This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite
Survivalist to Thrivalist: One Woman's Journey by Deborah Kinisky is part two of a trilogy that is a memoir about Deborah’s life and how she found purpose and meaning in her life to be able to thrive in the world in spite of difficult beginnings and challenging circumstances. In this book, Deborah mainly focuses on describing her life events after she left home at the age of 20 to the age of almost 40. That being said, she has summarized the early years of her childhood, with her mother, her father with his pedophilic tendencies who showed inappropriate and sexualized behavior, her brother, her dysfunctional family, and basically her past of abuse and neglect. The book then describes how she left home with the help of a friend, her experiences with men and relationships, marriage and divorce, her children, working multiple jobs to maintain her family, and mainly how she overcame her early childhood experiences to not only find a way to survive in this world but to thrive and succeed in it.
I liked reading Survivalist to Thrivalist a lot and felt that Deborah has written in a direct, straight-from-the-heart style that is easy to read and relatable. Although this book is one of a trilogy, it can be read as a standalone book since there is enough background information provided for the new reader to pick up the story. Another thing I really liked was Deborah’s obvious love and concern for her own children and how she is able to make sure that the trauma and dysfunction from her own parents do not pass down to the next generation. This is hard to do and I appreciated Deborah sharing this journey with us. Overall, this is an excellent book to read, especially for women for whom unfortunately sexual abuse in society or from within the family is all too common and who may find inspiration or hope from Deborah’s story.
