This is the first time I have read a book by Louise but I like the way she writes. She is honest but not brutal. She tells you what foster care is like honestly but not brutally. She adds a human touch to it which needs to be added because of course that is what it is all about! I worked as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for a bit and I can tell you there are good fosters and not so good fosters. This is a great book. Thanks Louise!

This was a very hard book to read. It’s a very harrowing view of the foster system. My heart breaks for kids in the system. I did feel like the book seemed very repetitive in parts but overall was a good read.

This story was heartbreaking. I find it very difficult to read about abuse of any kind but even more so when it is about child abuse. Seeing how Stella was abused and left alone as a small child and then progress of moving into a home with stability and seeing the difficulty she had.

As a woman that cannot have children, this book was extremely upsetting of a read. The author's honesty about the failings of our foster system and the injustice that Stella endured as she was shuffled between homes was eye-opening. I have always wanted to be a foster parent, but have been afraid of becoming too emotionally attached and not being able to hand the child back to a home that I know is not safe. Louise's experiences with foster care showed me how much children like Stella need foster parents that will love and support them. I cried several times while reading this, so I will warn you that this is an emotional read.

As an avid reader of Cathy Glass books and those of other similar foster carer authors I jumped at the chance to read Stella's Story. However, I found this one to be written in a slightly different way to the norm. The first section is told from the little girl, Stella's, point of view and is from when she was living at home with her Dad, and later with her Mum. It was quite interesting to read and did sort of provide the background of the case but as readers we are left wondering if any of it is accurate. Louise herself states repeatedly that she and it seems, Social Services, had little information on Stella's background so Louise knowing very specific details about the time before Stella was taken into care seems dubious.
That aside, this was a good book and I really enjoyed it. If you have read any of these types of books before then you'll know how they follow the story of the child and the foster parents, usually discovering more about the child's background and mistreatment as the book progresses. And as usual there are trigger warnings for significant child abuse. Having worked in a career role where I dealt with children and had contact with Social Services on a regular basis I could readily understand and empathise with Louise's frustrations at a system that is supposed to protect and help these children but faces so may restrictions and barriers that practically make it not fit for purpose.
What I particularly liked about Stella's Story was the section at the end where we return to Stella's point of view when she is an adult and we get to see how things have turned out for her. This is the bit that I often feel is missing in other foster carer stories.

Such a horrible story but brave to write.
I hope others you g through this will be brave when they read this
Great book but sad

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review. To be honest I was concerned about reading this book especially during a pandemic, I want to read happiness and didn't think this book would fulfill that. This book was inspiring, how some people are messed up and how others are incredible. Loved this authors writing style, very good book!

Review for 'Stella's story' by Louise Allen

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Mirror books.

This is the first book that I have read by this author. It is part of the 'Thrown away children' series. I am looking forward to reading more from this very talented and caring lady.

Part one is told from the perspectives of Shannon and Stella and gives in depth descriptions of Shannon's labour and Stella's early life. However, this dies make me wonder how the author got this information or is it purely speculative which made it harder to get into. I must say I did struggle with the style here but it wasn't long before it was written from Louise's perspective which is when it became a page turner for me.

Social services should definitely have been involved alot sooner especially considering Shannon was ignoring the health visitor when she came for appointments, that should have raised a red flag. To be honest, they failed Stella completely and I'm disgusted in the way Louise and Stella were treated by them throughout and it makes you wonder if they are the reason why there aren't more foster carers!!

I think this sentence is brilliant as I get it all the time with us being vegan and kids being picky eaters!
" one that really annoys me: ‘we all eat together and my children eat everything. The focus isn’t on the food, it’s a time to share news.’" I also love the honesty with offering kids money to go back to play a game and then feeling like a terrible mum for doing so, nothing wrong with that I've done it myself and it certainly doesn't make anyone a bad parent!!

