Book Review: My Story by Elizabeth Smart

Its time for a book review.

I recently read My Story by Elizabeth Smart and Chris Stewart.

When I decided to read this book, I had heard a lot about it.  I remember when Elizabeth Smart got kidnapped, it was all over the local and national news, and it hit especially hard since I live in Utah, and am just a few years younger than Elizabeth.

I started reading and was almost immediately enthralled in the story.  It was captivating.  BUT, this book is not very well written.  In other reviews I've read, the blame is on the Ghost writer Chris Stewart.

There are WAY too many exclamation points, and it is written in a very naive tone.

The story is amazing, and I really enjoyed the book.  The writing style was just not quite my forte`.

The book is also written so that it seems like the entire time, she is trying to convince readers and herself that she doesn't nor did she ever have Stockholm Syndrome (when a kidnap victim feels some sort of affection or attachment to her captors.)  I don't feel like she needed to explain herself so much.  She was a child, she was afraid for her life.  The end.  I felt like she spent most of her time explaining why she did what she did, and that she was acting out of fear, not out of affection.

It did keep me at the edge of my seat.  She has many close encounters where she was ALMOST rescued, but something always stepped in the way.

Synopsis:
Elizabeth Smart was a young Mormon girl from Utah who was taken from her bed that she shared with her sister. She was taken in the middle of the night by a man named Brian David Mitchell.  He claimed to be "Emmanuel, prophet of the lord"  He insisted that the lord had commanded him to take Elizabeth to be the first of 7 virgin child brides.  He took her, married her, and abused her for 9 months while his wife, Wanda Barzee helped conceal his secret, and watched the abuse.

They lived in the mountains in a secluded camp above Salt Lake for a while, and then as winter approached, they left Utah for the warmer weather in California.

During this 9 months several people approached Mitchell and inquired as to Elizabeth's identity, but somehow, Mitchell would always get out of it...

Great story. Writing Style... not so much.


Over all, I give this book 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I would recommend this book for the story line, but not for the writing style.