Ugly

By: Margaret McHeyzer

Narrated by: Becca Ballenger

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to see. If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to feel. If I were dead, he'd never raise his hand to me again. If I were dead, his words wouldn't cut as deep as they do. If I were dead, I'd be beautiful and I wouldn't be so...ugly. 

I'm not dead...but I wish I was.

©2015 Margaret McHeyzer (P)2018 Margaret McHeyzer

Great, and real tear jerker.

and I enjoyed the book it was a real tear-jerker, I just wish it had more about the mother-in-law. And what happened to her. and to his father.

wholly cow! its a great book!

I dont even know where to start with this book.
It jumps right in, so hold on to your seats. I cant believe how good this book is. I haven't heard a book this good for a long time, and I listen to about 3 books a week.
I am in love with Lilly, so many times I just wanted to give her hug. She is so strong, and what she has gone through.. I am speechless.
This is my first time listening to anything from Margaret McHeyzer. if all her books are this good, I just found my favorite writer. I have already added more of her books to my wish list.

Becca did an amazing job, and I would happily listen to her again.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Deep emotional book!

People need to realize that abuse will always haunt us. Lily has been put through hell basically her whole life. With a glimpse of hope Lily’s life comes tumbling down over and over. Until Max a guy who himself deals with haters and had to watch what happens to Lily in his family. This is a very emotional book to me because I was Lily. It’s almost like my story and I felt all the words deeply. I’m a survivor and I have my own Max myself. And like Lily we are loved and deserve it! The narrator brought the story to life I truly loved it! 5/5 stars

Hard Story to hear

One of the hardest audio books for me to ever get thru. I sobbed, I cried, it made me so angry. So very well written! It's not a straight thru listen but well worth the time. "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

WOW

I loved this book. It will take you on an emotional rollercoaster without seatbelts. This is a must read!

The narrator was fantastic, you can tell she loves what she does.

I received this audible free at my request and am thrilled to leave my review.

So Many Emotions......

Very few books have moved me the way that this one did. I literally was crying for Lilly and praying that her situation would change, both with her dad and then later Trent. I could feel rage filling up in me at out Trent treated her like a dog...no, worse than a dog and was so proud of her when she got the courage to leave that situation...same courage that it took to leave her dad's home, while still a kid in high school.

I loved the 2nd half of the book and it looks as though Lilly's life did a 180 after she met Max....he truly saw the best in her and encouraged her to be the woman he knew she was deep down. True gentleman!!

Margaret McHeyzer HAS to do a book 2 on this....we HAVE to know more of this next chapter.

Becca Ballenger did an AMAZZZZZZZING job narrating this! Fantastic work!




This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

Tough subject, good story

Ooh, this story! I almost gave up on it, not because of the writing but because the subject matter was so heartbreaking.
I am glad I didn’t give up though. I don’t have a personal experience with DV myself so I can’t relate but sometimes in stories I wonder why the heck people stay. I think I understood why in the way this story was told. Heartbreaking. So glad she got her hea.
I was provided a copy of this book at no charge and asked to leave an unbiased review if I was able to.
Great narration as well. I’ll look for more stories from this narrator.

Tough, tough, tough listen

I have to confess that there were many, many, many times during this listen that I just wanted to stop listening. The story was just too heartbreaking. In every sense of the word, Lily was just so pitiful. The constant need and want for approval from her father, and his desire to destroy her at all cost, just brought me to tears.

I celebrated when Lily met Trent. Then that happened.

If you can get past the first half this read, of Lily's life, there is some relief. I have to admit though that there were a few times when I just put the listen down and started watching a cartoon.

The narration was excellent. Excellent! I would love to wax more poetic about Ballenger's performance but I need to go outside and feel the sun on my face.

WOW, JUST WOW!

For anyone who has gone through abuse, this is a difficult book. The author truly captured the feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness that comes from abuse as well as the happiness that comes from just a little bit of hope. This was heartbreaking to listen to. It starts right in without sugar coating anything. You know what to expect right from the beginning. Lilly's abuse is horrible but the strength she has is also amazing. I loved this character! This was an excellent book with a super narrator. Becca Ballenger brought the pain through as well as the hope and happiness Lilly was feeling. When Becca expressed Lilly's happiness, it really made me smile! I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

OMFG! What did I just listen to????

Here are some adjectives for this book. Unpredictable. Twisted. Evil! OMG! The author is soooo bad and soooo good! This was an up and down sad and happy tear jerker. I thought I KNEW what would happen next. Nope. Not a chance. The story is about a pretty young girl who thinks she is ugly because her dad constantly tells her so. It's a story about domestic violence, choices people make, courage and determination. If I had a teenager I'd get them to listen to this, but it's good for adults, too.

Hard Hitting subject

This is a really difficult book to review, on one hand I loved it, on the other, not so much.

Lilly's home life is horrific, it used to be wonderful with loving parents, but something happened to change all of that, and now living with just her alcoholic father, he has taken to abusing her, mentally and physically.

He hits her and calls her names like Fat, Ugly, Stupid, and he beats her often, and after being called these names for so long, she has become used to them and believes them.

Lilly manages to escape her fathers abusive ways. but then seems to fall from one abusive relationship to another.

I liked the way that the abuse was portrayed as not *just* being physical but mental as well, sometimes you can't see the bruises, but they do the same, if not more damage, and that stays with you forever.

What I didn't like so much was the way that Lilly ended up just falling into everything, and then being the best at it, best grades at school, all of the Universities were begging for her, she tried her hand at proof reading, and then suddenly every book she'd ever touched made it to the NYC Best Sellers list and Publishing Houses were fighting to get her.

I just think things are not always tied up with a nice little bow, I understand that the author wanted to see Lilly finally happy and at peace, but maybe it was a little bit to sugary sweet for me.

However, don't just take my opinion into consideration, many people absolutely loved this book, so it maybe just me, maybe I've been reading too many thrillers recently and it's made me wanting a big 'twist' to the story.

Narrated by Becca Ballenger, a new narrator for me, who did a great job

😢

I’ve never cried over a book before but this got me tears please have your tissues at the ready your story that was sad but very well written and narrated was really good this was a first from this writer but will not be the last

A rollercoaster of emotions!

I don't believe this is a true story but it felt so realistic and believable. I hate to say I loved this book, because it is heartbreaking and emotional, but stories like this help me to understand what a victim of domestic violence goes through and how they fear for their life on a regular basis and how just leaving an abusive situation isn't as easy as it sounds. This is my second Margaret McHeyzer book and both are highly recommended. I just wish she had more books out on audio. Becca Ballenger did an outstanding job bringing this story to life. She put so much emotion into all the characters, and her portrayal of Max and his stuttering was really well done. I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Heartbreaking

This book, my title says it all. Utterly heartbreaking. The emotions provoked while listening *feels all the feels*
Narration perfect for lily
Worth the read or listen or both🙈

lived up to it's name

This book was called ugly and it insinuated you would cry the ugly tears. Well that's true I cried a couple of times whilst reading this book. This author was new to me but I'm so glad I gave this book a try as I really enjoyed the story. Becca did an amazing job of the narration totally making you feel right along with the character.

emotional listen

I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a hard listen had me in tears a few times but I am so glad I got the chance to listen as I have come across it a few times when looking for a new listen. Becca Ballenger did a great job I love how she told the story she made it come to life. A great story well worth a listen.