Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Team for this Advanced Digital Readers Copy, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Raw and unflinchingly honest memoir of a childhood that most of us can not imagine. Reminded me of Educated by Tara Westover. I think this is a great read for anyone who likes memoirs.

I don't love to rate memoirs (it's someone's story), but it was moving. I'm just not sure I love how it was written.

J. Dana Trent grew up small town Dana, Indiana. Her parents met while working at a mental hospital and lived for decades with untreated mental health issues. As a result, Lady laid on her bed every day. King taught toddler Dana how to cut, package and deliver drugs. Dana grew up as a parental child with feelings of abandonment and loneliness. She struggled through enmeshment with her parents and as a pawn between them. Eventually, she turned to substances and men while attending Duke Divinity School. However, she is now a reverend, devoted wife, and a writer who has found her way home.
The premise of the story interested me. Initially, I was curious about how someone raised in such abuse could navigate her way to health. And the story does not disappoint. Multiple times while reading, I thought, "Holy cow! This girl has lived through some things!" Unfortunately, the writing style is a bit stiff and clinical, which made the story seem boring.
I like the message at the end. No matter what has happened to us in the past, where we lived, or what we've gone through, we can choose to hide or expose it. Exposing truth almost always leads to new revelations and personal growth. As the author says, “Home, it turns out, is where the war is. It’s also where the healing begins.”

Between Two Trailers is a memoir by J. Dana Trent. Dana grew up with two mentally ill parents, King and Lady. King was a drug dealer and taught Dana about his ways when she was very young. Lady ruled the trailer from her king sized bed. Eventually Lady moved out of state with Dana to get away from King's drug dealing ways.

This was a very fascinating read. I am always intrigued by others life stories. Easy 4 stars for me.

This book was a joy to read. I enjoyed the way the story flowed and I had a few moments that kind of made me question a few things. However, this is a book I would recommend.

Between Two Trailers was such a great read! I listened along and the narration was great. I loved the wild stories of the author's parents that were VERY unconventional. I appreciated her reflections on poverty, the midwest, and fitting in.

"Between Two Trailers" is an incredibly moving and poignant exploration of a young girl's journey from a fractured childhood to self-discovery and healing. This novel offers a raw and unflinching look at Dana Trent's tumultuous upbringing in a world defined by poverty, mental illness, and substance abuse.

From the start, Dana's story grips you with its intense and unvarnished portrayal of life with her schizophrenic father and emotionally detached mother. The author’s evocative prose paints a vivid picture of the chaos and instability that Dana endures, creating a deeply empathetic connection between the reader and the protagonist.

Dana’s struggle to balance her gritty Midwestern roots with her desire for a fresh start in the South is portrayed with incredible depth. Her transformation from a child forced into adult responsibilities to a young woman seeking her place in the world is both heartbreaking and inspiring. The contrast between her harsh past and her earnest attempt to fit into a new life in North Carolina is handled with sensitivity and nuance.

As Dana evolves from a troubled child to a resilient adult graduating from Duke University, the novel’s exploration of her internal and external battles is both thought-provoking and moving. The narrative doesn’t shy away from the complex realities of her past but instead highlights how confronting and accepting one’s history can lead to true personal growth.

The message of the novel is clear: there is no shame in survival, and everyone has the potential to find their way home, no matter how challenging the journey. The author beautifully conveys this message through Dana’s gradual realization that making peace with her past is essential to finding her own path forward.

Thank you NetGalley for this advance copy of Between Two Trailers by J. Dana Trent. I was expecting great things from this darkly frustrating memoir about childhood trauma a la Educated and The Glass Castle. While her childhood was fascinating in the most frustrating way, that is not enough to carry a memoir. She jumped ahead to the days where she was in college, then beyond that when she had her own addiction issues, but only just skimmed the surface on her own story. While her parents, especially her dad, are who shaped her story, they are not her whole story. I would've liked more of adult Dana in this memoir.

An honest, heartfelt yelling. I appreciated the way Trent describes the tension between loving family and place, while realizing the toxicity that can exist. What a story of surviving to thriving.

Dana's story is fascinating, and she writes in the engaging way of a well-crafted and experienced writer. She has sympathy and love for her family members while at the same time specifically naming and calling out their mental health conditions and how their behaviors created trauma throughout her life. Being familiar with her previous books, she is a true testament to the power of healing. I do wish she spoke more in this book about how she is healing. It seemed a little rushed at the end as she grew into adulthood and the shocking parts of her story had passed. Though she did address some of how she processed these events, I'm hoping her next book will be a deeper exploration of how her past has affected her adulthood. She has such a gift for writing and teaching, and I would like to see more of those skills applied to her own story in ways that would benefit her readers.

A very poignant and moving memoir. I enjoyed the author’s style in telling her story. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in return for this review.

