Kindle Edition Amazon Subplots by Grace Amazon Barnes & Noble Category:  Memoir Publisher: All Things That Matter Press ISBN-10:  0989403203 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 200 Copyright: May 13, 2013 ISBN-13: 9780989403207 Price: $5.99 (eBook) Mental illness or demonic possession? Either way, I'm losing my mind.  REACHING is a true story that illustrates how dangerous it can be to misread unresolved traumas. Set in Hawaii and Oregon, REACHING details Grace Peterson's hostile childhood and how she stumbled into adulthood with chronic anxiety. Postpartum, she became convinced she was demon possessed and fell under the damaging influence of "Brock" an expert on demonology. After seven years, she was able to gain enough momentum to strike out on her own and eventually discover the true cause of her difficulties.

A riveting heroine's journey through spiritual abuse to recovery
When I first started reading Reaching by Grace Peterson, I knew it was about spiritual abuse, getting into and out of a cult -like experience, but I wasn't sure what to expect. The prologue sets the stage for the pivotal moment Grace realizes she needs to get help. The story then begins in the author's childhood and within the first page I felt the pain of a little girl whose mother is dismissive and non-caring. A child's voice in the present tense pulls me into this story and keeps me suspended throughout her traumatic childhood journey with this dismissive mother and a violent father who eventually get divorced. The ongoing lifelong animosity between these two parents impacts their children in lasting and negative ways. The author uses a very effective technique which highlights the emotional distance she feels with her parents by referring to them as "the mother" and "the father." She does the same with "the mean grandparents "vs. "the nice grandparents" and the "scary uncle". These scenes from her childhood which include moving to Hawaii, bullying at school, an abusive stepfather, sexual abuse by a neighbor all serve to foreshadow the difficulties to come. The end result is, as a reader, I felt very close to this little girl and the ongoing trauma she endured at the hands of the adults in her life who did not guide or protect her.
When she meets her husband at age nineteen, I am encouraged that she finally has found a person who respects, loves and supports her. However, since so much has gone wrong in her childhood, I know she is still very vulnerable. Therefore, it makes sense to me when she falls prey to a charismatic, controlling pastor from their church who lures her into his fanatical, biblically-oriented teachings which not only do not address her underlying mental health issues but send her deeper into chaos and disruption as she slowly becomes addicted to him. The fact that she is able to extract herself from his clutches speaks to her resiliency, the love of a good husband and her fierce desire to love and protect her own four children.
The structure of the story includes flashbacks written in the present tense with her adult perspective woven in. She writes with a raw honesty, vivid imagery and an urgent tension that kept me engaged and turning the pages until the end. By the end I felt I had walked her path from abused child to vulnerable adult to an empowered woman who has survived the journey and is grateful for her life. This is a riveting and satisfying heroine's journey through spiritual abuse to recovery. I can see this memoir being helpful to anyone who has ever relinquished control to anyone or anything outside themselves.

Introspective and Brave
Reaching is introspective and brave. The author peels back layers of her life to reveal the heartache that molded her into an adult. She tackles uncomfortable topics with poise, but does not hide from them. Although my life experience is quite different from the author's, there were still many places where I related to her challenges and suffering. A beautiful read that reminds us both how frail humans can be and how much we can overcome.