BRAINWASHED: A TRUE STORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is a one of a kind book meant to help readers to understand the mental and emotional thinking that causes people to stay in abusive relationships.
Author Kashonia Carnegie’s BRAINWASHED combines the genres of Psychological Analysis/Memoir combination is unique, and fits the content perfectly. If the author had written the book strictly as one or the other, the purpose and tremendous effect of her story would have been lost.
BRAINWASHED is a well-written book, with an easy to follow and friendly, conversational tone. There are a few grammatical errors, most notably, the author’s misuse of word forms such as using the word experienced instead of experience, American instead of America, and a confusing misuse of the words your and you’re throughout the book. However, other than those few minor editing issues, the writing skill and style are quite good.
In BRAINWASHED, Carnegie explains important emotional keys that are specifically relevant to what might make people stay in physically and psychologically abusive relationships. For example, Dr. Kashonia states that Key number one is that emotions rule logic, which means that our hearts often lead us to decisions that our head knows is a bad idea. This key is most important in the book, and significant to the choices that led the author to some very dark places in her life, most significantly to the psychologically abusive relationship that eventually led to her self-discovery.
Carnegie shares memories and stories of her childhood and adult life to help us explore the science and ideas of negative and positive childhood conditioning as it relates to understanding how we develop our personality traits and behaviors. Carnegie is a woman whom has lived through terrible events and suffered despicable treatment from others during her lifetime. The fact that the people that should have most loved her and loved her unconditionally yet treated her reprehensibly were her family only makes her memories of her life more tragic.
Using the skills and knowledge that she has gained through decades of University and independent study, Dr. Kashonia takes us with her through her personal journey of self-discovery, analysis, understanding, and acceptance – in the hope that through the lessons she has learned, we might be able to make our own journey.
BRAINWASHED is a one of a kind book meant to help readers to understand the mental and emotional thinking that causes people to stay in abusive relationships.
Reviewed by Catherine Grainger for IndieReader