This memoir was extremely emotional: Happy, sad, and
everything in between.
Adam was not born into an easy family. His parents were
heroin addicts and often seemed to be interested in everything except being
around to raise him.
Growing up always trying to get his parents’ attention was
hard on Adam and lead to a lot of inner conflict.
Crying when his dad didn’t show up for their scheduled
meetings, dealing with his mother’s physical and verbal abuse growing up, Adam
did not have it easy, but he still loved his parents.
The one common theme in this book was music. It was sort of
all centered around his father’s love for music and how they did not share the
same music tastes. Adam felt if he could just listen to the same music as his
father, they would have a closer connection, and maybe he would want Adam to
stay with him.
As his life progresses and he tries to find himself, he ends
up in a bunch of different places with a lot of different people, but it always
comes back to his parents. Whether he has talked to them recently or if
something reminds him of them while he is away.
This is a memoir of self-discovery. Even if the road to it
is difficult, it can be achieved.
Adam's writing style in this memoir is very visual. You can almost feel as though you are in every scene. It adds a nice depth to the story and makes it all the more real as well.
His descriptions are well done and never drag on for longer than they have to. They are long enough so that you do not feel as though you are missing anything, but they aren't so long that they bore the reader.
Aside from the actual story itself, that was my favorite part of this one.
It was really well written, I felt that it flowed nicely
together with the use of narrative and dialogue.
I found it hard to put it down at time. It was such an
intriguing story that I just wanted to know what was happening next.
Even if you cannot relate to Adam's story, you will be pulled into it, and it is hard to stop reading once you start.
4/5 stars
Memorable Quotes:
"I was born healthy and strong. I shouldn’t have been. I’d shared my mother’s poisonous blood for nine months and I was supposed to be born addicted to heroin. I should have spent my first few weeks fighting for my life, suffering from vomiting, shaking, and sweating as I was weaned off my drug dependence with morphine or methadone."
"More important than the adulation was the lesson I’d learnt. I had learnt what could be achieved with the power of the mind, and more specifically, with the power of dreams."
"But sometimes the best way to grow is to stand still for a while. I needed to stop running, to stop trying to become someone new, to stop escaping painful memories and uncomfortable thoughts. It was time I stayed and faced them, worked out who I really was, who I wanted to be. No more pretending."
