Even though this book is heavy and difficult to read it is one of the best I have ever read. The author has done a fabulous job taking on the subject matter in this story. Stephanie is the main character and she is only five years old at the beginning and is being brought up in a deeply religious environment. Her mother is mentally ill and dealing with issues of her own and Stephanie really has no where to turn for the guidance she so sorely needs. The hipocrasy of the characters in the church and her family are so very confusing and especially for a young, naive girl.. This is a very emotional read but I highly recommend it. I almost never read a book a second time but I will definitely read this one again.

Thanks for the ARC Met Galley.

Fast paced book and I really enjoyed it. Good story line and I think people are gonna love it. I would definitely read again and recommend

From the Moon I Watched Her is a compelling and incredibly poignant exposé on the dangers of oppressive religion and family secrets. Emily English Medley tells the story of Stephanie Walters who grows up in a Church of Christ in small-town Texas. Haunted by the sins of her parents and sister, Katherine, Stephanie must decide what and who exactly she believes as she sifts through her unraveling world. Medley's writing expertly gives the reader a look into Stephanie's mind from a very young child through her late teen years. Throughout this book I felt as if Stephanie was a friend of mine that I desperately wanted to help and I was sad to end my time with her. TW: sexual abuse, child abuse, abortion

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

‘From the moon I watched her’ is the most disturbing story I have read in recent years.

Its Stephanie’s tale narrated from her childhood till she is 17. Her family is deeply religious, her mother suffers from mental illness. She endures neglect, abuse, shame – a lot of negative sentiments.

Her journey through a lot of dark emotions is extremely hard to consume. I have skipped those pages with narrations of child abuse, psychotic incidents.

Definitely, it’s a very heavy book and may not be suitable for the present troubled times.

Stephanie is born into a conservative Christian household; her grandfather Daddy Black is the church's preacher. Her parents don't get along well, and Stephanie finds herself in many troublesome situations during this coming of age story. This is a very heavy book covering topics like rape, incest, mental illness, and bigotry, which we see through Stephanie's eyes. There were times when I could not turn away from the story and the writing but just as many times where it was almost too much to handle. This book reminded me of Betty, another very dark coming of age story. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Greenleaf Book Group Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Told from the perspective of a young girl, this novel takes on mental illness, rape, homelessness, and religious abuse. Medley deftly channels a child’s desire for attention, confusion about conflicting views, and willingness to submit to parental demands, creating a narrator for whom the world is a terrifying kaleidoscope, never stable and rarely predictable. The trauma the novel presents and the inability or unwillingness of its adult characters to address it ring true, particularly given the setting of suburbia in the late 1970s. Ready for book clubs and discussion groups, this should be a very successful book.

Thank you Netgalley and Greenleaf Book Group for the eARC!

Reminds me of Room as it’s narrated and written in a child like way for the first few chapters when Stephanie is 5 years old

Really dark and heavy story about coming of age and how abuse affects children, and watching Stephanie process her trauma as she gets older.

Really difficult to read due to the content but I did like the writing style and how it became more complex as Stephanie grew up

Takes an interesting look at grow up in a home with toxic parents, one of whom struggles with mental illness, and extreme religious teachings

Difficult to put into words how I feel about the book as it is so dark and emotional. It was an interesting story though and I enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy such a heavy topic.
4.5 ⭐️

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review itself does not contain spoilers or content warnings. For those who consider CW/TW to be spoilers they are listed for the book at the end of the review (so stop reading here if you don’t want to see them!)

I’m still trying to come to terms with how I feel about this book. It’s DARK. It’s HEAVY. It’s definitely a book that requires a specific headspace to read because of the content matter.

I liked how the narration becomes more complex as the main character, Stephanie, grows older. I also liked a lot of the descriptions of her headspace particularly about the more traumatic and emotional events.

I’m finding it hard to articulate what didn’t sit right with me...It’s hard to parse whether I’m uneasy about the book because of the content or because of issues I have with the writing style and literary choices. At this moment I’m sitting at about a 3.65 but rounding up to four.

MAJOR CW/TW: abortion, incest, molestation, rape, sexual assault, sexual assault of a minor, pedophilia, suicide, drug use, psychosis, psychotic episodes, arson, religious themes, religious upbringing, evangelism

A very compelling coming of age story that explores religion, family relationships, and what it means to truly love. The emotion of this story sweeps you up.

Stephanie Walters is six-years-old when she first hears her grandfather debate on the topic of abortion. Standing in the pews, enamored with her family’s patriarch, Stephanie would never fathom the abuse his ideals could wield and the destruction it could have on her family.

We watch Stephanie come of age amidst this destruction. Our heart breaks for her as she wrestles the claustrophobia of oppressive ideals & and the emotional abuse of a mother with her own repressed traumas. As she grows, she contends with her own mixed feelings about religion and science, love and hate, lies and truth. She is ultimately forced to reckon with a life of psychological manipulation in order to make peace with herself and her family.

