4 Stars

Such a great book. Glad she got her happy ending and found her faith. With that being said I must not have as much forgiveness because I wanted to find Diane and Madeline and throttle them both for being such bad people (luckily, I could't). I can't wait to see what other, if any, books she writes.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I so enjoyed this book! I read it in one day, I could not put it down! I did cry in parts of the book and cheered her on in other parts. I would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this arc

This beautiful and heartbreaking story shared by Shelley was incredible. She suffered the unimagined from a very young age which just isn’t right. Her words made me think about how privileged I am and made me feel for everyone who isn’t.

The story she shares of her mothers tragic death is honourable especially as she testified against her father.

A massive well done to you for being the person you are when all the odds are against you

This was a beautifully written and extremely powerful memoir. You become invested in Jorgensen's survival story and struggles through childhood. You feel for her as she struggles to balance the love and feelings she has for her father and the violence he showed, leading to her mother's murder. The thoughts of being left with an abusive parent, being orphaned, and being left in poverty are all covered as she navigates her life post-fire.

I really enjoyed the writing and felt like she had a good balance between detailing her life and reflecting on it. It was able to hold my interest and showcases her personal growth as she moved forward in life. It helped take away from the heaviness that is presented through the trauma and trials that Jorgensen went through.

The only part I wasn't able to truly connect with was the religious aspect. I understood how it shaped her understanding of these events and really influenced/saved her life, but as someone who is not outwardly religious, it came off as preachy at times. At times, I found myself saying things like "Yeah, it works for YOU, not for everyone."

Overall it's a good read and I'd definitely recommend it, it just wouldn't be my favorite. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

**HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY**
(5.0)

Beautiful Ashes is such a powerful well-written memoir. Shelly Edwards Jorgensen is able to really show strong emotion and traumatic experiences that make the reader feel.

When picking up this book, I knew to some extent what I was about to read, but I did not expect to be so drawn to it right from the start.

At the beginning, Shelly’s life starts off in the time of the fire that her father had started in order to burn down her childhood home, as well as, her mother who was inside. She is 15 at the time of the father, and with her mother now gone, Shelly and her sister Lisa are stuck with her abusive murdering father. But not for long…

To be honest, as unfortunate as it is, the tragedies that are brought to attention and talked about in this book, are all in a domino effect, one after another.

With that said, Shelly is so strong, brave, courageous, and full of fight, which is truly motivating and eye-opening to see due to everything she has shared that she has gone through. What she went through from start to finish (in the book, not in her life) is more than anyone should ever endure. It’s truly amazing and inspiring how much she dug deep into her faith and held onto hope in order to overcome a big part of her life.

Beautiful Ashes is something I would recommend to a reader who is one that cares to hear someone’s truly authentic story. It took a ton of courage from Shelly to share a lot of the information stated on the pages of this book, and I am beyond honored to be one of the people to have read it and heard her story.

Thank you NetGalley, The Edgeworth Group, and Shelly for an ARC of this book!

First, I want to thank Shelly Edwards Jorgensen, Books Go Social and NetGalley for this book so I may provide you with this review.

WOW! Shelly Edwards Jorgensen needs to be commended for being brave and sharing her heartbreaking story in Beautiful Ashes A True Story of Murder, Betrayal, and One Woman's Search for Peace. Even though her story was hard to read at times it was beautifully written. This is definitely a book that should go onto your TBR list as it is a 5 star read.

Shelly dedicates this book to her amazing and loving mother, who sacrificed all she had to support her in her life goals. She inspired her to write this book to help others overcome the adversity in their lives.

My heart went out to Shelly for all the pain, heartbreak and tragic loss. Nobody should have to go through all that she endured. However, it made her a stronger person and the woman she is today.

Shelly’s book touches on some very important issues such as violence, rape, abuse, alcoholism, etc.

Many times in the book I became livid with some of the characters and their actions to the extreme where I was yelling at my Kindle.

