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Reviewed by Janelle Fila for Readers' Favorite
Reach for Joy by T.L. Reys is a non fiction memoir that starts with the author's young adult life and spans over thirty years of her adult life, including marriage to an abusive and unforgiving husband. It is a story about the hidden effects of long term abuse, but is also a triumphant story about overcoming that abuse and remaining a healthy, whole human being. Tessy's life with Jason isn't the fantasy that she always imagined. She has ten children and suffers nerve damage from the cold and sleeping under a truck along the highway. This story is about her inner turmoil and a constant choice: to fulfill her controlling husband's desires, including living like pioneers, or choosing freedom and allowing herself to live free of fear. But that isn't an easy decision for someone who has been physically and mentally abused for over three decades, and makes for a heart wrenching story that readers will love and hate at the same time.
This is an incredible book that is also a very difficult read because it includes scenes of constant emotional abuse and physical abuse such as rape and death. But it is also a beautiful story because it shows how a person can rise about this. This is a personal triumph story about survival. If one person can survive such cruel and inhumane torture and turn out to become a giving, caring, and loving person, then there is hope for all of us, no matter what personal situations we are facing in our own lives. Very inspirational.
