You Can't Break Her (Years 2 - 6) by TSTurcotte

Reviewed by AmyMarieZ

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Overview: You Can't Break Her is one of the most powerful pieces of writing I've read in a long time. It's a nonfiction story depicting the childhood of the author. This is unfortunately not a happy story and shows in detail memories from the author's childhood as she recalls them. Readers are warned at the beginning that the nonfiction story contains:

• child abuse

• suggestive themes

• underage drinking

• language

• kidnapping

• drug abuse

• underage smoking

• sexual abuse

• teen pregnancy

• mental, physical and emotional abuse

• self-harm

The chapters I read for this review show segments of memories from the ages of two to six. The way the abuse and neglect the author experienced is shown in this story is absolutely heartbreaking, as well as infuriating. It is a spectacular piece of writing, and honestly made me think for a very long time, considering the situation not only the author of this story but many others as well have had to grow up in. Anyone that can handle reading something this brutally honest and harsh should read this story. I am in awe at how courageous the author is to be able to write about these sorts of experiences, both for herself and to share them with others who have experienced similar to know that they are not alone.

Grammar: While the grammar in You Can't Break Her is decent, it is perhaps the weakest point in such a strong piece. I pointed out individual grammar errors while reading, so this review will summarize the recurring mistakes that I noticed.

The most frequently recurring issue was with punctuation, specifically around dialog and conjunctions.

When dialog is followed by a dialog tag, a comma should be used after the dialog rather than a period, and the next word outside of the dialog should be lowercase. For example, in the following sentence, a dialog tag is used after the speech. Therefore, a comma should be used rather than a period, and the first word following the dialog should be lowercase:

INCORRECT: "We are home all day." She cheerfully proclaimed.

CORRECT: "We are home all day," she cheerfully proclaimed.

When an action comes before a piece of dialog but is not a direct tag, the action should be followed by a period, rather than a comma. For example:

INCORRECT: There was a silence while the person on the other end spoke, "Yeah, that's okay."

CORRECT: There was a silence while the person on the other end spoke, "Yeah, that's okay."

(Note: in this example, "spoke" is not considered a dialog tag because it does not refer to the person saying "Yeah, that's okay.")

When a dialog tag comes before the dialog, a comma is used after the dialog tag, but the first word of the dialog is still capitalized:

INCORRECT: She said, "that's okay."

INCORRECT: She said. "That's okay."

CORRECT: She said, "That's okay."

Finally, when an action follows a piece of dialog but is not a direct tag, the dialog should end in a period and the first letter following the piece of dialog should be capitalized. For example:

INCORRECT: "Yep, just me and Ama," she pulled me in for a hug as I wobbled past her.

CORRECT: "Yep, just me and Ama." She pulled me in for a hug as I wobbled past her.

For punctuation around conjunctions with independent and dependent clauses, a comma should be used before the conjunction if the conjunction joins two independent clauses, meaning the part of the sentence on either side of the conjunction could stand alone as a complete sentence. On the other hand, if the phrase following the conjunction is a dependent clause (usually having the same subject as the independent clause), then a comma should not be used.

I also saw a few other various punctuation and grammar mistakes throughout the piece, such as tense shifts. I have noted them inline and will not go into further detail here.

Character Development: This is a nonfiction story, so the characters are based off of actual people from the author's life. This review will cover how the characters are presented through the story. I have only covered a few of the characters in this review, but if the author would like me to expand on my thoughts on any of the other characters I will be happy to in the comments of this review.

The story is written in the first person POV of Amaris, the character representing the author. It seems as though the story is being told from the POV of the author now, while simultaneously being told by the child at the age where she exists in the story. For example, the scenes at a younger age have a level of confusion to them that would come with a narrator observing a scene through very young eyes. The way this is shown makes the narrator very relatable, because any reader will be able to recall how differently they viewed their world when they were very young.

However, there are often breaks in this narration where thoughts that seem to belong to the narrator at her current age come through, for example remarking on the nature of what is going on in the scene. I've noted this in case the breaks are unintentional, but I don't think there is any issue with them. I did not find them disruptive and thought they added an extra level of darkness to the story.

The character Amaris is a very sympathetic and relatable character. She is shown with the innocence any young child would have. The abuse and neglect Ama is put though are heartbreaking and infuriating to read about. Some of the most powerful scenes show how Ama loves her mother and wants to please her, despite the abuse. It is difficult to read because as a young child, the character does not understand everything that is going on or know any different, but as a reader, the horror of it all is very clear. Ama is treated as an adult by the adults in her life who should be caring for her and expected to understand things only adults can understand. She is put into situations no child should be put through. Her fear and sadness is shown accurately and reaches the reader at a deep emotional level.

