This was physically painful to read. It gave me the same kind of ache that A Little Life did. This book is not a thriller, it’s not a mystery, it’s not a crime novel. This is a psychological study on childhood abuse and neglect. It questions how far a child is willing to go to feel validated and loved when it has never known either. What an unrelenting, realistic account of neglect and it’s echoes in someone’s life through adulthood.