{"id":3254,"date":"2025-06-16T19:06:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3254"},"modified":"2025-06-16T19:06:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:06:21","slug":"book-review-such-a-pretty-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3254","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Such a Pretty Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Such a Pretty Picture<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Andrea Leeb<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Memoir<\/p>\n

ISBN\u201113:<\/strong> 9781647429942<\/p>\n

Page Count:<\/strong> 256 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> She Writes Press<\/a><\/p>\n

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Reviewed by Toni Woodruff | Content warnings: child sexual abuse<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Heartbreaking and vulnerable\u2014a story that should never exist<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It takes power to tell this story. It takes bravery and strength and a machete\u2014a way to chop through the tangled vines of trauma to forge a path ahead. Such a Pretty Picture<\/em> is a powerful story that will break your heart and, hopefully, put it back together again.<\/p>\n

Be ready for it though\u2014the content warning is an important one. If you have experienced sexual abuse and are not up to experiencing someone else\u2019s, this book will likely be triggering.<\/p>\n

Andrea Leeb was four years old when her father first started molesting her. Her mom even saw it, but she went blind directly afterward. Her vision may have come back two weeks, but her figurative blindness remained. They didn\u2019t speak of the molestation after the event, and her mother denied it when Andrea was finally old enough to confront her about it.<\/p>\n

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It wasn\u2019t the only time either. Andrea was sexually molested by her father for more than ten years after that. He\u2019d always follow up his actions with kindness and gifts, and he kept up an impeccable outward persona. He was a professor, a reader, and a confusingly kind dad.<\/p>\n

We know, like Andrea knows, how bad her father is from the very beginning, but everyone else, including her mother, would have to wait years to find out that he\u2019s been tricking people\u2014completely separate from the abuse of Andrea. The perfect perception of him comes crumbling down even as he\u2019s propped up by Andrea\u2019s frustratingly forgiving mother.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Such a Pretty Picture<\/em> is a very real story. It\u2019s a meaningful book for sexual abuse survivors to recognize that they are not alone. They\u2019re likely going to have to confront their own pain to do it though. Scenes of sexual abuse are included, and while Andrea\u2019s story lifts us up in the end, it\u2019s only after our hearts are broken over and over again. She\u2019s a smart, brave, and strong young girl who grows into a powerfully inspiring survivor.<\/p>\n

This is also a story of sisterly love. Andrea and her younger sister Sarai are close and best friends. In their younger days, Andrea would stick up for Sarai and protect her with a glowing, angelic love. In a story of so much sadness, it\u2019s a relief to get to experience this deep well of sibling love. You\u2019re going to love their relationship.<\/p>\n

The storytelling is spare and clean, yet packed with emotion. Such a Pretty Picture<\/em> reads almost like it is made of stone\u2014something you can drop but never break. A moving story with a heavy load to bear.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Toni Woodruff\u2019s book review of Such a Pretty Picture<\/em> by Andrea Leeb! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: Such a Pretty Picture<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Such a Pretty Picture by Andrea Leeb Genre: Memoir ISBN\u201113: 9781647429942 Page Count: 256 pages Publisher: She Writes Press Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Toni Woodruff | Content warnings: child sexual abuse Heartbreaking and vulnerable\u2014a story that should never exist It takes power to tell this story. It takes bravery and strength and a machete\u2014a way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}