This book is a very honest account which is refreshing as some foster carer biographies don't seem to open up and make the carer seem very regimented on the rules whereas Louise openly admits to bending when necessary and disagreeing with many of the rules in place , which I wholly agree with, even more so when social services don't seem to be of much (any) help.

Throughout the book it feels like Louise is talking direct to you and explains everything needed.

This is the first foster carer book I have read where the carer herself has been abused and I think it's amazing how she has made the most of her life after a tragic upbringing by helping children who had been in similar situations and being able to actually understand on their level how they are feeling and because of this Stella opened up to her in this book.

Overall this is a very tragic story of Stella written very well by an honest, upfront, caring and passionate foster carer. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of her books!!

Due to how the book started being written from Shannon and Stella's perspectives I would have thought I would have Rated this a max 4/5 but it definitely deserved a 5/5 and that didn't put me off wanting to read more at all.

Trigger subjects of child abuse and some strong language (rare).

304 pages

£5.49 to purchase on kindle. I think this is a good price for this book.

Rated 5/5 (I loved it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon.Com and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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A fabulous read, i love reading fostering memoirs the book kept me interested from beginning to end . It is well written and I would highly recommend, I can’t wait for her next book

Sad, sad story, not terribly well written but an effective story nonetheless. this poor child never really stood a chance with parents like that.

A heart-breaking story, part of the new seriers "Thrown Away Childen". The name of the series says it all - these children have been treated - first and foremost by their parents.
Stella is five when she is brought to her foster mother Louise Allen. The girl who is named after a beer has had a lot of back and forth in her first five years. From living with her mother, to being abandoned, to living with family members, then her father, and finally her mother again. But even though her short life has been difficult, she seems an easy child, quiet and polite.
Allen describes Stella's first days in her family and also the difficulty foster families have to access information about the child's history. It is a guessing game of what happened to Stella - and what the diffiulties may be. That is, until something triggers a disturbing behaviour in Stella. Allen has to do her own detective work to try and understand what the girl has gone through - and how to help her.
It is a well-written mix of a harrowing, non-fiction story, and an insight into foster care and the struggles of foster families.

Stella Story told by a foster carer, who has a young child move into her care, and how the child's past has to
be dealt with before she an move forward. In her 5 years years this child has been passed around like a parcel, abused both mentally and phyically. Before eventually being left alone, naked and hungry.. This book gives an insight into how children in the system, often have more problems than first show themselves. Well written book
harrowing in parts but very enlightening.to a world we often don't see or hear about.

I found this story of Stella very sad and disturbing. Louise tells the story well and does a great job of helping the children she takes care of. So many children like Stella are damaged beyond repair and grow up with many issues. through no fault of their own. It makes you want to pick them all up and protect them. We need more people like Louise to at least try and help them recover and have some kind of quality of life after abuse.

Stella’s Story is a true story told by a wonderful foster carer, Louise Allen. I have read approximately ten books of this genre and this is very different and one of the most interesting, heartbreaking, difficult to read in places (due to the horrendous abuse that Stella suffered) but also one of the most amazing (due to the compassion and amazing skill and warmth of Louise).
The book opens with the story of how Stella, then age five, ended up in Louise’s care. It details her birth and her early years. Although it may appear a fictional account as the birth parents would not have been involved, I have no doubt it would have been based on the social work files of Stella (all suitably anonymised of course).
Moving on to the time Stella spends with Louise, it makes for difficult and emotional reading at times but this should not be shied away from. I was so struck by the strength of Louise and her wonderful family and their ability to show so much care and compassion for their foster child and to fight for what is best for her.
It is a very good book and one which should be read for an insight into what happens to children in the most horrendous households, in the care system and in the best foster placements and beyond.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is narrated by Louise Allen. A foster carer who along with her husband loyd were allocated with the care of 5 year old Stella. It's. Well written true a count of Stella' life and the issues that arise when she went to stay with Louise and her family.
It is well written and is interspersed with facts from the Foster carers regulations and so, touches on louises feelings and her frustrations about the plans for Stella's future and the social care bureaucracy that unfortunately happens when sense is replaced by a need to save money.
A happy ending is good to read and I look forward to more of her accounts of her experiences.

