This was a heartbreaking, powerful, and honest memoir. I read it in only a couple of sittings because it was impossible to put down. It was absolutely devastating and a very important story to tell. Andrea Leeb is so so so brave and I admire her for writing this. She had a great voice within the prose and conveyed her emotions so well. The epilogue was absolutely beautiful. I also really loved how she provided abuse hotlines at the end along with the note about donating 25% of all royalties to RAINN, it was such a nice and thoughtful touch. And while it didn’t hit me in the way I reserve 5 stars for, that’s a personal response, not a knock on the book itself. I feel so lucky to have read Andrea's story.

Thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the ARC - this is my honest review 🩷

Trauma is a hard thing to live it the reality of what happened. This memoir is about Andrea SA abuse from a very young age and how she grew up with her family. What made this book stand out to me was how she wrote about her family, a lot of things they do are horrible things, but at other times, they do good things. That still does not justify the abuse she experienced growing up. There are also different types of abuse, most notably her father's sexual abuse, but there is also physical and emotional abuse she experienced from her mother. Even adults in her life that could have helped her were not able to do help which is sadly reality of many victim of SA child abuse. Through the years we see her understanding of the abuse changing and how it affects her relationship as an adult. The adult period focuses more on her learning to cope with what happened and getting help for it.

The only thing I wish had it more of the adult period in her life. There was many things that happened but I feel like the adult period could have had more chapters this more of nitpick. This book is hard to read though and can trigger some people because of heavy it goes into SA and suicide attempts. It is very sad to read some of scene because of just how messed up her sitatution became at many point in book and this is a true story. There are some good moments in the book where things do get better for her and its not all bleak. I also love how in the end the author Andrea Leeb giving number for those abuse hotlines and tell the audience that when you purchase this book 25% will be donated to RAINN which is an anti- sexual assult organization.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well-written memoir that is not the standard memoir of sexual abuse. The author starts by relating how, when she was a small child, her mother suffered from a period of hysterical blindness after catching her father abusing her in the bathtub….but that is just the beginning of the insidious abuse that follows, with the mother in complete denial and young Andrea indoctrinated into the keeping of secrets. This story doesn’t conform to the expected pattern of a memoir about this sort of abuse, where everything suddenly explodes and then later comes punishment for the perpetrator and healing for the formerly abused child. So much is more subtle here than what the expected tale might be, and yet it’s no less horrifying and probably a more common story than we would want to think.. I was left thinking there was likely more to tell regarding the author’s life beyond her family of origin, and I would read more by her. This book stands out in its genre as its own kind of difficult yet compelling story.

This is a heartbreaking memoir about molestation, abuse and how Andrea lived with this secret for so many years. My heart hurt so bad for her. She was so real and raw with her story. I’m glad after so many years of suffering Andrea can finally say she feels “free”.

thank you to netgalley and she writes press publications for access to an eARC! all opinions are my own.

For readers of I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, a candid and heart-wrenching memoir about child abuse, family secrets, and the healing that begins once the truth is revealed and the past is confronted.

Andrea is four and a half the first time her father, David, gives her a bath. Although she is young, she knows there is something strange about the way he is touching her. When her mother, Marlene, walks in to check on them, she howls and crumples to the floor—and when she opens her eyes, she is blind. Marlene’s hysterical blindness lasts for weeks, but her willful blindness lasts decades. The abuse continues, and Andrea spends a childhood living with a secret she can’t tell and a shame she is too afraid to name.

Despite it, she survives. She builds a life and tells herself she is fine. But at age thirty-three, an unwanted grope on a New York City subway triggers her past. Suddenly unable to remember how to forget, Andrea is forced to confront her past—and finally begin to heal.

This brave debut offers honest insight into a survivor’s journey. Readers will feel Andrea’s pain, her fear, and her shame—yet they will also feel her hope. And like Andrea, they will come to understand an important truth: though healing is complicated, it is possible to find joy and even grace in the wake of the most profound betrayals.

this was an incredibly raw and devastating memoir. it's incredibly written and i read this in almost one sitting because i could not put it down at all.

This is a beautifully written memoir. Andrea shares her story of the brutal abuse and grooming she went through caused by her father that began when she was only 4 years old. Later on the abuse continues from other boys and men. While she shares all the tragedies she faced and how it affects her now as an adult, she also shares how she survived.

This book was devastating and made me cry multiple times while reading. It was heartbreaking to read about how she was failed by everyone around her. She does an excellent job of converting her story and making the reader understand the emotions she experienced. Her story is very important and deserves to be read.

Trigger warning: It deals with heavy topics such as mental health struggles, SA, self harm and abuse.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

These are the types of personal stories that I'm drawn to. I admire the bravery it takes to put your story into the world for all to read and judge. Leeb's book is hauntingly superb. The writing is excellent, making you feel like you're right there with her during her struggles. It will make you think and stay with you after you've finished it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

An utterly gripping and emotionally devastating memoir—I couldn’t tear myself away. Andrea’s story unfolds through a thousand quiet traumas inflicted by family, peers, therapists, and romantic partners. As her support group poignantly reflected, if reading her journey is this difficult, living it must have been unimaginable.

Wow this memoir was intense but I'm glad she got to share her story. I loved how honest she was and that the stories were told in a matter of fact way. I liked how it was organized linearly instead of jumping around it time so it was easy to follow.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic and important book on a subject that makes most readers uncomfortable, and rightly so. Everyone acknowledges that SA at any age is wrong, but it particularly comes with its own baggage when it involves minor children, and even more so when it's against one's own child.
Author Andrea Leeb writes about her childhood trauma, her experience with SA and the violence that so often accompanies it. She handles a very tough subject with a light hand, recognizing that the subject alone is a heavy one.
Highly recommended as she shows that there is hope for victims and that it is never their fault

I don't typically reach for memoirs, but I was drawn in by the cover and the title. By the time I finished reading the synopsis, I was hooked. I ended up reading this in one day because I just couldn't put it down.

Andrea Leeb is an economical writer and seems to know just how much detail to share and what to leave unsaid. Many of the descriptions of the intensely traumatizing and painful experiences she went through felt devoid of emotion, presented with almost clinical detachment. That was initially something I saw as a flaw in the book, but I came to see it as an evocative portrayal of one of Andrea's coping mechanisms. I felt her dissociation, how she distracted herself and numbed her pain to get through life and simply survive.

Sprinkled throughout the story are moments of lighthearted fun and even joy shared with her parents, highlighting the complexity of growing up in an abusive household. Andrea also shares her hesitations around seeking help to find healing from her trauma, and some of the negative experiences she had when she did seek help. These parts of her story are so important for fellow victims/survivors to read, to maybe see their own experiences reflected in others, to know they are not alone.

The book ends on a more uplifting, hopeful note, though refrains from painting the journey toward healing with an overly sunny brush. Overall, Such a Pretty Picture is a well-written, highly readable, and strikingly balanced examination of a heavy, disturbing topic.