author: Sarah Vallance
publisher: Little A

This was such a good book. I first rated it 4-stars for a few reasons but one being this was my first memoir. I had absolutely nothing to judge it on. Then the more it sat, the more my mind absorbed all I read, I realized this was truly a good book, especially considering it was the first she wrote. It deserves all it’s 5 stars. 

Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Keep an open mind and understand that everything she writes about, she is writing about her life as a person with a brain injury. 

There have been comments made about her focus being on the fact that she was a lesbian and how she shouldn’t have (which is so not true. She didn’t focus on it, that is her life. It’s no different than if she were married to a man and talked about him and other boyfriends all throughout the book. I think perhaps the reader may have been too focused on it themselves.) 

Anyways, the point is, this was a really great book. Well written with a LOT of really inspiring and thought-provoking writing all throughout. Thank you Sarah Vallance for writing such a great book and for sharing so much of yourself to us readers. 

“With work, I never had enough time to write. Now I had too much time. 

Freedom creates a prison all its own.”

“Like most introverts, I have few social needs, and if I cannot enjoy the company of the small handful of people I love, I would rather be alone. One of my many contradictions is that I don’t like people much, but I find comfort in having them around.”

“We brain-injured folk get a really raw deal. Doctors blame us for our accidents—as if we wanted a brain injury. Neuropsychologists think we invent our symptoms because we are emotionally unstable or trying to cheat the legal system. Society thinks we are violent and unpredictable. Families and partners tire of our mood swings. And I’m one of the lucky ones. There are scores of brain-damaged people who can’t speak for themselves.”