Thanks to netgalley for the advance copy in return for an unbiased review
#StellasStory #NetGalley

Great book, an excellent example of this genre.

The book begins where 17 year old Shannon is giving birth alone. She'd left home, her family not knowing she had been pregnant. It didn't seem like Terry, the father, would bother to turn up for the birth of his child, either.

In Part 2, author Louise Allen tells her side of the story. She is a foster carer. But more than that, Louise is an ex looked-after-child herself; her adoptive mother had been abusive. So this certainly adds another dimension to her book, in fact, series of books-I was so glad to find out there will be more. And Louise Allen has also written about her own childhood experiences in her book 'Thrown Away Child'-I will definitely be reading this.

I really liked her book. I've read quite a few other fostering memoirs, but I do find, eg. Cathy Glass writes to a formula, and when you've read a few of hers, it can be repetitive to a certain extent. It's nice to get a different voice, different style, a new angle, and new circumstances; someone who has been there herself, and knows what her charges are going through.

A page turner, quick reading. Not repetitive at all. Loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Books about child abuse and foster care are always very sad. The horror these children experience is difficult to read about. The lack of funding for helping the children is frustrating.
This book, part of a new series, is as sad as the others I have read. It's fairly well written and I probably will read any future books in this series.

eARC received from NetGalley, thank you to NetGalley and Mirror Books.

3.7 out of 5.

Expected publication: July 2nd 2020.

This is the first book in the “Thrown Away Children” series.

I haven’t read a non-fiction book like this in age’s because they usually leave me in tears. When I say “like this” I mean an in depth look at the dark and messed up, true world we live in, most often taken out on the most vulnerable – children. As a mother myself, and a reader of dark fantasy and horror, nothing I read could ever come close to the true horror that so many children go through on a daily basis. That some people carry around with them every day.

Louise Allen is like the old favorites Cathy Glass and Torey Hayden. I do believe that for the first time though, I actually find Louise Allen very relatable. Louise also talks candidly about her own abusive path, her issues with the system and I feel that she sounds more real and overall more interesting.

The initial part of the book I was skeptical about, it puts you in the mind of everyone around Stella in the early years of her life, even Stella herself, and the detail does make you wonder just how untrue every sentence is. How do you know what her mother and father were thinking? The baby talk and reasoning of the adults in her life could not have been known by the author and I wonder why she decided to leave this in when it really could bash her credibility, and if it is true where did she get that detailed information from?

But, that aside, it was well written. The story of Stella is one that will stay with for a while.

I've read a few books in this genre before but this one is quite different, in that the story begins before the child meets the foster carer. Presumably this is a fictionalised account based on what the author later learns about the child's early life but it is extremely useful in terms of trying to understand some of the reasons behind a child's actions. We can read the science behind how a child's experiences affect attachment and child development but to read it in this way made the links between early experience and current behaviour much clearer. A harrowing but very interestingly written book.

Stella was born to a teenage mother & named for her parent's favourite lager! Her early years seemed to have consisted of being passed from one household to another. When she was nearly five she was taken into care & went to into the foster care of the Allen family. Louise herself had suffered abuse as a child & now with Lloyd, her husband & two boys now strive to provide a stable environment for the children they care for. Lily has been with them for a long time & like the rest of the family she soon falls under the spell of this quiet gentle soul with the huge eyes. However when everyone is lined up for a group photo & someone says, "Say 'Cheese'" the family realises that Stella has been through even more trauma than they had been led to believe.

This is a heartbreaking story. The battles Louise goes through with social services etc are a sad reminder of how overworked, understaffed & often disillusioned they are. The Allen family are ,I'm sure, just one such family trying to do their best for these forgotten children. It is a story I won't forget for a long time. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.