Rating: 
Summary: Won't Let You Go
Review: The darkness that permeates SICKENED: A MEMOIR is riveting. There is not the detachment of watching a car wreck. Rather, we feel the tortured confusion of the young girl convinced by her mother that she is ill despite being healthy. What is only now becoming clear in our society is that child abuse is not always a physical act. It is not even a malicious act. It can take so many forms. SICKENED is a unique book not only because of the unique type of abuse it chronicles, but because as a reader you really do feel the turmoil. It is the kind of writing that captures you, pulls you in, and doesn't let go. Rarely can writers accomplish this, particularly in the area of abuse chronicles. That is why the few exceptions (MY FRACTURED LIFE, RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, NIGHTMARES ECHO, and SICKENED) are such riveting books that you really can't get enough of. As someone who reads several books a week, I consider myself lucky when I find just one that hits with the impact of SICKENED, MY FRACTURED LIFE, NIGHTMARES ECHO, or RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. To have found four is true opulence.
Rating:
Summary: Strength in Words
Review: It is a highly emotional experience to study "SICKENED." The experience moved me and changed me. It is difficult to experience or even know the unseen pains of the world, but it is knowledge we must not hide from in order to grow. Much as "MY FRACTURED LIFE" and other books of its kind are experiences that enrich our lives through re-cultivation of the pain of others, "SICKENED" is a book that can help heal and understand.
Rating:
Summary: So bizarre, it's gotta be true!
Review: Excellent book! Couldn't put it down! It's really hard to believe that some parents would be this abusive! Hats off to Julie Gregory for not only writing her story, but overcoming the odds in her life to be an advocate for others who are victims of this abuse.
Rating:
Summary: Truth is indeed stranger than fiction...
Review: Julie Gregory tells about childhood abuse that's dark, stark, and fascinating. If Munchausen syndrome is strange in its etiology and manifestations, then Munchausen by Proxy is off-the-charts bizarre. Gregory's memoir provides readers a journey into the labyrinthine nature of mental and emotional illness that's aided and abetted by the medical establishment, albeit, sometimes unwittingly. She tells her story in a way that's both engaged and distanced; her damaged childhood voice juxtaposed against a thrust-into-maturity wryness. Reminds me of Karr's The Liar's Club in its horrifying beauty. This book should be required reading for all medical residents, especially those specializing in so-called "Family Medicine," professional caregivers and counselors, and anyone interested in the very strange things that we humans do to those we allegedly love.
Rating:
Summary: Emotional Experience
Review: Both horrific and fascinating, "Sickened" is an emotional book that delivers a powerful punch. Like "Nightmares Echo" and "My Fractured Life", it puts a strong light on not just the clinical details of abuse but the lifetime psychological after-effects.
Rating:
Summary: As a parent I was Sickened
Review: As a parent it is nearly impossible to comprehend how a mother could perpetrate such methodical, premeditated abuse upon her child. The abuses this mother subjects her child to are unthinkable and there are many passages in this memoir that will make your skin crawl. The author tells her story in such a matter of fact way that at times I found myself wishing I could crawl into the pages to rescue this girl. Even though it was obvious the author's mother had suffered her own horrible abuses as a child, it was difficult not to despise this woman to the core. It is amazing that the author survived this nightmare of a childhood. Her memoir makes for a powerful and disturbing read. 4.5 Stars
Rating:
Summary: The Reality of Abuse
Review: This book, wonderfully written, captivated my heart and troubled my soul. The author, Julie Gregory, pulled from her triumph the pain and suffering she experienced as a little girl at the hands of her mother and and exposed the reader to all the mind bending realities of an abused child in America. She brings the reader through many of the experiences and trials of her life and shows how this innocent little girl found beauty in the world that had given her only suffering. She takes us through her steps of being abused, then escaping that abuse and beginning the long search to find herself over many countries and many miles then eventually to the healing strength she so beautifully reveals. This book is awesome and has given me incredible insight into the strength bred of facing our deepest fears and pain. Julie Gregory has inspired me to overcome and prevail.
Rating: 
Summary: absolutely no insight !
Review: This happened so many years ago; there is way too much detail in some accounts but absolutely no insight as to why this stuff is occurring. Gregory whines endlessly about her childhood but remains incapable of giving insight to why she thinks this was abuse. Is it possible she was a child who constantly complained she felt sick. The medical records are provided without adding an understanding of why she thought this was abusive. It just doesn't add up. It is a poorly written account of imagined abuse for monetary gain. The pills her mother gave her under her tongue could have been homeopathic pellets.
Rating:
Summary: Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood
Review: This was a heartbreaking story; difficult to read, but impossible to put down. I read the book in one day. Julie Gregory survived a nightmarish childhood at the hands of her mother who suffered from a disorder known as Munchausen by Proxy syndrome. As a woman she has fought battles to convince herself of her true beauty and worth and I believe she has come out on top. Now, she comes forth to share her story with us in order to educate the public of this horrifying disorder. Ms. Gregory is a phenomenal writer and a very brave individual! I would highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Soo Intense
Review: This book was soo intense! Powerfully written, it tore into my soul and left me weeping. I was abused as a child and read this book for my book club. We will be sharing our impressions and thoughts this Wednesday and I hope I will be able to express myself. I am so disturbed deeply by Julie Gregory's story, mainly because it dredged up very deep and very buried memories of my own childhood abuse, I am still reeling. I have never read a more compelling and touching story than Sickened. I always suspected my mother suffered from a form of munchausen by proxy from the first time I heard of it and watched a special on 20/20 many years ago. Julie Gregory's memoirs brought so much light to the dark reality of my own suffering as a child. I know now that my mother had this disease and the closure that gives me is incredible. Thank you Julie for writing your story, it has helped me tremendously and probably many other abuse survivors who have read it as well. I can't imagine this book not reaching everyone who reads it, abused as a child or not, it is deeply disturbing and yet full of wit and hope and promise. I will be looking forward to reading more books from this author in the future.
| 
