Just Like Elizabeth Taylor Review

I am looking forward to writing this review on Just Like Elizabeth Taylor, LuAnn Brobst Staheli. I was given the opportunity to read this book for an honest review by the author. It seemed really interesting, so I decided to try it out.

Just Like Elizabeth Taylor is about a young girl who is tired of her home situation and the abuse that her and her mom goes through, so she decided to run away. Throughout the book, you get to see her growth in her time alone and the discovery of how to deal with the past as well as  dealing in the present and all the fears that it holds.

On Goodreads, I gave this book four out of five stars. If I was honest and could give out partial ratings, I would give the book 4.5 stars out of five. I really did enjoy the book, but I am a bit hesitant in sharing it. The topic that the book focuses on is one that I know not many people enjoy reading or has the potential to cause problems.

I know that in my previous reviews I usually write about my pros and cons for the book, however, I wanted to take some time to talk about the writing style. For me the writing style was both a pro and a con.

On one hand, I enjoyed the writing style. The style was done in a way of our character observing everything. For me it was fun and new, and I enjoyed the distance to what was happening in the story. However, I feel as though that type of writing would not be a thought process of a 12 year old girl, even if that girl has been abused by both the mother’s boyfriend and the boyfriend’s son for 3 years. I felt it was a little to mature at time. I must admit that I do not have the experience of working with 12 year olds with that kind of trauma. I figured that they would be a bit more mature, but not enough to have an adult mindset at times.

Beyond my half con for the writing style, I only had one problem with the book. The only problem that I had was that it was slow and hard to get into. I must admit, I usually don’t read books with this kind of content, and therefore it was hard to see the abuse and the pain.  However, I will also admit that it is needed and does a lot for the story to show the growth that the girl has made throughout the book. I will tell you, that once the girl runs away, the book is much easier read.

There are three things that I truly love about this book. The first thing that I enjoyed was the main character, as well as her thought process. It was great to see her perspective and history and it gave you a chance to bond with her as well as wanting to help her. It really helped you become immersed with the story and wanting to know what will happened next. The second thing that I enjoyed was the power of connections throughout the story. Staheli really showed the power of helping other people and how one act of kindness can inspire more. Finally I enjoyed the themes of accepting help and heroes. In the beginning this girl was told to wait for her hero, her hero will save her. When she ran away, everyone then kept telling her that it is okay to be saved by the hero, meaning that it is okay to accept help. However, our main character decided that there are time in which it is okay to save and to accept help, but it is more important us to be our own heroes and to save ourselves.

I would love to recommend this book to everyone! The story is only 123 pages long, it is a great quick read, and you will enjoy the growth of our main character. However, as you can tell with this review, there are several trigger warnings, all of them focusing on the different types of abuse that this girl went through. Please check with yourself before reading this book. I don’t want you to be in harm, or cause harm to yourself.

I do hope that you enjoyed this book review. I cannot believe that it is March already. I do hope that you are enjoying your adventures. See you next time and Happy Reading!