The character Jess portrays Ama's mother. Jess is unpredictable and a frightening presence in Ama's life. Many of the scenes show how Jess neglects her child, forgetting to feed her after a party, or simply letting her run around the neighborhood without any supervision. Additionally, the way Ama's fear of her mother is shown is horrifying. Over the first few years, Ama is shown cowering and running to hide whenever Jess gets angry, leaving the reader with the horrifying knowledge of what has been going on. Abuse is shown throughout the story, but in year six it finally reaches a point where Ama is taken into foster care.

Perhaps the only decent adult in the story so far is the social worker Lana. She is hardened because of what she has to stomach to be able to do her job, but she still acts as a role model and caring adult to Ama.

The only criticism of characterization results from the way the story is shown. As is, the story is presented in a series of segments that skip around, much like a diary entry might. Therefore, there is often a large break in time between each individual memory where no information tying the two together is presented. As a result, the relationship between Trevor (Ama's brother) and Ama is not as developed as it could be. The reader can clearly see that Ama cares about her brother based on the way she acts and speaks about him, but he is not in many scenes as more than a baby, so he doesn't feel like a fully developed character. While there is nothing wrong with this since he is a very young character, a consideration could be placing more of a focus on developing his character and the relationship between him and Ama, particularly as he ages before the two are separated. That way, the reader will understand Ama's attachment and relationship with Trevor a bit more.

Pace: Overall, the pace of the story is fairly quick, particularly with the way individual scenes are presented. With some of the very brief scenes, this fast, harsh pace works very well. The succinct narration that gets directly to the point of what happened and then abruptly stops after the event is striking and powerful.

However, with some of the longer scenes, a bit more attention to detail and development of the setting might benefit the story. Slowing down the pace in the longer scenes could help to pull the reader in even more, making them feel completely immersed in the world. Transition actions is one place where the pacing could be slowed down in general. Showing characters getting from point A to point B or from action A to action B with just a bit more detail could help make the scenes read at a more "real-time" pace. Additionally, slowing down the pace and taking the time to develop who is where in the scene could also help avoid some confusion about what is going on in scenes, particularly with regards to characters leaving and entering.

Since this review covers so many memories, it was easier to point out the specific locations where the pace felt too fast or where it felt good inline rather than here. Therefore, these specific locations will not be listed.

Description: The descriptions in You Can't Break Her are impressive. The story depicts the life of the author growing up in excruciating detail. From the description of the parties she had to sit through as a child to the description of her trip to the park where she played with cigarette butts, every detail is shown in a way that makes it possible for the reader to see what she saw. After reading, I feel like I have seen the house where she grew up, her backyard, and her neighborhood. The character moves through different areas in her town, painting a picture not only of her life but of the world where she lived. Many of the descriptions are worded in ways that are poetic and beautiful, even though they often are describing things that are depressing and saddening.

Although I believe the descriptions are exceptional as they are, I think including even more detail in some places might give the story just a bit more depth. I have noted inline the specific locations where I felt like more detail would be beneficial.

Plot: The plot of the story is the title: You Can't Break Her. Despite all the horrible experiences, abuse, and neglect the author went through growing up, she's still here and she is a remarkable woman. The story is painful just to read, but knowing that she survived through all of this is inspirational.

As is, the story is told as a series of memories that go in chronological order but are not necessarily tied to one another. The story depicts a life in snapshots, and it does it expertly.

However, for reading ease, something to consider that might give the story a more finished and cohesive feel could be tying the memories into one another. For example, there is often missing information that is brought up in individual memories about things that happened before but were not a part of any of the previous memories. For example, the fact that Trevor was taken to live with his father was omitted until Ama thinks about it in a later memory. Other examples would be the fact that Ama beginning school is never mentioned, her friendship with some of the neighborhood kids seems to vanish, and Ama got a social worker at some point but it was never mentioned until it seems she has met her a few times already. While missing bits of detail like this do not create confusion, an idea could be to include more transitionary information throughout the story between memories. For example, if a long period of time has passed between memories, a paragraph or two that succinctly brings the reader up to speed with any changes in living situations, character relationships etc. might give the story a more cohesive feel. Note, this is just an option that could be considered, because the way the story is presented now also has a lot of impact, showing an entire life just through instances in time.

Summary: I would recommend that everyone who can handle it read this story. It's an incredible piece of nonfiction, although at times it is painful to read. It is important and brave of the author to share her experiences, not only for herself, but for anyone else who has experienced similar. Reading You Can't Break Her was anunbelievably moving and touching experience.