Coming Clean: Book summary and reviews of Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller

Reader Reviews

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Kay

Coming Clean - There is hope for all of us!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Kimberly shared her life in a way that can be an inspiration to all. It was a message of love even under a pile of paper and trash. She gives the reader insight into a life we have recently glimpsed on reality TV shows about hoarders. I found the book wanted me to jump in and "fix" the problem and that kept me reading. I was inspired by Kimberly's continued love to be uplifting. I recommend this read.

Becky K.

Honest and heartbreaking
In a strange way, Kimberly Rae Miller's memoir "Coming Clean," about growing up with a father who was a hoarder and a mother who was a compulsive shopper, is relatable. Even though I didn't grow up like that at all. But as much as her story is about her unusual upbringing, it's also about the loneliness of being different than others in the family, of being afraid to be honest with friends out of fear that they won't understand, and about being an only child.

"Coming Clean" does not present the same view of hoarders that so-called reality television shows do. I felt like I could understand her parents in a way that I've never experienced by watching those shows. I highly recommend "Coming Clean."

Toni

Unputdownable! (Is that a word?)
I have seen the various "hoarders" shows on television and cringed just like everyone else and wondered how could people live this way. I had also seen the tears and the pain of the children and family members of the hoarders. This book is written by the child of hoarders and her pain is felt by the reader in each chapter. I couldn't stop reading, I had to see how she lived and how she coped with her life as she grew. Also amazing is how much she loved her parents and how much they loved her but were simply unable to change the way they lived. A truly enjoyable and informative book.

JillF

Hard to put down
This is one of those books that grabs your attention right away. I didn't want to stop reading, except to clean!

Rebecca R

postscript on my review
There were a few more things I wish I had said in my initial review. I think this book is a good reminder of the importance of health care for the mentally ill. Another reason that I couldn't rate the book as a 5 was that I felt like the story wavered in its effectiveness at time and had some less interesting parts. Around page 40, for example, it seemed liked such a short passage describing the period during which there'd been a huge increase in hoarding. Chapter 15, on the other hand, really caught my attention again with the details of the squalor.

Rebecca R

Immediately Interesting
This short book immediately caught my attention. I think the opening comparison of saving some handwritten greeting cards as a mini example of hoarding is one that could help virtually anyone to get a grasp of how a hoarder's brain works. I liked this book very much and felt that the narrator's voice rang true. I struggled with a 4 versus a 5 rating. I think the lack of complexity is what makes a difference to me. As enjoyable as this book is and as much as I definitely will recommend it to others, I just don't think of this as a MUST read 5 star novel. I have wondered about hoarding: has this problem/illness always been so common and we just didn't hear about it in decades past?