I loved how Shelly incorporated pictures of herself and family members in Beautiful Ashes. It made the story even more personal and we could put names with faces.

Even in the darkness there was light. Many times I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. Her Mom said that everything was going to be ok and it was.

Shelly wrote this book because she is at a point in her life where she wants to help others. It has been a long road for her however she has learned and grown in ways unimaginable. Now her focus is on helping others gain the knowledge and understanding that she has and hopefully help people find their path to healing and happiness.

Shelly’s wish is that her message reaches the bruised and heavy hearts of fellow survivors.

I am still wiping the tears from my eyes as I write this review.

This is a true story of tragedy, heart break, and a family torn apart. Shelly Edwards Jorgensen's true testament of her childhood at the hands of an alcoholic father who murdered her mother.

Think back to when you were 15 years old. As a woman, I know at that time I needed my mother more than anything. I can not imagine having had her ripped away from me with zero explanation. A father is supposed to love and nurture you. Teach you how a man is supposed to treat a woman. A woman he vowed to love.

Not only did Shelly's father murder her mother but he also set fire to their home to cover up his crime. So within hours, Shelly lost her mother and the only home she ever knew.

This is a very difficult book to read however it is also a story of overcoming obstacles and coming out on top .

Loss, guilt, grief, and ultimately, forgiveness.

What Shelly went through, no human should ever have to withstand. This story is gripping and beautiful.

Not only was the book an emotional roller coaster but it was also extremely well written. Shelly Edwards Jorgensen knows how to conduct an audience and is a force to be reckoned with, on and off the paper.

I don’t come across nearly enough memoirs, this is a favorite genre that has brought some of my absolutely favorite books such as Angela’s Ashes and The Glass Castle. When I saw Beautiful Ashes by Shelly Edwards Jorgensen, I knew I wanted to read it. What a story! It’s amazing what the human spirit can triumph over.

I highly recommend this book, even if you are not usually drawn to memoirs.

When fifteen-year-old Shelly Edwards’s mother is murdered by her alcoholic father, she loses her home, her family, and the only life she’s ever known.

Abandoned, broken from abuse and assault, facing poverty, and gripped with fear for her life, Shelly struggles to dismantle decades of lies.

But into the deepening darkness that follows, God sends heavenly gifts, leading Shelly to a newfound faith. There she finds a peace she’s never thought possible.

When Shelly eventually meets the man she will marry, she thinks her life will finally be everything she’s ever dreamed of, but the lingering wounds of her past—and new, devastating medical complications—shake her faith. After all she’s endured, can she rise from the ashes and trust God once more?

Out on April 6.

This book moved me in ways I never expected. Shelly was very brave and exceedingly strong when she felt the weakest.

Through more horrific events than one person should ever have to deal with Shelly dug deep into herself to find the tiniest pebble of hope. Giving that small sediment to God allowed him to hand her back peace and love. Shelly is such an amazing inspiration both in her suffering and her ability to overcome. This book could help so many. Thank you for sharing a story with us that for so many years you felt you had to hide.

The story draws the reader in immediately. A fire resulting in the death of a loved one must be the worst thing imaginable, and it is. However, the book continues to capture the reader’s interest as other equally devastating events continue to plague this young girl, far into womanhood. Many biographies have a starting event and spend the entire book rehashing it from different perspectives. This book is different. It tells the life story of a person who just keeps getting knocked down, time and time again. To say the book is interesting because of misfortune seems like taking pleasure from one’s disasters. To the contrary, while the events are tragic and emotional, like seeing a bad accident, what Shelly learns from them and how she rises from them to become a person that I would like to be is the true gift. She says it best towards the end of her biography, "God allowed me to lose everything in fiery traps to He could restore my soul from the ashes."

An amazing story containing so many awful experiences that you will feel it must be fiction. What an honor to be able to hear it. A great book to read as an individual and an even more powerful story to discuss as a group.