The powerful thing about this novel is how easily it could’ve fallen to cliches, and how precise Medley was in her ability to prevent that. When I walked into the novel, I was expecting an overtly political storyline about a 1970s Southern Christian church and its campaign against abortion. What I received was a thoughtful, if not challenging, story about family dynamics- particularly, the mother/daughter relationship- and the devastating effects of cyclical family trauma. There are some big moments that I felt were rushed into for dramatic effect and then glossed over, but the crux of this story lies in the relationship between Stephanie and her mother, which I though was beautifully developed. I did struggle with the depictions of emotional and sexual abuse, though I felt Medley was careful in her treatment of these sensitive topics. Still, this was my own reading experience, and I would strongly encourage others to consider their ability to handle scenes depicting rape and an aggressive, forced abortion, respectively, before picking this one up.

Overall, I really liked this book. It’s structured into three parts, each with a handful of chapters, and this format made it easy to read quickly despite the whopping 647 pages. I’d like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced ebook edition!

This book contains very testy subjects, which I knew going in.
It mentions in the description that it will discuss abortion, but mental health, and physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse are also discussed.
It was interesting to get a child’s perspective on a subject as divisive as abortion. Especially since when we begin, that child is only 5 years old.
We also get her perspectives on other subjects, such as abuse of all kinds and mental illness.
This was a hard one to read because a 5/8/10 year old doesn’t necessarily know what these look like or what it is and so their perspective is innocent. It also make everything all the more vulnerable, because a child doesn’t always know that all these things they are discussing are so awful.
This also shined a light on a type of abuse that isn’t portrayed as often as sexual, emotional, or physical (though it shows those too and those are as equally valid). It shows the damage that can be done with spiritual abuse. You can see the effects of spiritual abuse in the beginning when Stephanie is only 5 and is talking about all the different things you can do it be sent to hell.
She grows up throughout the book and her perspectives changes, but it never got any less difficult to read.
This shows how hypocritical some religions can be, and it’s infuriating.
I found that even with all the rough content, I enjoyed this book.
I thought it was very well written, and though is touched on tricky subjects, I thought it was done with grace.

This book was a little hard to read in parts because of some of things that happened to the main character from a young age. Her family is the member of a cult church chock full of hypocrisy and her mother is dealing with her own past and struggling with a mental illness. Her family is torn in half and she is truly her mother's daughter in many ways. Stephanie turns to unhealthy outlets and seeks approval in a world where she is just left to fend for herself. I found the writing style to be somewhat lyrical and thought the main character was written intensely with a great deal of pain resonating. This is the first I have read from this author and thought it was well written although content was often difficult. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

From the Moon I Watched Her by Emily English Medley is a novel from the perspective of a young girl and the events that happen while she matures into an adult. A concerning and deeply troubling account for actions made against her and those she loves. The emptiness and emotional trauma that resulted and the haunting memories that will be forever with her. A must read for those who love anything psychological or involving mental illness.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

"The Walters are a good, churchgoing family who stand for holiness, purity, grace, and Christian love. Except when they don't."

Wow. An extreme example of 'do what I say, not as I do'. This is one of those stories that can be hard to read because of the abusive nature of some people. But setting that aside, this is a well written and interesting read. Having grown up in an extremely legalistic church (cult), pieces of this story resonated very deeply with me and I know won't forget this book. Put this one on your 2021 TBR list.

4.25☆

I requested this book because of the description. I grew up in a similar very religious household where everything was ran by what the church did and said- no questions asked so I am always intrigued when books are written about childhoods like that.

The story is centered around Stephanie who is bound by the church and the the mental illness of her mother. Her entire environment is troubling and difficult. Much more difficult than I had to endure and Stephanie is naïve- she doesn't know what's happening and the reader wants to reach out and shake her.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think those that had similar environments will relate and like it. Those that didn't may find it difficult to read at times but its worth the read. The author does a great job creating the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

From the Moon I Watched Her is a deeply unsettling, troubled story that's told well. Stephanie, bound by the culture of ultra-religiousness and warped by the mental illness of her mother, undergoes abuse, neglect, shame, and guilt, without understanding fully how troubling her environment is. It's a hard novel to read because of the abuses that happen to Stephanie and how they are described from her innocent point of view. She doesn't know enough to know what's happening is wrong, but the reader knows. That effect seems to be a major lens on the entire novel. Some people may want to skip this book or those few pages that tell about the events because these events are horrible. I was able to skim/skip over those pages and still understand the story. I would have liked to see more justice come for her by the end of the story. It's like she's okay with sweeping the worst thing under the rug and not seeking accountability from the perpetrator, even though it allows the continuation of the blind system that wronged her.
I grew up in similar Evangelical church environments, and so much of that part of the story resonated with me. A childish love growing to adulthood mistrust. The blindness to wrongs committed by church members. Much of the Church of Christ culture is represented honestly. Everything in the story is shaped by the culture produced by hard-core evangelism, good or bad.
Most of the characters seemed to remain mysteries once the story was done, but Stephanie and her mother were the only ones I wanted to understand. I wanted Stephanie to have her happy ending. Reading about her as she grows up, seeing her vulnerable POV, it made me feel protective of her.
Overall, FtMIWH is a well-written, troubling story that hit home and made me care about the main character.