Book Review: Kristen Jane Anderson's Life, In Spite of Me

  From Amazon: Overwhelmed by wave after wave of emotional trauma, Kristen Anderson no longer wanted to live. One January night, determined to end her pain once and for all, the seventeen-year-old lay across train tracks not far from her home and waited to die. 
  Instead of peace, she found herself immersed in a whole new nightmare.
 Before the engineer could bring the train to a stop, thirty-three freight cars passed over her at fifty-five miles per hour. After the train stopped and Kristen realized she was still alive, she looked around—and saw her legs ten feet away. 
  Surviving her suicide attempt but losing her legs launched Kristen into an even deeper battle with depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as unrelenting physical pain—all from the seat of a wheelchair. But in the midst of her darkest days, Kristen discovered the way to real life and a purpose for living.  
  For anyone struggling to find the strength to go on, the message of this heart-wrenching yet hope-building book is a clear and extraordinary reminder that even when we give up on life, God doesn’t give up on us.  
   Life, In Spite of Me is probably one of the most inspiring books you'll read.  I think what makes it even more inspiring is knowing that the girl was so young, and had so many traumatic things happen to her, but yet she is here today to talk about it. The cover goes amazingly well with the novel too. The story can be so dark, but to see her smile on the cover you constantly remind yourself of that to reassure yourself of her pending happiness. 
   I got chills a couple of times while reading this story especially at the ending when we are able to see what's happened her to since the accident, and her recovery. It's amazing how God used the tragedy in her life to be an inspiration to others. I can only imagine it took every ounce of strength to move through what she did, and then on top of having Depression, it may have seemed impossible at times. 
   I personally, have gotten pretty depressed at times. I think for anyone who feels sadness often, or who has considered harming themselves then they would find this book very inspiring. It's proof that you reach the darkest levels of life, and somehow come back from that to fully thrive in your life. 
  I got the ebook version of this book, and I want to say that I hope Waterbrook improves on the quality of those books. The messy editing really disrupted my reading. I would have some words smudged together, and then other times the sentences would be chopped up in what appeared to be two paragraphs. I'm sure the ebook version you buy will be better edited, but don't give me bad stuff just because it's free! I won't let this affect my opinion of the story though.
   This book is a great read for anyone, and it might particularly be relatable to teenage girls. I found it just as inspirational at my age though. It's a great start to reading in the new year though. You can check out the book at Amazon


I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for a review.