I always find it tough to rate a memoir as this is someone's real life. The way Danler writes is beautiful, even about tough topics, so I did have to keep reminding myself that these are real people and real stories.

Stray tells the story of Danler's life with her father's drug addiction, her mother's alcoholism and subsequent aneurysm rendering her disabled, Danler's relationships with them and how it's affected her going forward in many aspects of her life.

I found it quite a hard read and felt sad quite a lot of the time. My heart ached. I really felt for Danler when she was worried about having her own child after her childhood experiences. It is raw and honest, shockingly so at times.