Broken Places is so raw and real and poignant that it hurts in the most painful of ways. And you don’t have to be a survivor of sexual abuse to feel it. Because everyone can relate to the brutally honest emotions which have been bled out onto the page. Her stained canvas paints for us a story of strength and promise.

Thompson’s words are the needle which inject us into her veins. And we float in the crimson river of her pain and heartache. And then she opens her heart and graciously and courageously invites us in. Exposes the most intimate part of herself to us.

Broken Places is not something which is read. It is something we experience. And the experience is, I know, unique to all of us. Because each of us has lived a different life, and yet the same one. Because none of us is a stranger to pain. And Thompson, through her story, reminds us of this. She pulls our pain out of us. Makes it bubble to the surface. But the trigger is a beautiful reminder. A reminder of what all of us have been through. A reminder that, like her, we are all… survivors. And even more than that, that we are never alone. And even more than even that, that our story can (and will) help others.

But the story isn’t like we are crawling inside of a deep and never-ending black tunnel, no. Even in the most painful of parts, there is something which glimmers off in the distance. Like a beautifully golden thread intricately weaved into a stunning tapestry, her soul, though no stranger to darkness, shines and sparkles. Her story a testament to strength. A reminder to all of us to never give up and to never let our tragic experiences define and cripple us. A reminder to keep living.

Thompson is a beautiful writer. A beautiful human. She’s taken something ugly and done something beautiful – helped others. A person and author you want to know. A person and author you need to know.

If I were to hope for any book to be read by all, this would be the one. The world needs real stories. Stories that hurt. Because in pain we grow. As people. As a society.

After I turned the last page and my face was stained with tears, I whispered my first review to the author. It was a short one. And it is with these two words that I will end my review here…

Thank you.