Rock Bottom

by Mallory Borrelli

Overview

A memoir from childhood neglect, emotional abuse, and a broken home to a teenage pregnancy. Difficulty in trusting others led to a battle of depression and uncertainty in where life was headed. The teenage pregnancy led to a difficult marriage filled with lies, affairs, drug involvement, and eventually a painful divorce. Growing up with a narcissistic mother and alcoholic father led to making difficult decisions with very little guidance. Shortly after the divorce I found myself involved in two more bad relationships with narcissists that took advantage of my empathy and robbed me. I lost my home, battled high debts, and my children lost their father due to drugs. Life seemed impossible. Tragic events took a toll on my mental and physical health. When the nightmares, depression, and anxiety consumed me I turned to therapy. I began taking prescription medications to help. The meds caused severe side effects that led to more poor choices. I contemplated working in a gentlemens club. I ended up in a relationship with my husband's brother and quit eating for several months. My story is a reminder of how childhood trauma leads to the choices we make as adults, but there is hope. Without faith and prayer, I would have never made it out alive. God took my pain to use it for the greater good when I gave my life to him. He turned all of my mistakes and losses around to help me get where I am today in healthy relationships, with an education, and out of depression. You are never too far gone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400329540
Publisher:	Elm Hill
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Pages:	108
Product dimensions:	1.00(w) x 1.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Mallory is a single mother who graduated with her nursing degree. She had two kids at a young age, battled depression, and dealt with the grief of losing her children's father to a drug overdose. Mallory overcame the psychological damage from childhood, abandonment issues, narcissistic abuse, and PTSD. She was able to break the cycle of events with her children and find healthy relationships. Mallory's story is an example of how God can move through your life with faith, hope, and perseverance.

Editorial Reviews

2022-01-07
In her memoir, Borrelli recounts finding a sense of direction through Christianity.

As a young girl, the author lived in Tampa, Florida, and was a happy “flower child.” Her life changed, however, when her parents divorced and her mother began to take her anger out on Borrelli and her older sister. In middle school, she wrote a note to her teacher asking her to be her substitute mother. She lost her virginity at 12, explaining that the absence of her father led her to crave male attention. Borrelli became “heavily involved with alcohol” at a young age and became pregnant at 15. She refused her mother’s suggestion of having an abortion. Borrelli married and had a second child; she divorced her husband after he ran off with a stripper. Already suffering from depression, the author learned that her ex-husband had died of a suspected drug overdose. At an all-time low, Borrelli turned her life around by putting her trust in God, seeing a therapist, and attending nursing school at a Christian university. Borrelli’s memoir, written with the intention of helping others, brims with conversational positivity: “I believe the first step is realizing how awesome you truly are and understanding that the people who hurt you do that because they aren’t happy with who they are.” Her work is empowering to the extent that it emphasizes the cathartic benefits of being open about one’s past: “Your story has magic inside of it, but until you start sharing, you will not see just how beautiful it really is.” Unfortunately, the quality of the writing and storytelling doesn’t match the enthusiasm. The prose is often vague, failing to fully expand on emotions or events (“He wrote me a bunch of stuff”), so readers don’t fully envision Borrelli’s experiences. There are also a number of repetitions and typos: “it make them feel unsafe.” Although recounted with courage, there is little to make this memoir stand apart from others of a similar nature.

Tenderly optimistic, although amateurish.

Kirkus Reviews