I received an ARC from BooksGoSocial through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Shelly loses her home and her precious mom in a fire that destroyed her home when she was fifteen. Her violently abusive father tries to cover up her murder. Shelly recalls fights between her parents in vivid detail and snippets of conversations between her father and others and realizes something about her mom's death is very unnatural. Not only that but what she sees in her house after the fire haunts her. So do memories. Imagine knowing your father killed your mother. What she survives aside from these atrocities is also miraculous...the list of trauma and challenges is painfully long. Though the details and stories written in this book are excruciating to read at times, there are glimpses of hope and faith and moments of joy which can only be found in God.

Shelly's story is told in various times as a teenager and adult with many flashbacks to when she was a child. She describes her familial relationships with her parents, sister and extended family. She later becomes a manufacturing engineer. But I could almost feel the despairing helplessness in her words at times.

True Crime readers ought to read this harrowing book. Do know that there are numerous abuse triggers. What the writer went through is beyond description so it is not easy to read. Her faith in God does not make her perfect but enables her to let go.

My sincere thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the honour of reading this incredibly difficult and sobering true story, one which fills me anew with gratitude for what I have.

Reading this memoir made me realize how fortunate I have been. For Shelly Edwards the tragedies, the traumas, and the hurt kept on coming without a let up. From her experience of living with her sister, Lisa, in a household where her father was a raging alcoholic who eventually murdered his mother, to rape trauma, and a catastrophic illness, Shelly lived more than a lifetime.

Watching her mother being beaten, hearing the raging arguments, and trying to make it seem that all was well in her home, for a child who was only in her early teens seemed like a burden too heavy to bear.

Shelly found solace eventually in the Mormon faith who a friend had introduced her to. She had many experiences of seeing her dead mother encouraging her that all would be well. However, the years went by and relief seemed beyond her grasp. She and her sister were always frightened and numerous times had to pull their father off their mother. So afraid to leave her mother alone with her father, and the one time she does thinking her sister, Lisa, would be home soon, is the time her father killed her mother and burnt their home down. Carrying this guilt was a lifelong burden.

The girls were young teens. How could they recover and lead normal lives after living under the roof with a vile, hate filled father? Yet, somehow with God's help, Shelly did. She attended college, became an engineer, and was successful at her job.

She even met a man who valued her and life seemed to be moving forward. They married, he having four children from his first marriage, so Shelly now became a step mother in her late thirties. However, bad fate or karma or whatever you might want to call it was not finished with her yet. On her honeymoon, Shelly became ill with stomach pains and later she could not shake the intense pain and nausea that met her on a daily basis. She had a number of life and death surgeries but still the pain persisted going on for years at a time.

Finally, through another celestial visit from her mother, through the laying of hands, Shelly was made better. A miracle that was so justly deserved. She survived to see her three of her stepchildren marry and now has two beautiful granddaughters.

This story was amazing and made one realize that the human spirit with a firm belief system can conquer the very worst that life can be. Truly an amazing story and an inspiration, Shelly believes it is love of family and God that carried her through.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this most memorable story.

Beautiful Ashes
A True Story of Murder, Betrayal, and One Woman's Search for Peace
by Shelly Edwards Jorgensen
Pub Date 06 Apr 2022
BooksGoSocial
Biographies & Memoirs | True Crime




I am reviewing a copy of Beautiful Ashes through BooksGoSocial and Netgalley:



Shelly watched as they removed her Mothers body from the ashes of her home.


Her life was filled with Unbearable loss, dangerous secrets, and a life-threatening illness endangered her only hope for a future . But through it all, she found her faith.



Shelly Edwards was fifteen, when her Alcoholic Father murders her Mother she loses her home, her family, and the only life she's ever known.
Abandoned, broken from abuse and assault, facing poverty, and gripped with fear for her life, Shelly struggles to dismantle decades of lies.




