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With bravery and without sparing any necessary details, this book recounts the author's tragic tale of physical and sexual abuse throughout her life. Placed in protective services at a young age, Annie has a happy life with her foster parents. One day, her biological parents apply to take her back, and she has to abandon the joy that she has known just weeks before her foster parents can legally adopt her. In addition to the tear of losing her foster parents and beloved sister, Annie quickly learns that her biological mother and father have dark sides. Annie's mother is a depressed alcoholic who uses physical violence and psychological warfare to turn her children against each other, and Annie's father is aggressive and proves to be a pedophile. Annie yearns for freedom away from this endless abuse but learns that even in adulthood, you can't outrun your demons.
Haydon doesn't write her story and publish it here simply for the sake of getting it out there, she has a mission to empower victims of abuse. By sharing her trials, readers can who have dealt with abuse can find an ally and strength in her story, or pass it along in support of those who need it. Chronicling her life to date, we can follow Annie as she takes her own life back from the people who abused her, but then as an adult and a mother have to shift her attention to protecting the people she loves from going through the same trials. A tale like this can be difficult to read at times because of the subject matter, but it needs to be shared so that people can know that there is always a chance for redemption and empowerment.