Boy, do I have a lot of thoughts about this book. To start, I will go ahead and say that I got the Audible version of this book, which is read by the author, Shari Franke. Listening to her tell her own story was very moving. The book was well written and cohesive. While many of us know the names of Shari's siblings, she did not use their names in this book as a way to give them some measure of privacy. I will do the same in this review out of respect for her wishes. Shari recounts her childhood in the home of Kevin and Ruby Franke, which seems intensely stressful at the bare minimum. Her mother, Ruby, got involved in family vlogging, turning every single moment into scripted content for their social media. Behind the scenes, the children were emotionally abused, starved for affection, and mistreated in many ways. Her father actively engaged in this nonsense, and eventually passively allowed worse nonsense to occur to his own children while he sat around doing nothing. Ruby would become involved with a wanna be cult leader/prophet, devolving into worse abusive and neglectful behavior. This would result in the severe abuse of the two youngest siblings of Shari's, and the court case that we have all become familiar with.

Ruby Franke most definitely has some type of mental health issue, personality disorder, or both. She is extremely manipulative, abusive, and narcissistic. She was unable to the be the mother that she should have been, and intervention would have been very beneficial to all people in this family early on. I think she is a fascinating case study for those interested in personality disorders. I think part of her problem was likely the way she was raised and the relationship she had with her own mother, but that is pure speculation, as I am not a mental health professional. I do not believe that her little speech in court was sincere, in fact, it struck me as self-serving. In this book, Shari discusses a letter that Ruby wrote to her after her imprisonment, and the content was disgusting. Her lack of care and accountability was blatant.

Kevin Franke is equally to blame for the destruction of the six children's lives. Instead of being a father who protected, taught, and loved them, he engaged in and allowed whatever his wife wanted. He did not stand up for these kids. He was not there for these kids. He wasn't even there for himself, ruining his career and everything he loved and was good at for this woman who, quite honestly, doesn't deserve the air she breathes. Shari Franke is a better person than I could ever be for trying to see the good in this man and forgive him for his massive failings, because I COULD NEVER. I would never speak to this man again as long as I lived. If he has seen the error of his ways, changed, and is attempting to make amends and rebuild his relationship with all of the children and that is what makes them happy and safe, that is their business...but it surely would not be me.

Shari also discusses the role her LDS faith has played in her life and handling of this situation. The LDS faith sets women up for failure. I know that Shari is a firm believer, and so are many other people, but just based on her statements in this book, it is very obvious. This religion is very patriarchal, with women having large families and being mothers the goal in life. If Ruby had been raised in another religion, perhaps she would have been less inclined to have a large number of children to abuse because she did not have the proper tools or personality for mothering. She might not have been exposed to cult mentality, falling into another cult with Jodi, and doing what she did to the children. Shari also has some experiences in which she was made to feel a certain way about certain situations because she was a female in the church. I do not want to spoil the book by discussing that too much, but ICK. This religion and her upbringing really set her up to be used and abused by men and other people, and I am glad that she sees that and put herself in a safe position.

Jodi Hildebrandt is a complete scumbag. That is about all that needs to be said about her. People fall under the spell of people like this so often. It is difficult to imagine, but it happens so often. She deserves to be under the prison with the sewage.

As a person who is interested in true crime and who has grown up in a family of emergency service workers, I read and watch a lot of things. Though it sounds desensitized and rude to say, when this case hit the news, it was just another case. There are so many cases that feature terrible child abuse, mass shootings, and domestic violence that they all tend to run together. I think it is extremely, extremely important to remember that these are real people behind the stories and headlines. These are real victims who have dealt with horrific trauma that they have to work through every day. I think in a world where violence is commonplace, it is good to remember that we should show care and concern for human beings, especially children.

I hope that Shari and all of her siblings and extended family find peace and healing in the future. I am so proud of her for fighting for her siblings, as well as all the other children who are victims of family vlogging and parents who use them.