liked to have found out what happened to his parents, siblings and what adult life treated him like.

Interesting Subject Matter, But Poorly Written
This book is poorly written, very choppy and more like a 'stream of consciousness' work than a book. The time frame bounces all over for no apparent reason. It seems like all sorts of bad things happened when the author was 4 years old, then it would bounce around again, another bad thing would happen when he was four – and the circle kept repeating. I know for a fact that a 4-year-old child in the late 1960s would not be going to confession! It does not help at all that the subject matter of this story is difficult. The author mentions the suicides of 2 of his brothers as almost an aside and never truly enumerates his siblings. Growing up with an extremely abusive parent and the other parent turning a blind eye to the abuse is horrible and quite common. But, I don't know if I buy the idea that being such a bully could all be blamed on PTSD. Much of the author's father's lack of parenting skills were the norm for men of his generation. Families like Beaver Cleaver's were a fantasy. It is much more likely that he was raised by a heavy-handed alcoholic like himself. While I don't doubt that he retained ill effects of his wartime service, that only accounts for some of his bad behavior. If this book was presented as part of a larger biography, it might meet expectations. As it stands, it is the non-cohesive memory of this man's first 5 or 6 years of life. I think that this book needs a lot of work to be called a 'book'. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

While this wasn't my favorite book, Cubbyhole Kid was an unique read. The story does contain abuse and malfunction, so that may be a trigger for some.

The book itself was unique. The story was well-written. Something just was missing for me.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heartbreaking account of really just one year in the life of the author. It is a short memoir and I was surprised when it was suddenly over. I was left wondering what happened next. But it is a worthwhile story and one I would recommend.

First of all this is the saddest story I have ever read. The child in this book goes through the unimaginable and with every word you can feel the child’s pain. I cried towards the end because it just seemed like life was getting worse and worse. I love that this book shows how having caring women in your life can make all the difference. While this is the saddest story ever told, it ends with me just hoping for the best.

The author reveals the childhood of nightmares, overshadowed by a violent, selfish father. The memoir which results is reminiscent of Glass Castle.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a heartbreaking, true story of a boy growing up in an abusive and dysfunction family. This isn't the most well written book but I can appreciate how hard this must've been to write and work through the memories.