The author says that one of the driving questions of the book asks how you reconcile with the parts of yourself that you did not actively choose. "What can you do with those pieces?" she asks. How would you respond?

The author says that one of the driving questions of the book asks how you reconcile with the parts of yourself, your body, or your experiences that you did not actively choose, particularly those that you don't like or that were unpleasant. "What can you do with those pieces?" she asks. "Can you love them? Can you accept them? Can you erase them?" How would you respond?

I don't think people can totally erase experiences, and the very fact that one is a child means that there will be parts of one's life that are under the control of adults, whether parents, guardians, older family members, teachers, and on and on. The reconciling or dealing with different situations are all part of growing up. If a child has something traumatic happen, I would hope that there would be loving guidance to have the child understand that the child is not to blame. Maybe a child can learn about danger and trust the instinct to get away in the future.

I think the key is to be happy with oneself. All experiences, even the negative ones, contribute to the person who we ultimately become. If you're content with the person you are, you have the value the experiences that built that person, in my opinion. One minor change could have produced someone else entirely. I also don't think it's healthy to suppress memories of painful events, as they only pop up to hurt us later on.

I thought there were some great messages in the book, what you do is not who you are, as long as you try to do better...

I think that is an incredibly deep question, and I have enormous respect for Ashley Blooms for exploring it in this novel. I think that what she puts forward in this story is the idea that you can accept what has happened to you that you did not choose and not judge yourself. It will always stay with you, but it's not your fault. It's not fair that you have to live with this, but by caring for yourself, loving yourself, and surrounding yourself with people who love and care for you, you can find a way forward.

This book is a gift from the author to us. She was brave enough to dig into her personal experience of abuse and tell this story, and other victims of abuse and those of us who read this book and empathize with the characters can find our own way forward after reading it.

We all have parts of ourselves that we did not choose, and we will continue to experience things that we haven't chosen or don't want to happen (death of a loved one, illness, abandonment, divorce, loss of jobs, etc.).
What we have to realize is that these circumstances create who we are. It is important to surround yourself with people who are supportive and understanding. Being the "best you" takes work...inner work. Open discussions and communication are key: shame thrives in secrecy...exactly what we saw in this novel.