Run, Run, Baby by Gitte Tamar

 

Rating: ★★★★

Genre: Horror Suspense

Format: eBook

Pages: 170

Read: 08/16/22

Amazon Synopsis:

As the chatty classroom of kindergarten children excitedly awaits the final bell to release them for the weekend, Chloe, racked with exhaustion, desperately attempts to keep her eyes open. Nervously staring at the battered wooden desk, her six-year-old mind becomes fixated on the sound of the room's ticking clock. Emaciated and sleep-deprived, she reluctantly surrenders her consciousness. The innocent moment of a typical childhood daydream quickly turns into a nightmare filled with a familiar ghoulish entity and its torturous acts. Chloe struggles to survive the grim reality of her hellish life in which trauma-derived monsters haunt every moment of her existence.

Review:

“Her sunken cheeks describe one of the dark monsters that haunt her waking life, and the signs of malnutrition on her petite frame are exaggerated by the dirty blonde hair that highlights the color of the dark purple stains under her eyes.”

This book is about Chloe. A six year old who is suffering from nightmares, monstrous and debilitating. She is scared of the monsters that are constantly haunting her, causing her pain and constant fear. She loves her little brother Timmy so much, and wants to protect him from the same heartache and pain. To achieve escaping, she must face  her fear and fight the monsters that are the cause of her torture and torment.

This story is not an easy read as it is clearly about childhood trauma. Throughout the story, it can become a bit confusing, because at times we are given Chloe’s real life nightmare of monsters  and at other times her nightmare of figurative monsters. It does become more clear as the story unfolds and it is easily seen how her figurative monsters connect to her literal monsters. There are small flashes of some happy moments, but they are very short lived and we are thrown right back into the darkness of Chloe’s life. 

How the mind of a child works to encapsulate that area of protection. Blending her monsters  from her imagination with the monsters in her reality. Fighting with all her might and begging to make it all stop. Her innocence of childhood has been shattered and she begins to create ways to cope. 

This is suffering, this is the loss of childhood. It is heartbreaking and tense.

The ending brings everything together and it all makes sense, but it is not a happy ending. 

The author has written of despair and the darkness that settles into the mind when a child is horrifically abused. I feel that it was written well and encases a very important message and brings to the surface the importance of understanding the effects of physical and emotional abuse.

Powerfully evocative!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/

Amazon Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Gitte-Tamar/

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

https://app.thestorygraph.com/user_reviews/