What a very interesting book.. When she was growing up her family was very Disconnection. Both her parents And?
Mental problems. Her father was a drug runner in a small town i In the midwest. Mother have problems as well.She never got out of the be Father never look like authority. She was Around drugs she was very little. Her father taught her how to do to Drug runs. And package drugs. She had no Supervision. The mother decides to go back to north carolina She takes the child with her.. She had a child Named.
Lee. This is From her first marriage. She kept Spending money which you do not have. She had a job But it did not last. She went back to her hometown because she had no choice. Start to go back to church and this turned the little girl's life around. She managed to go on through life p Even for her parents were not real parents. The managed to get through college even follows problems there. She had a will to survive everything and this made her positive outlook and life. She knew her life was messed up but she knew she had to go on with it..

Truly just unbelievable that author Dana Trent was able to grow up with a drug dealing father and two parents with some mental health issues in a world of poverty and one day graduate from Duke University with a divinity degree, but somehow she did. She shares her story growing up with her parents in Indiana and later with only her mother in North Carolina. She certainly has her own story of some difficult days for herself. A compelling story to read.

My thanks to Net Galley and Convergent Books for an advanced copy of this e-book.

This is interesting and well written. It moves at a good pace and it was easy to follow. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to J. Dana Trent, Convergent Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Between Two Trailers by J. Dana Trent was the book equivalent of your friend saying "have I got a story to tell you?!?" and then sharing a humdinger for the sake of info exchange.

The author, who goes by "Dana" in the book, has very clearly led a heavily traumatic, exciting, undeniably unique, and often heartbreaking life. Between Two Trailers takes us along on her journey, starting in childhood, ending in her 40's (in what sounds to be almost modern day). This book is written in clear and concise prose, paced absolutely perfectly, and was very captivating to me because her life sounds to have been very different from my own.

Yet, I cannot say that this book was written for a purpose outside of telling her tale. Unlike many non-fiction stories, there isn't much by way of delving into what this journey has taught her about life. This book is tale heavy and reflection light. Which is completely okay, but for me resulted in a feeling of almost repetitiveness because while the happenings changed, the overarching theme stayed the same. To be fair, the reader can glean some lessons-learned including recognizing the difficulty of living with both overt and more cover mental illnesses and mental health issues, the importance of family and other support systems, the idea of parents generally doing the best they can with what tools they have been given. We can also see the broad impacts of trauma and the inherent survival instinct in children just from the very narrative of Trent's tale. Still, when all was said and done, I did find myself lightly wondering why this author was inspired to write this book ( aside from the personal healing that comes with identifying and sharing trauma).

All in all, this book was a fascinating look at a unique and chaotic life. If hearing a wild story is of interest to you, this might be a good fit. (If your life was traumatic, unique, and / or chaotic, I would recommend passing because there isn't much to receive here aside from hearing another's tale of misfortune and survival.)

Between Two Trailers is a moving and difficult tale of two people who wrestle with life and their own personal demons. It also portrays the resilience of a child and the ability of a village of people who aren't perfect, but provide care when needed and love that is enough.

Although heavy in detail, it tells an uplifting story of perseverance through hardship and the power of forgiveness. Dana's innocence and childish trust help her navigate life with her psychotic drug running father and her selfish, personality disordered, TV ministry watching mother. Neither provides the safety and security that a little girl needs. Thankfully there are plenty of well meaning and caring family members who help keep this young girl afloat in the challenges of growing up without the luxury of being able to be a child. In the end, Dana finds home and acceptance of herself and the love she feels for her parents.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I hate to dislike memoirs because they are so personal, but this book felt like trauma was just being shoved at us. As if everything was just told for shock value. Dana had a terrible upbringing and didn't seem to have any opportunities to be a kid.

For anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional home, Between Two Trailers will hook memories of long-forgotten coping strategies and crazy stories. For those who did not, Trent’s story of her parents’ drug trafficking, psychosis, and extreme selfishness will seem unbelievable. Raising two parents is a huge responsibility for a child!

Her growing-up years, split between her dad’s dilapidated trailer in the Midwest and her mum’s unstable Southern veneer, were characterized by persistent hunger, chronic uncertainty, and God as a franchise of the Christian Broadcasting Network. As a substitute teacher in the public school, I love reading accounts of resiliency in children. Understanding their educational challenges is impossible unless we know what they’re dealing with at home.

J. Dana Trent’s educational journey took her, ultimately, to seminary where lessons in biblical languages took a back seat to the more arduous lessons of forgiveness, mercy, and grace for her tangled roots. None of us is born into a perfect home. Some of us carry our childhood homes as a lifelong burden. Only when we turn around in our path and face the home that formed us do we find the freedom to create a new home and love it, wherever it may be found.

Many thanks to Convergent Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.

I was looking forward to reading this book and was disappointed to discover that it did not appeal to me at all. It ended up being more of a stream of consciousness narrative that flowed through the pages. What a horrible childhood the author endured. And while I can handle reading about those types of experiences, the way this was presented did not keep my attention. I have to make myself pick up the book and read one more chapter ... one more page. However, there appear to be many people who appreciated the book, so I would encourage you to decide on your own if you would enjoy this memoir.

Thank you to NetGalley and Convergent Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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