"The Glass Castle" has been on my tbr for quite a while, and it's one of those whose plot I thought I already knew before I dove in; but I have to say, this story really gripped and shook me.

Jeannette's parents were just shocking in their neglect, but it was also painfully clear that they did love their kids and were in major denial about the impact of their lifestyle. Love does not make up for refusing to provide for your family, and though I kept itching for ANYONE to check up on the kids it was clearly not going to happen. That was the other major shock of the book, how easy it is for children to slip through the cracks of a broken and overburdened system. When parents fail in their responsibilities, who is there to pick up the pieces?

No matter how much Rex mistreated and abandoned his family, I was still repeatedly surprised by the depths he sank to—

Spoiler

stealing the kids' piggy bank money, for instance, is a low I can't even imagine.

Again though, moments like that were contrasted with the clear passion Rex had for being a dad, and I appreciated the way Jeannette (somehow) presented her upbringing without a filter. She didn't shy away from the horror her parents' inflicted, but she showed their tender sides too, illuminating the complexity that is love and family. Though this is obviously a case that moves beyond "complex" into abuse, it was still such an interesting portrait of extreme family dysfunction.

Especially when, later on, we learn that Rose Mary was basically sitting on a gold mine of land whose sale could've pulled them out of poverty at any time. Why did Jeannette's parents then force their children to grow up hungry, or live on the streets when they followed the kids to New York? It's not really clear what they're thinking, only that they romanticized their ideals of self-sufficiency to such an extreme that they irreparably damaged their family unit.

Which makes it all the more impressive, then, that the kids for the most part were able to build their own lives and achieve relative comfort. Except Maureen, who seemed to have the hardest time starting a life separate from the chaos instilled by her parents.

Though this was a difficult and heartbreaking read, Jeannette Walls absolutely pulled me in and raised the curtain on the dysfunction that shaped her, while also offering a powerful tale about overcoming the odds. It's painful to realize that so many of the obstacles in her way were actually put there by her own parents, but Jeannette's story does demonstrate the importance of knowing what you're capable of so you can make your own way despite those holding you back.