I was lucky to preview the amazing true crime book “Beautiful Ashes. The book is beautifully written and is a heart-breaking true crime story of Shelly’s life. It grabbed me straight away and it was such an emotional page turner that constantly made you think of the brave, heart wrenching and honest life of Shelly. A must read for people that enjoy this genre and that some people are truly amazing to overcome whatever comes their way. Shelly is truly an inspiration to everyone..

Shelly's story is full of hardships, trauma, assaults, loneliness, heartbreaks and betrayal. Fascinating… A haunting story that captures your attention and your heart from beginning to end

This is a powerful memoir about surviving abuse and constant obstacles from a very young age. Shelly's mother is killed by Shelly's father when Shelly is only fifteen years old and throughout the memoir we follow her as she attempts to reconcile the violence that she and her family underwent with the love that she has for her father. This is also coupled with numerous other challenges that Shelly has overcome in her life.

Shelly has undergone so much trauma that it is remarkable that she has come through it, though the emphasis on religion did not grip me, I understand how much it has meant to her and helped through her own struggles. I would also say that the constant jumps in time can be a little confusing from a reader's perspective but overall, the story is so powerful that it is difficult to gripe over smaller things.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really harrowing yet honest story of a tragic childhood. The author really did go through a tough time but I really admired her courage to despite a harrowing experience she still grew as a person despite the loss she suffered of both parents. The one she loved and the one she believed her dad to be.

A fabulous novel with a strong message from an equally strong lady.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me the Advanced Review Copy of this gut wrenching but inspiring memoir.
While reading this book,many times I was astonished by the courage of the author to have gone through such intense trauma throughout her childhood and still trying to move past it.I cannot imagine how she relieved everything to write this book.
This book reinstates the fact that however dark the night maybe ,there is always light at the end of the tunnel and that in the midst of complete darkness, a sliver of hope is enough for us to hold on to life for a little longer.
As this book begins during the era of the 70's,it is clear that in that era the society despised divorcees due to which women were compelled to withstand so many familial issues and not utter a word.
This book is a clear testament of the fact that with grit, determination and unfaltering faith in God,a person can actually rise from its own ashes having lost every possible thing.
It is very rightly said that relationships are not formed by blood but emotionally and by being with each other through thick and thin.
This book is definitely not for the faint hearted as the author life story is full of instances where her suffering starts to affect your mental health as it includes every possible triggers including suicide and drugs.
While reading this book ,I felt as if I know the author closely and wished God to have mercy on her.

This was a hard book to read, because of all the heartache and horrible events that happened in her life. You want a rally behind her and get her The justice she deserves. I felt like I went on the roller coaster of a journey with her. I gave it a four only because it jumped around so much, it made it hard to follow along sometimes.

I encourage everyone to read this amazing true story. It is Shelly Edwards Jorgensen's testament of overcoming life's toughest adversaries. Trust me, you don't want to miss it!

Shelly Edwards life was forever changed at 15-years-old when her alcoholic father (James Arnold Edwards) killed her mom (Marlene Edwards), then set fire to their home in an attempt to cover the crime. The immediate shock of a homicide is beyond difficult to cope with. However, victim's families are equally affected by years of ripple effects resulting from the misdeed. In this heart-wrenching account, Shelly shares her journey.

This book is a difficult topic, but so worthy of high praise. For Shelly, it represents a lifetime of loss, grief, guilt, love and forgiveness. Shelly has my utmost respect for having the courage to share her deepest pain with the public. Plus, she is a fantastic author and the book is really well-written.

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Standing Ovation Shelly Edwards Jorgensen!!

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial, for sharing this outstanding book with me for review. It really touched my heart! "Beautiful Ashes" will be published April 6,2022.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley electronically for review. It is an amazing story. How one woman can survive all she did is just that...amazing...when reading the book, sometimes I thought I was reading a novel as the writer is that gifted. However, one person could not certainly suffer so many wrong doings. She did. She wrote about them. Don’t miss this book. It is thought provoking and poignant while still horrendous also. I don’t necessary agree with the religious aspect of the book, but this is nonfiction, so it is not my place to agree or disagree. It happened. She told her grief journey.

A very heartbreaking autobiographical book. It was beautifully written and such a wonderful read. I could not put this one down.

This book is about abuse in the family and how it can make or break one growing up. The writer, as a young teen not only endured an abusive acholic father but came to the realization that he burned down their house and killed her mother. Faith in God brings her through these trials and helps her gain the family she always yearned for.

I loved this book. It is a story that is written with alot of heart and brings inspiration to a life that seems nothing is good anymore. This is my first book by this author which I really enjoyed and look forward to reading more from her in the future. I enjoyed this author's writing style as well as her attention to details throughout the story. Her characters are not only engaging but also bring twists and turns to a new level. This is a fast paced story that was hard to put down and kept me turning pages to the end. I found this book hard to put down and left me wanting to know more. Shelly is a great, strong character that pulled me in from the beginning. Her story is one that is not the prettiest but is certainly is inspirational.. She has not had the best of life but will she find the most important thing in life? I really enjoyed her character and what she brought to the story. She pulled at my heart strings in parts and is my favorite of the story. This is worth the pick up and I highly recommend it.

Beautiful Ashes by Shelly Edwards Jorgensen is an inspiring true story of how faith was able to bring one from constant heartache to happiness. Five stars.

