I Was Never Broken: Volume 2

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A Bond Never Broken" will cause all your emotions to rise up. You will get angry with the actions and inactions of certain characters. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat as the tension mounts with Jutta and her decisions. You will be outraged by the things that the anti-German sentiment causes individuals to do by and against their will. Judith Miller weaves in all emotion she can muster in this historical novel. "A Bond Never Broken" is a great ending to a series that no one really wants to see end. I recommend this book and, as always, look forward to whatever Ms. Miller writes next. As for being called “poetry”, I humbly disagree. My fondness for the power of poetry led me to select this title. Instead, it is a run-on reflective essay of sorts, merely in a verse style of sorts. Oh, please sort this mess out.

The main thing that I liked about Never Broken was that the author was able to take me into how investigative journalist does their job. I had a rough idea of how they did their job. But, I never knew how much work went into it. A good majority of the book was Lisa chasing down leads, casing the neighborhood where she thinks Saul came from and talking to the people in the community. I also didn’t realize how dangerous it could be. At one point, Lisa got run down by a car because she was coming close to where the sweatshop was. That sent chills up my spine and made me thankful that I didn’t pursue my high school dream of being a reporter. All in all, the Lisa Jamison books are a great addition to the reporter thriller genre and I know, from reading this, that I will be drawn to read other books by Lori Duffy Foster. Poems for accepting all that you are—including those parts of yourself that you wish you could disown It’s probably a bit of a hybrid. Not that I consider myself a self-help expert, but if what I’ve learned in 40 years, with a lot of pain, can help somebody else in less time and less pain, that would definitely make the book worthwhile. I’m acutely aware of how people suffer, and that very few people talk in a transparent way about their suffering. It isolates us. I think it’s good when anybody can share their story with authenticity. I’ve learned a lot by listening to other people, about how they handle things, how they perceive things. I guess I feel a little bit of an obligation to share those things.These sections contain an introduction which is written in a friendly, chatty manner. The poems within each section relate to the matter at hand. Two which stood out to me for their fantastic use of figurative language and hidden meaning were “Listen from Silence” and “Victory”. I think the poem “Victory” sums up the intent of the poetry collection well “Breath how you breath, make mistakes and screw up and learn to love your stumbling,” (Foster). We meet Fred, another reporter who works with Lisa, and I hope he becomes a series regular. I like him, and I like how well he and Lisa worked together. Their chemistry was natural. It's a powerful memoir that is both relatable and inspiring. The result is a poignant and emotional that is sure to resonate with readers.

With difficult themes such as sweatshops, organized crime, modern slavery, and white supremacy, this novel's plot was scarily plausible and the tension of the chapters escalated gradually throughout the novel. Though touted as a mystery, I would classify it more as a gritty, urban noir crime thriller. As a reader, I found immense comfort in Sara's words. I was going through a difficult time recovering from an "almost" relationship/situationship, and the guidance provided in the book helped me on my journey of healing.

My husband has often told me that I have hard-earned wisdom. I feel the same can easily be said for Jewel. Although our life experiences have been dramatically different, I could relate to the general traumatic nature of her experiences and the emotional response she had to them. Reading this book was a comfort in many ways, as if I were talking to a friend who understood my own heart as well as she understood her own.

Foster challenges readers in the most comforting of ways, encouraging them to sit with their fears and difficult emotions instead of masking and suppressing them. The rawness and vulnerability in the verses is apparent and the reader is encouraged to embrace their own vulnerabilities with radical self-acceptance. Later she ends up in California and lives in her car while performing at coffee houses. She gets a record contract and makes it BIG. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Songs are my history - the story of us. Where there is pain in our family, there was also a song not far behind, and healing.” I think my disappointment comes from the fact that the story had a lot of slow spots. Now, the story itself was very interesting and when I first read the description of the story, I saw a lot of potential for this book to be very tense. Too tense, in fact. But, it actually had a fairly comfortable feel to it despite the intensity of the story. I think that is where the slowness of the book turned into an asset. There is a lot of normal everyday life in this story. It is not non-stop tension and fear. We still get a very good look at life in the Amana Colonies and this book still retains that simple feel that I have come to love about this series. It actually ended up as a fairly well-balanced story that was a relaxing experience. So, despite some minor disappointment, I can say that this was still a good book and a worthwhile read. I didn’t love it like I thought I would, but I didn’t dislike it either.For many years, Ilsa Redlich has helped her parents run a hotel in South Amana, but as the United States enters the Great War, she can feel her world changing. The residents of the towns surrounding the Amana Colonies used to be accepting of their quiet, peaceful neighbors, but with anti-German sentiment running high, the Amana villages are now plagued by vandalism, threats, and insults. Things get even worse when Ilsa finds out her family won't be allowed to speak German in public--and that Garon, the childhood friend she's long been smitten with, has decided to join the army. She grows up in Alaska with an absent hippie Eastern Meditation con-artist as a Mother. And a slightly abusive Musician Outdoors man father. And brothers and sisters that almost never enter the story. So basically her parents did a mind trip on her. In You Were Never Broken, Foster explores this transformation through poetry so raw and vulnerable that you too will feel the full triumph of his journey. Whether exploring life’s uncertainties or the joy of personal realization, Foster’s poems embrace the full spectrum of human experience. The stories of her youth were by far, the most interesting part of the book. I could relate to much of what she went through, since I also grew up very poor, only lived with my mom for a few years of my life, and experienced homelessness (though I was in 6th grade, while Jewel was in her teens). Her struggles as a child and going into early adulthood were thoroughly fascinating. But it was difficult to read about what her mother did to her. Seriously. What an awful disgusting person.