Review: Life in Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson

Goodreads: She wanted to die. God had other plans.

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.

Kritters Thoughts: An emotional story that from the very beginning is hard to hear, but well worth the read. A young woman who while a teen decides that her life isn't worth living and through a last minute thought lays herself down on railroad tracks. As she is telling the story - we all know she survives, but to hear her story about recuperating and living a different life is beyond interesting.

Whether you believe in the healing power of Christ and that God can intercede into daily lives, this book is worth the read to understand how depression can hit when you least expect and how far down one may go. It was refershing to hear a true story where she battled depression and had ups and downs - but life did end up on the up.

To parents of teens - this may be a rough ride because you may become overly cautious about the signs you could possibly see in your own teen. To the non parents, this is still a story for you about how depression can take hold of someone and send them down a road that no one would suspect.

Rating:definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Pages: 202

July-Sept 2011 Challenge: JAS