The Raspberry Girl by Victoria Selene Skye Deme

Taste Chambord and Godiva chocolate on your tongue as you whirl like a dervish through the fantasies and realities of "The Raspberry Girl". When you finish hungrily devouring the poetry and prose like a wolf, you realize you held your breath the entire time in reverence. Breathing almost seems like an intrusive interruption as you soak up the seductive stories of "The Raspberry Girl".

Selene sent me "The Raspberry Girl" months ago in friendship. Little did either of us know at the time the challenges life would unceremoniously dump on me. "The Raspberry Girl" hit a raw nerve for me and I had to put it down. When you lick the sugar coating off Selene's tantalizing words, you are struck by the harsh reality behind the mythology. I wasn't quite ready to face myself yet.

I picked up "The Raspberry Girl" a few months later, after finding a new doctor and counselor. This time, I was able to lap up the wisdom from the words like one of the wolves prowling Selene's childhood manor. I laughed, I cried and I nodded my head a thousand times. Her reflection was mine for a few brief moments as we shared mental and spiritual interludes.

With a new year ahead, "The Raspberry Girl" is a must-read book for anyone seeking to walk higher ground. Realization is the key to reality. "The Raspberry Girl" is a modern-day princess wearing high end sneakers and hard-earned self-confidence. As you wander through her powerful walkway of words, you see she is a survivor...and you want to be one, too.

From sexual exploitation to domestic abuse to parenting to anorexia and self-perception, Selene's pen bleeds the truth wearing a cloak of angels, devils and panoramic allusions. Her bloodshed cleanses you as you suddenly recognize you're not alone. Travel on Selene's mythological wings from Eastern Europe to Asia to the East Coast as you search for the broken bones hiding behind pearly white teeth.

"But I am tired now

of being in so many pieces;

so here I am

as strong as I am in my anger

I know I can be as strong in my love

the journey is never over

it begins every day

and if I can just find every piece of Eve's Bloom in my fragments

surely then

I could put myself back together

and let myself be loved."

You will fall in love with "The Raspberry Girl" by the time you read the final stanza. Selene will also make you want to love yourself. Fuel your new year's resolutions and perceptions by reading "The Raspberry Girl".