Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland Paperback – April 26, 2016

As a resident of Cleveland and someone who has been involved with the justice system and the police, I read this book with great interest. Knowing the locations and some of the caste of characters and remembering the years of searching for Michelle, Amanda and Gina really brought the story close to home. It is one of those tragic stories that started with a bad decision - getting into the car with Castro. Of course you can't blame them for that, but each one thinks back and wonders how their world would be different if they had taken a different route, not gone to work that day. or not gotten into the car.In reading the book the natural inclination is to put yourself in to the places of the girls and wonder what you would have done. Everyone probably feels that they would have escaped, fought with Castro, done something to harm him. But until you are put into the situation you can never know what you would do. Castro clearly played mind games with the girls and pitted them against one another. This psychological damage was as bad as the physical harm.Nowhere had the split between Michelle Knight and Gina and Amanda been more obvious then in the Cleveland media.A recent Lifetime movie - ABDUCTION IN CLEVELAND - that aired Saturday night focused primarily on Michelle. At the end of the movie you see Gina saying to Michelle that she is taking her life in a different direction and essentially breaks of their relationship.I, for one, am very curious as to the break between the two sides, but that is something that the public will probably never know. I believe that Michelle was in a different place in her life when she was kidnapped and has dealt with the experience differently than the other girls. The fact that no one was looking for her, like the other girls must have been very painful. She was also older and I believe had a different relationship with Castro - one sick cookie - by the way. I also believe that Michelle has things in in background that has caused her to have demons that she has to deal with. While she frequently says that she wants to be out of the lime light, she frequently brings herself into the limelight. She has been very brave and out spoken and I commend her for speaking at the sentencing and for other victims. While Gina and Amanda have spoken out about other victims, they have not been as public as Michelle and chose not to speak at the sentencing for their own reason.I'm don't want to judge any of them for their reactions. Unless you went through what they did, its hard to make a judgment call.I wish them all well and hope that they can someday overcome the great harm that was done to them. The book is a heart wrenching story of pain and cruelty and one persons inhumanity. While its hard to say that I enjoyed the book, it was a page turner and brings a terrible situation to life.

This may be somewhat long..I read this book within one day. It is very well written, and tells the amazing story of these women with a lot of class. I first read Michelle Knight's book, Finding Me, which I also thought was a good read. I have read lots of reviews and opinions from readers of both books. My response to those people who have had negative comments about this book:1. I think that these girls mention Michelle more than enough in each of their accounts. The very beginning of this book states that they invited her to author this book with them, however it was her who declined and authored her own book.2. I believe Amanda as she is retelling accounts from her perspective---she had a child, a helpless individual dependent upon her---something to which the other two girls could not relate. I think that Amanda was brutally honest about her feelings towards the other girls, and I really appreciated her honesty about her conflicting feelings towards Castro.All of these girls are amazing human beings. I cannot pretend to imagine (and I never want to know) what they could have been thinking and feeling all of those years.I also found Michelle's recollection somewhat over-the-top, embellished, and, at some points, possibly fabricated. Having read Michelle's account first, and now Gina's, some of Gina's experiences and memories may have beenclaimed by Michelle as her own in her memoir. Since her book was published first, I feel that Michelle wanted to "tell all" and may have borrowed events or things that she and Gina discussed (since they were together for so long) and filled in gaps within her own story.We will probably never be able to understand all the dyanamics within that house for a whole decade.. I wish all three women well. May their lives be happy and fulfilled!

Well-written first hand account of the horrors experienced by these girls who eventually became young women on Seymour Ave. The inserts by the authors with relevant information about the kidnapper & case were very helpful in presenting the reader with a holistic view of the situation. Surprisingly, I thought Amanda was very forthcoming about her experiences & complex feelings toward her kidnapper, particularly after the birth of her child. I would have liked to have had more from Gina; and what she did present seemed to only skim the surface of emotions & facts. I can't began to imagine how difficult it had to be to write & relive such hellacious accounts, so I'm not criticizing her, simply an observation. If written a few years later, I think the book would have been stronger, but still very compelling. While much better than expected after reading some reviews, my biggest disappointment was the lack of inclusion & empathy for Michelle Knight. I know she told her own story, but there were shared experiences that could have been told to make their own stories more complete. I thought she should have been acknowledged in their final "thank you" as I'm sure they had to keep one another encouraged under such dire circumstances. And honestly, I thought Amanda's suggestion that she blacked out just after the birth of her baby, rather than acknowledging & thanking Michelle was an egregious shame. Gina in the next section stated how she heard Amanda screaming that the baby wasn't breathing. Still overall, well-done. I can't imagine the horror that these women endured; and truly wish them success, wholeness, & happiness in life. I'm so thankful to God that they lived through it & regained their freedom!!!

This is such a horrible but at the same time a remarkable story. What these ladies endured is beyond words but they truly overcome it all in the end. 5 stars and highly recommend.