For some people, reading this book about having narcissistic parents will be immensely helpful. However, I had one main issue with it, which prevented me from finding a lot of value in the content.

There are many instances when it's absolutely essential to go no contact with a narcissist. As painful as it is, it can be necessary when it comes to protecting your own sanity. Narcissists are extremely unlikely to ever change and communicating with them can be not only painful, but ultimately unproductive. This book never addressed that this is sometimes the healthiest avenue to pursue when dealing with a narcissist (even if they're your parent). While I understand cutting off contact is not always possible, I felt like Brown did a disservice to readers to not even explore this as a possibility for healing.

There was also a ton of explaining what is going to be covered in each chapter and then recapping the info at the end of each section. This made the book feel really repetitive to me. While there was some helpful info about how children of narcissists can learn to handle growing up in this type of environment and how to heal from that as an adult, this book wasn't something that totally changed my perspective on the topic or will help me grow in any way.

I have a narcissistic mother, and this popped into my Netgalley shelf as I began to set boundaries with her and explore how growing up with a NM has shaped me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this as such an appropriate and productive time.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a fantastic book to help you understand what narcissistic parents look like and how much their behaviour and ways can affect a child's life in childhood right through to adulthood. The book gives loads of information and insights and also helps coach you through ways to cope and get over this if you have been one of these children. This is a fantastic book and I urge anyone who's been affected or thinks they've been affected to read this.

Great book! It's a sad life these children born to these people are living. The writer does an amazing job of explaining what the children have to suffer through. I am so happy that this book was re-released at a time when it is needed most.

Thank you so much, Nina W. Brown the Publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this wonderful book!

This book is a must-read for those who believe they grew up with narcissistic parents. It provides tips for dealing with these issues as an adult that don't consist of "never talk to them again." I plan on purchasing this book after publication.

This was an excellent and informative book and I'm sure it will be an important resource to many with narcissistic parents. The sections that discuss typical narcissistic parent behaviour were very eye-opening and validating, while the ones that focus on ways that the reader can respond to situations and work on their own potentially absorbed behaviours were very insightful. The exercises were interesting and helped me to slow my reading pace and better interact with and absorb the contents of the book. The overall tone of the book is constructive, supportive and empathetic towards the reader.

I would have given this five stars, however there are two areas that the book does not discuss that feel like large oversights: the first is that disabled adults in the situations presented by the book are dismissively mentioned once and then never again. As a disabled adult I was still able to get a lot out of the book, but the way that disabled children of narcissistic parents were mentioned briefly in such a way and then never again was very disappointing. The second oversight is that while the book gives a lot of useful advice for staying in contact with the narcissistic parent/parents, it feels lacking that there is no such advice for people who want to break contact.

This is the newest edition (third) of the classic self-help book for children who grew up in invalidating environments. As I haven't read the prior editions, I'm unsure of which areas were expanded upon in this edition.