But even into the deepening darkness that follows, God sends heavenly gifts, leading Shelly to a newfound faith. There she finds a peace she's never thought possible.



After Shelly eventually meets the man she will marry she thinks her life will finally be everything she's ever dreamed of, but the lingering wounds of her past and new, devastating medical complications shake her faith. After all she's endured, can she rise from the ashes and trust God once more?




I give Beautiful Ashes five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

When Shelly was fifteen, her alcoholic father murdered her mother which resulted in the loss of her childhood home, family, and life as she knew it. The book continues to follow Shelly’s life for years to come through the good and the bad.

This memoir was beautifully written given the, at times horrifying content; Shelly does not shy away from the gruesome events that have taken place throughout her life. She’s laid everything out on the table including her thoughts and feelings past and present. The biggest take away was how thought-provoking I found it. There are certain things in the book that hit close to home for me as I’ve been through them and struggled with the thoughts she had during those times, it made me take a step back and re-evaluate how those thoughts have impacted me. I personally wouldn’t classify this book as a true crime novel like I thought it was going in, I would say it’s more memoir than true crime. I’m not a religious person and at times I skimmed over the chapters that were focused on it. Overall, it’s a heart breaking and horrifying story, yet a beautiful story of self discovery and survival.



Thank you netgalley and Booksgosocial for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book has had a profound effect on me. Such bravery and so beautifully written. A definite inspirational read. Recommended.

Wow. Shelleys tragic yet inspiring & ever hopeful story of loss & abuse will reel you in,and not let go till the last page...not even then. It will stay with you. I could write pages of a review,such is the courage in this book.

The author does a phenomenal job of gripping the readers and keeping them hooked to it through their tears. This is an awe-inspiring story of Shelley, her loss, her abuses, her pains and her coming up and still being strong through it all.

There are stories that wreck you, tear your heart out, and yet, in the midst of all the tragedy, you still find a glimmer of hope. This is one of those stories. Shelly, precious precious Shelly, is someone who was dealt a horrible set of circumstances. Not once. Not twice. Quite honestly, I stopped counting in disbelief as I continued to read her horrendous life in excruciating detail, told in snippets of memories during certain important horrifying segments, as well as flashbacks to memories snatched out of the depths of startling realizations, as well as the glimmer of hope that not only kept growing, but kept Shelly going as well. Hurt people hurt people, unless, and until, you decide enough is enough and that circle is broken with you. Shelly, your story is so very tragic, and yet, thank you for having the courage to share it with the world. The fact you are still standing speaks volumes.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

“My trust, my innocence, my wholeness, my family, my home. It was all gone. Every shattering memory punctured me with feelings of worthlessness.”

Beautiful Ashes is a memoir that begins with Shelly losing her mother in a tragic house fire/possible murder by her father that then continues to follow her journey through life as she continues to fight each new battle that is thrown her way. The story will pull at your heart strings if you have ever lost a parent as she explains her grief and the moments of learning what it means her mother is dead. You will learn of the stories of growing up in a household with abuse from an alcoholic father and later be brought back to the early days of starting out and trying to get through college. Afterwards, you go through heartbreak of love lost and health woes. Throughout this story one word continued to come to mind, resilience. This girl had the world against her over and over again and she struggled but she always found a way to show grace, to show she is a fighter, to find her faith and lean on it with everything she had.
Beautiful ashes is not only a story of tragedy but a story of hope and finding the resilience to get your happy ending to the life you want.
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Did not like that this was pitched as a true crime read. Yes, it had true crime in it but felt it should be classified more as a religious memoir.

Fifteen is such a fragile age for any teenager. Shelly’s world is turned upside with one house fire and murder. As her little mind processing this information she must come to grips realizing her father is the culprit. Her journey is long and sad but with her faith she is stronger than she thinks.

This book is an amazing story of redemption. I could not put it down. Shelly’s storytelling is compelling, engaging, and awe-inspiring. A must read for anyone who has a pulse!