Shaun's Reviews > Scarred: She was a slave to her father. Pain was her only escape.

This is a book about sexual abuse. I, fortunately, have never been a victim of abuse, sexual or otherwise, and while I know it exists, it's a topic I have a hard time wrapping my head around.

Sophie was not only sexually abused in horrific ways, she was abused by her father, who also prostituted her out to his friends while he watched. The book tells her story, which details the abuse, and also includes her years spent in mental institutions, her use of cutting to dull the pain (an oxymoron, I know...but apparently a truth), the discovery of her sexuality, and the long-hard road that was her recovery.

I am fascinated by why we do the crazy shit we do, particularly the horrible, awful, unimaginable shit. What goes wrong in a brain (nature and nurture) that a father not only abuses his daughter, in order to fulfill some very weird perversions, but also invites his friends to join in? And what type of grown men join their friend in the sexual abuse of his daughter? Where/When/How does that conversation even begin?

And if this happens in the UK where women are treated with respect and dignity, at least in theory, what the hell is going on around the world in these countries where women are openly regarded as property, and not particularly valued property?

The discussion and exploration of cutting was informative and fascinating. I'm generally familiar with what cutting is...and of course, I've read Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, but I hadn't really had a true sense of the dynamic until reading Sophie's account.

Needless to say, I still can't wrap my head around what happened to this girl. I still can't imagine what drives a father (biological or not) to molest his daughter. I do have a better appreciation for the healing process that needs to occur to allow the victims to go on, as well as all the bumps and barriers along the way.

I won't call this a "good" read. I will say it was a worthwhile one, though.

***This is a petty and minor criticism, but I feel as if the cover art was deceitful/misleading. Not that it matters that Sophie was older when the abuse started (perhaps it was designed to make a point). But on some level, after having read the book, and having seen several others recommended to me on Amazon as a result of my purchase, I wonder if this is a trend...putting a young toddler or child on the cover because young, toddlers/children are by virtue sweet and innocent. I don't know. It just bothers me, and I'm not sure why, but it does. I want to ask, why this picture? I wonder if putting a teen on the cover would lessen or at least dampen the awfulness on some subconscious level in the same way that the girl in a mini-skirt is somehow a little responsible for the rape. A voluptuous teen, or even a not so voluptuous teen might not seem so innocent...and that's kind of sad. I don't know. Maybe it is just me.