Don't stay in an emotionally abusive relationship for longer than necessary
Forget about looking at emotional abuse from the outside and after-the-fact.My Five Years with the Devil takes you inside a long-term relationship and is written for everyone looking to escape living in a state of emotional confusion.
People are generally kind-hearted, but there is a section of the population that is evil to the core and masters at hiding this fact.
Wayne shares his first-hand experiences of being in a relationship with one of these people and helps you see why you need to get out of an emotionally abusive relationship as quickly as you can.
What you’ll learn is:
- the types of behavior to be wary of in a prospective partner
- the mental games an abuser plays to get what they want from you
- the destructive impact this kind of relationship has on your psyche
- the things to consider once you have walked away
Buy the book on Amazon
I was asked by a friend of the author to read and review the book.
Not only is the book a genre I would not normally read, the subject matter is way out of my comfort zone. While I cannot comment on the experiences of the author, it is clear that such a relationship is filled with pain, confusion, and abuse. While I read it, it was hard not to feel sympathetic towards the victim of the situation, although I had to feel pity for the abuser as well. Circumstances and a perhaps a mental illness due to long-term substance abuse made the abuser such a difficult person to live with, that an abusive relationship could not have been avoided.
The book comes across as a rant, which could have been avoided if the author put more thought into structuring the book around the aspects of such a relationship, eg. financial, emotional, physical, etc. or another structure that could have made the read come across differently. As a book to enlighten other people that struggle with a similar situation, I can see them identifying with the author.
Although the book is not intended as a self-help guide, more research into the personality types could have added more clarity to the reader as to where the abuser's personality type fit in. The opinion of a therapist might have also been an option.
The author mentions that at the time of writing the book, he had not had any professional treatment to help him deal with the situation. Even after several years have passed since the break-up of the relationship. It gives the reader the impression that a relationship that has broken down to such a level of abuse, could be recovered from without professional help.
I am no expert, but I don't think that it can be done without professional therapy and without a more positive outcome to the ending of the book, the reader is left wondering about the continued 'negative' state of mind of the author.
The quote from the book (above) is advice from the author, and while it may be sound advice, it would be better for both the victim and the abuser to seek professional help.
My rating of three stars is based on the fact that the book was professionally edited and prepared for publication. I will not recommend it as a self-help book to someone in an abusive relationship.
