Custom Justice by Amanda Blackwood
ABOUT THE BOOK
It’s hard enough to escape human trafficking, but how does someone survive the aftermath of continually being hunted for years to come? I was young when the abuse started. It came from every angle. Struggling for many years, I wasn’t sure I’d ever have a chance at a normal life with real love and true happiness. At the age of 31 I figured I was too old for that sort of thing. I’d been abused in the past, but this time I was finally going to have a happy ending. I was moving to a foreign country to get married to a police officer I’d known for seven years. I would finally be happy. I had no idea that my entire life would change once more, and I’d be forced to either subject myself to abuse beyond anything I could ever imagine, or end my life unceremoniously, death by train. The man I thought I loved exploited me beyond comprehension. The damage he left behind will haunt me for the rest of my life. There is no way to seek court justice across international borders against a police officer in a corrupt system. Instead, I seek my custom justice simply by sharing the truth with the world. It’s been 10 years since I escaped, beating all odds. Most don’t survive. I know that now, I didn’t know that then.
MY REVIEW
Amanda Blackwood is an incredible survivor who was human trafficked three times in her life and in this shocking, moving, and crucial memoir she details her experiences of sexual, physical, and mental abuse at the hands of people she knew. She chose the title “Custom Justice” for this book because she never thought she could get justice from the legal system considering she was human trafficked across international borders by a police officer in a corrupt system.
The author’s haunting stories of her continuous abuse beginning at the age of four are heartbreaking and eye-opening as she looks for the love she desperately lacked throughout her life. When she finally thinks she has found that love, she is thrown into a horrific nightmare by a man who abuses her in unimaginable ways. When the justice system wouldn’t help her she bravely confronted her fears and found her strength by sharing her story with the world. In addition, the “Scrapbook of Memories” at the end of the book is poignant and telling as the reader connects the author’s experiences with visual proof of her personal ordeal and growth.
I highly recommend this extremely inspiring memoir about taking a stand against human trafficking and sexual assault. It is engaging, informative, and many times hard to read, and I wish the author all the best in her fight for justice and peace in her life.
Thank you to Ms. Blackwood for reaching out to me to review her memoir with no expectations of a positive review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amanda Blackwood is a survivor of human trafficking. A portion of every book sale goes to help fight human trafficking and to help rescue the kids still trapped in the life worse than death. Amanda lives in Denver, CO with her rescue cats who keep her sane. She currently works several different jobs and writes in her free time.