Despite My Odds by Denise Monique

From the fearless fingertips of Denise Monique comes Despite My Odds, a powerful and painful memoir of an unconventional childhood, a traumatic youth, and a perseverant adulthood that is both compelling and heartbreaking.

Layla is an enigmatic focal point, one whom it seems the entire world is stacked against, but as her memories unfold, patterns emerge, systemic failures appear, and the long-term emotional weight of trauma becomes clear. From sexual assault and early encounters with police officers to dangerous relationships and chronically low self-esteem, this is not an easy book to swallow; it will choke you up and force you to take a breath and process. The ascendant arc of Layla’s life, fortunately, holds a plethora of hope, and the author writes of her own dynamic life with maturity, sensitivity, and grace.

Millions of people experience trauma and hardship when they’re young, but a small percentage of those people can recount their experience with such emotion and power. Monique benefits from a simplicity of storytelling that makes the content even more impactful – from police brutality and early revelations of evil to personal moments of trauma, shame, recovery, and grief.

There are some moments that feel less polished, or the recollections become tangential, but that is excused to some degree in the realm of memoir. As a whole, Despite My Odds is a revelatory and bold disclosure of one writer’s most vulnerable truths.