Way too much detail and the whole time you’re wanting to get to the end to find out the truth but mainly just to get it over with. I also worked closely with the police on abuse cases and understand why social workers cannot share all the information discovered during the assessment process. I hope that readers can accept this saddening story for what it is and acknowledge that when false allegations are made it can be devastating to the family. Sometimes you need to look through her matter of fact sentences to find emotional meaning and inferences, e. As is my custom I looked up the author, Cathy Glass, before starting the book and to my dismay I learned that she’s ground out dozens of what looked like tearjerkers about pitiful foster kids who end up living happily ever after.

I just felt that I needed to say that as a reminder and I would have liked for that to have been mentioned by Cathy to her readers in the epilogue along with the acknowledgment that false allegations occur. I'm a retired social worker, and worked with adults rather than children but I was fascinated by the level of detail Cathy gives about the similarities between the way children's social workers investigate and assess cases, and the way that I used to. Too much mention of the word 'love' and covid which wasn't really required and sometimes it felt like things were being listed, " this happened, and then that happened. It was the first time reading one of Cathy's, and I found her writing style to be somewhat simple, which in turn made it difficult to follow.I found the story heartbreaking and horrendous as always but the writing style felt different and there wasn't as much detail about the children or the situation which is usually included.

That is absolutely horrifying and the mother in this book did not deserve to get her youngest children back after abandoning her oldest. I ended the book feeling heartbroken for what this family went through and I appreciate that this is a true story and a really family that was impacted by lies. Cathy has been a foster carer for over 25 years, during which time she has looked after more than 100 children, of all ages and backgrounds. i feel like there was not enough of a plot to warrant a novel- it’s literally about a girl who falsely accuses her stepfather of raping her causing herself and her sisters to temporarily enter foster care. However, as the girls settle and start to talk of life at home, it becomes clear that Ashleigh didn’t enjoy the same close relationship with her stepfather.But since I already had the book I thought I’d give it a shot, and to my surprise it was readable, realistic and interesting. There is a familiar and comforting feeling that is in complete contrast to the horrors experienced by the looked after children. Despite mentioning that she does not / would not judge families, there were references to her "being right" about quite sensitive topics. On top of that, this was written during the height of Covid, so there's constant talk about restrictions and social distancing and hand-washing, and I don't think an editor ever looked at this because there was a lot of repetition and grammatical issues that an editor would have caught in an instant.

She always explains unfamiliar fostering jargon, procedures, and processes in easily digestible terms to eliminate any disconnect or confusion. Some things are unforgivable I felt sorry for Selina and Tim because of a kid who didn’t like discipline and decides it’s ok to make up lie after lie Disgusting lies.Each book I’ve read has left me with the lingering reminder that the primary issue addressed is incredibly widespread. There will always be uncertainty about what action to take when a child discloses abuse, but this case demonstrates that there should be a thorough investigation before drastic action is taken which can ruin lives. But gradually they began to settle and as they did they talked more of life at home where there were a lot of arguments between Ashleigh and their parents. I don't like to perpetuate the idea that false reports occur, because the system makes it difficult enough for children and women to be believed as it is.