Daria Burke's memoir 'Of My Own Making' is a powerful story about healing from generational trauma and finding yourself along the way - the you that you truly are and not the you others want you to be. She opens up about her difficult childhood with poverty and a mother struggling with addiction. Despite these challenges, Burke writes with kindness toward herself and her past, showing how she grew stronger through those experiences. I was deeply impacted at the way Daria, despite being estranged from her mother, sought to understand the girl her mother was and couldn't be as a means to reauthor a truer origin story.

Daria blends personal stories with facts about how childhood trauma affects the brain and how healing can happen. If you liked Stephanie Foo's 'What My Bones Know', you'll connect with Burke's accessible insights on trauma and personal growth. There's a lot of great information in here on rewiring the brain after traumatic experiences as well.

Burke shares how she learned to support her younger self and let go of harmful relationships. She also talks about the pain of saying good-bye to a therapist before she felt ready, which reminded her of unresolved family struggles. Her reflections help readers think about their own emotional healing.

A touching part of the book is her tribute to her late grandmother, whose love stayed with her even after she passed. Burke shows how holding on to good memories is a crucial part of the healing process.

Overall, 'Of My Own Making' inspires readers to believe in healing, even when the past is painful. Burke proves that we can't change our past, but we can take control of our stories and move forward with self-love and honesty. Daria is the leader she is today as a result of her experiences and not in spite of them. I love the self-honor and self-celebration that underscores this work! So many people will be empowered by Daria's story!

This memoir blends personal experience with neuroscience expertise and is a devastatingly clear tale of experiencing adversity and finding the determination to create a brighter future.

Burke takes the reader on a journey from a difficult and painful childhood through becoming an adult creating her own path beyond the adversity and sharing her experience with scientific findings which have helped her to move forward.

This isn’t your typical memoir. In all the best ways.

For the first few chapters, I was a bit restless and wanted more. More story, more background, more information to help me understand how Daria Burke got to where she is today. I found myself skimming, wanting a more straight-forward account from point A to Z, her secrets to her success, her tragedy to triumph story.

But as her story unfolded, mainly in bursts of musings, a mix of psychology and science, sprinkled with memories from the past, I realized this was the perfect way to tell her story.

There’s no glorification of trauma, no blaming of her past or the things that have happened outside of her control. There is instead, a raw vulnerability and a deep sadness mixed with hope that comes across on every page.

Burke is more than a culmination of her successes and is worthy of knowing regardless of her success, regardless of her traumatic past. Had her memoir been a simple account of tragedies and obstacles overcome, it would have been at odds with this fact.

Highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgally for the advanced reader e-book.

pretty cool memoir that's well written and very interesting! 4 stars, tysm for the arc, would recommend most likely.