I really didn't care for this book, primarily because of the subject matter. The book is written from the perspective of an eight year old girl who is abused by her step-father, Richard. Richard also beats his wife, Carrie's emotionally absent mother. Carrie's father was killed by an intruder. Though I had some trouble discerning what was really true and what Carrie imagined, Carrie's maternal grandmother and aunt seemed to somewhat condone the abuse of their daughter/sister, as did some of the town's folk who knew what was going on. Carrie is a deeply troubled girl and that was very hard to read.

I was somewhat surprised by the ending, which I figured out only shortly before it was revealed by the author.