I found this to be a powerful book as it highlighted the importance of resilience. It was hard to fathom that the author could have experienced so much tragedy and difficulty in her life and yet still remain positive. She has my admiration and I appreciate the opportunity to have an insight into her life.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'Beautiful Ashes'.

Major trigger alert for many readers. I could not finish this book. I do think those who do not mind reading certain subjects will like this.

"Beautiful Ashes" follows in the same vein as your Glass Castles and your Educateds -- it is a narrative memoir about how the trauma in one's childhood shapes our identity, and how one recovers from it.

Shelly's childhood was fraught with domestic abuse; despite living a comfortable life in terms of finances, Shelly's father was an alcoholic who abused her mom physically and verbally. When their house burns down one night and Shelly's mother's body is discovered, her father is immediately suspected. As the story unravels, Shelly must grapple with her guilt for not admitting to her father's abuse and threats towards her mother; her fear of being orphaned by her mother to her murder and her father to his potential imprisonment; and her terror of continuing to live with her abusive father. As the reader watches her grow through her young adult life into college and finally into a woman with an established career and future, it seems like something is always waiting around the corner for her -- sickness, death, sexual assault, financial stress, among too many other things.

I generally read nonfiction quite slowly in small doses; however, the focus on the larger themes and not simply the crime central to the story helped me remain engaged. I ended up reading this book in three sessions, including the last 40% in one sitting! The prose throughout is engaging, but in the early chapters there were moments I felt the intentionality of capturing the reader's attention and interest with descriptive details. I was almost ready to have to give up on it after reading the first chapter, but I'm glad I kept going. The prose evened out as the book continued, with a healthy mix of reflective, figurative sections combined with the cold hard facts.

One of the main beats in this book is Shelly's religion. As an obedient Catholic in her teen years, attending church mainly because of her mother, Shelly turns to Mormonism after discussing the concept of prayer with her friend, Sabrina. I really enjoyed this section, and most of Shelly's early descriptions of finding her identity through her religion. I enjoyed seeing how religion helped her cope and overcome some of her trauma. But towards the end the religious messages were too overt for me that it felt almost preachy (which feels trite saying, but that's how I felt as a non-religious reader). There are similar books that tackle the religious piece much more effectively without making me feel like I'm trying to be persuaded into feeling the same way about God or religion. While I don't believe that was the intention of the author, it felt like a byproduct of the amount of air time that gets towards the last half of the book.

If you enjoy true crime, but also need some character development, this is the book for you. The amount of trauma Shelly faces is heavy to read at times, so make sure you're prepared for that kind of content. But I highly recommend reading this one!

“Everyone ignored the finger marks on Mom’s throat and smiled as we ate.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shelly brings her past to life in this book. It’s true-crime meets memoir. The very first chapter is about her mothers death in a house fire, and is so well written to capture all her emotions and thoughts in the moment. The book goes on to detail the history between her family over the years, and how from the age of just three or four she knew her father was abusive. He gets charged with arson and murder, and it goes to trial. During and after the trial, so many events occur within Shelly’s life, but especially her link to religion.

I feel like this book isn’t what I was sold. It is true-crime, but only until approximately the half way mark. Afterwards Shelly goes on to detail her life years past the fire and the abuse, but I had such a massive connection to this book. Especially towards the end when Shelly fell really ill. I’ve been there, obviously not the same situation, but similar enough that I connected to the writing on a truly, personal level.

All I can say is…. Shelly I am so, so sorry that you had to experience all of that in your life. There were so many moments when I genuinely thought that surely everything you’ve experienced couldn’t get worse. But, d*mn was I wrong. Nobody deserves to experience all of that, you really deserve happiness now.

I recommend this to everyone, and I will be getting my hands on a few copies after release!

Thank you to BooksGoSocial, Shelly Edwards Jorgensen and @netgalley for providing me with a copy!

Pub date: 6th April 2022

The last few years I’ve really gotten into memoirs and it’s really special when you find one that hits you right in your feelings. There is a lot of trauma here and I know that will be off putting to people who only want happy things to read but if you want deep and gritty true tribulations, this is it! I think people will talk about this story. It really touches you, Shelley’s story will make you feel something.

This book was very compelling and emotional. It was so sad reading about all of the trauma that Shelley went through. It is inspiring to read how she overcame so many trials in her life and overcame them through her faith.
Thank you to Netgalley & BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review.

Gosh. My thoughts on this memoir, where to start. It was devastating, eloquent, and desperately sad. What an exceptional story and an incomprehensible thing to endure. I knew from the first page that I would be unable to put this book down and I stayed up late into the night reading, as the author navigated the turmoil and dysfunction leading up to an unspeakable event, and the heartache and chaos that was left behind as she tried to pick up the pieces.

It was haunting, thought-provoking, yet often heartwarming as it chronicled the author’s spiritual journey, wrestling with a belief in God in the face of trauma and violence. I felt I gained so much from this book. Beautiful ashes, as it was so aptly titled, couldn’t have captured the essence any better. 5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this incredible book.

A very emotive and excellently written autobiographical story.
Wow, what an incredible woman this author is!
Not only has her life been tragic in many ways, but she writes so inspirationally about how she has learnt to overcome those tragedies.
A wonderful read.