When your entire childhood has been built on lies, where do you begin rebuilding the truth? Alex has survived his mother's abuse - but surviving turns out to be only the beginning.

📚 Pre-Reading Thoughts

Munchausen by proxy is one of those conditions that many people recognise from documentaries or crime dramas, but rarely from the perspective of the person who lived through it. That immediately made this feel like a story with something important to say beyond the headline.

📖 Post-Reading

As I thought...

This is an emotionally challenging read, but an immensely rewarding one. Rather than focusing on the sensational aspects of Alex's abuse, it explores what happens afterwards, when the cameras have gone and life has to continue.

Alex is a wonderfully realised narrator. His wit, sarcasm and love of crosswords and astronomy remind us that he is far more than the terrible things that happened to him.

The podcast framing works well, allowing Alex to reclaim ownership of his own story while also showing how revisiting trauma can be both healing and painful.

It surprised me by...

How thoughtfully the novel explores trust. Of course Alex struggles to believe doctors, to trust his own memories, or even to know which thoughts are truly his. The abuse has shaped his understanding of the world in ways that recovery alone cannot immediately undo.

The gradual unravelling of Alex's mental state. Watching him question reality is unsettling, but always handled with empathy.

The revelations towards the end, which reframe earlier events without ever feeling manipulative. They're difficult to discuss without spoilers, but they add another layer to an already compelling story.

This is not always an easy book to read, but it is a worthwhile one. It treats trauma with compassion, allows recovery to be messy and uncertain, and ultimately reminds us that rebuilding a life takes courage long after the crisis itself has ended.

🎧 Music Pairing

🎵 Featured Song: Fix You

🎶 Vibe Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head

🎧 Artist Recommendation: Sleeping At Last — reflective, hopeful and quietly healing.

🌈 Vibe Check

Colour Palette: soft blue, hospital white, charcoal grey, sunrise gold

Soundtrack: a microphone clicking on, pages of a crossword turning, quiet conversations after visiting hours

Season: early spring

Mood: fragile, reflective, hopeful

Scent: antiseptic, fresh rain, sharpened pencils

🃏 Tarot Pull

Ace of Wands

After years of having his identity shaped by someone else's lies, Alex is faced with an extraordinary challenge: discovering who he really is. The Ace of Wands represents that first spark of a new beginning - not an easy one, but one filled with possibility. Recovery isn't about returning to who he was before; it's about creating someone entirely new.

👀 For fans of

Sadie

The Act