☆ALC REVIEW☆
Publication date: November 19, 2024


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This memoir and story from Robbie Parker was incredibly moving and powerful! It was absolutely heartbreaking and definitely made me cry especially when I heard Robbie choke up narrating it. The love this man has for his late daughter, Emilie is amazing and allows him to fight and advocate for others!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Robbie Parker, and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is such an interesting story told by Robert Parker, the father of one of the Sandy Hook victims. I listened to the audio version of this book and the author reads the book himself. It amazed me that he could do this. This is not a feel-good story but an important read to try to understand why things like this happen.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.

This is a book that the reader has to go into with eyes wide open. I should preface this that I support gun control, I taught Pre-K the year that the Sandy Hook shooting occurred, and I have so much anger and sorrow about this shooting. I wanted to hear the victim's families tell their story, but I now have a 7 year old of my own, so this was particularly difficult to listen to. I honestly felt like I couldn't go on after listening to the first 20-30 minutes. I became very emotional, and felt very sad and sick after turning off the audiobook.

But, like the grieving memorial that Robbie Parker and his wife Alissa walked through at the new Sandy Hook Elementary school, I felt myself moving from sorrow, to lightness, winding through a path with my emotions. I think it takes an incredibly strong person to write about his daughter's murder and act as a guide through grief himself. After the initial sadness, there is anger over Alex Jones, then nostalgia over happy memories, and a journey through Robbie and his family's grieving process.

I don't think I am the intended audience for such a book. Yes, I am a mother, and the Sandy Hook shooting affected me deeply as a US citizen, voter, and teacher. But I have not walked this path myself. I do think that a parent who has lost their child will find this to be cathartic and reflective of some of their own grieving process.

While I don't think this book was written for me, a stranger who was deeply saddened and scared after the events of December 14th, I'm so glad I read it. It helps me learn what a grieving parent has gone through. It showed me how dangerous conspiracy theorists are and how victims can be revictimized. It also gave me a release valve as I struggled through the newest iterations of Alex Jones working their way into our government. I read this the week of the 2024 presidential election. The sorrow that Robbie and Alissa have had to bear helped me put my own frustrations and sadness in perspective. I have my children, safe, healthy, and whole. I am so very lucky. This book reminded me that my suffering is insignificant compared to the losses that others have experienced.

A Father's Fight is written and narrated by one of the fathers whose daughter was murdered in the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012. He sets the book with enough background of the shooting from over a decade ago to understand the setting for the "infowars" with Alex Jones and the devastation this brought to these families. This was a 5 star book for me; that it was read by the author only added to the depth. I listened to it in one day. I can't imagine wrestling with the devasting loss this family was navigating only to have the added layer of what Alex Jones put them through. *I received a complimentary copy from the author/publishing company in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

Wow, this ended up being a one sitting read because it was so compelling that I couldn’t move on with my day until I finished it. Robbie’s willingness to tell this story with transparency and vulnerability is what makes this book so successful. His family was not allowed to grieve the most unimaginable loss of their daughter in the Sandy Hook school shooting because they were faced with such hate from A.J. and countless other conspiracy theorists. It’s a testament to Robbie’s character that he is still willing to open up to the world with this book. It’s a beautiful tribute to Emilie Parker, the Sandy Hook families, and trauma survivors everywhere.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.