Title: Mum and Me
Author: Sasha May
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
ISBN: 9781546291015
Pages: 144
Genre: Fiction / Family Life
Review by: Aaron Washington
Pacific Book Review
Little Kaye’s narrations are what made me love this book. Her entire personality and way of doing things seems adorable to me. Everything about her is genuine; you could feel the fear in her, see the love she shared and see how much effort she put in. Her relationship with her mom was something else; a wonderful bond between them, and she always came through for her mother when needed.
I enjoyed the author’s writing style. The sentence structures are simple and the flow of the story is sweet and amazing. The narrator, Kaye, spoke like a child, and one could see how natural her words were. The author chose the right phrases and made the conversations easy to read. I admire that she added a couple of metaphors and similes in the story; this made the reading a little more fun, as the stylistic devices added some aesthetics in the paragraphs. This book has few characters, all of whom play a role in Kaye’s or her mother’s life. Chris, Elle, Kaye’s dad Bruno, Sky and Jasmin are among the characters I found interesting.
Mum and Me is divided into three parts with three stories, all of which tell different tales which are linked to each other. 5-year-old Kaye is my hero in all this. We are shown how well she takes care of things, despite her young age. Kaye is a great character. I enjoyed living in her world as she grew older. The book has a few lessons one can take away. Kaye’s life teaches us how one can relate to the people around her. How do you interact with your mother? Family? She sometimes went through mistreatment, but eventually triumphed over all of those challenges. I particularly enjoyed reading about Kaye’s dreams after her father’s death. There was a lot one could tell from the dreams.
Sasha May’s book is a gem. The story told is amazing in all perspectives. Looking at Kaye’s life, I can see why her life was set up that way. She made me realize that one can beat all odds and become a great person even with difficult circumstances. Dealing with family members who don’t understand you can be tasking. Living in big towns and cities can be intimidating for a young soul as she kept pushing, even in difficult circumstances.
Reading Mum And Me will enable you to see how important it is for one to ask for help when they feel stuck. Parents should not shy away from asking for aid, especially in situations that put their kids at risk. Mistreatment and looking down at some family members can cause rifts in families and bad blood between individuals. Dealing with memories of physical and mental abuse can be draining to not only the victims of abuse but also to those around them. Mum and Me is a great book and reading through the pages was a pleasure. This book helps bring awareness about the different types of abuse – the destructive emotional abuse both physical and non-physical and how it affects everyone. It also brings to light the early signs of abuse as well as subtle signs of an abusive partner. If you have even the slightest suspicion that you’re in a abusive relationship, whether if it’s from your significant lover or your work colleagues, friends, family and so on, I highly recommend this book.
