Ten Cats & One Crazy Cat Lady by Amelia Hendrey

Ten Cats & One Crazy Cat Lady by Amelia Hendrey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 2 weeks

Pages -

Publisher - Wrate's Publishing

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Embark on a heartwarming adventure with self-proclaimed 'crazy cat lady' and professional cat sitter, Amelia Hendrey, as she delves into the enchanting world of felines.

Encounter a cast of unforgettable cats, each loved, rescued and mourned by Amelia, who also once shared her home with ten furry companions simultaneously. Experience the laughter, joy and tears that come with caring for these remarkable creatures.

Travel with Amelia to Amsterdam, where she finds a peaceful community of cats living on a canal boat, and to Rome, where she explores a cat sanctuary nestled within ancient ruins. Back in the UK, Amelia sips tea at a London cat café and has a close encounter with a Lykoi, the fascinating 'werewolf cat.'

Ten Cats & One Crazy Cat Lady is a heartfelt celebration of the unconditional love that cats bring into our lives. It will leave you purring with delight and yearning for more.



My Review

Welcome to Amelia's world of cats, past and present, meet her fur babies. Each of her ten cats get their own pages and cute photo to follow, from how she got them until they go over Rainbow Bridge so be prepared.

Cutesy cat references, stories, love, laughter, bonding, loss Hendrey takes you through the stories of their arrival, antics and departures. That would be about the first half of the book, the second is how she takes her love of cats, visits places that offer homes/sanctuary and how she gets into her own business, cat centric.

The book also gives you the names of places she visited, that cares for cats and inspired her own path. I had to dip in and out just because reading each of the cats stories and their loss was a bit much for me, it is natural of course but the stories are back to back so I dipped in and out.

If you love cats you will enjoy this one, 4/5 from us.

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Let Go Of What You Know by Amelia Hendrey

Let Go of What You Know by Amelia Hendrey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 262

Publisher - Wrate's Publishing

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Following the publication of her acclaimed memoir What Nobody Knew back in 2017, Amelia Hendrey’s readers all wanted to know when her next book would be out.

Now the wait is finally over. While in her first book, Amelia bravely described her early years and surviving her brutal parents, in Part I of Letting Go of What You Know, she explains what happened next, humourously recounting her honeymoon in the Canaries, entering the workplace, caring for several quirky cats and becoming a first-time mum. In sharing the good times, Amelia proves how healing, growth and letting go are possible even after the worst start in life.

In Part II, Amelia reveals the meticulous diary she kept as the Covid-19 pandemic brought fear and uncertainty into her world once again. Chronicling moments from her day-to-day life that everyone will relate to, her strength in the face of adversity shines through once again.


My Review

This is the follow up book from "What Nobody Knew" a harrowing account of what Amelia endured/survived as a child. Whilst this book does reference a little about her past it is primarily the focus on the journey/recovery as an adult.

The book itself is split into two really, the first is all about Amelia, recovering, how she recovered and found her way through adulthood, work, friends and her family. The second half is diary entries covering the Covid 18 pandemic. What she was doing as the news broke out, updates, statistics, news and what her and her family did during these dates, sometimes just purely entries on the pandemic.

I preferred the first part as I feel the book read like two different books, the first Amelia's life and whilst the second did have snippets of what they did on X date it is hugely focused on the pandemic. I did like reading parts of it and its insane how much you forget you got through. And whilst it is interesting it took me away from her story. I would have liked to see them as separate books, one keeping to her life/experiences and the other her views on or just her diary itself with the pandemic.

I found it really interesting how she tried to get her book out there and she covers her publishing journey and the steps she took, I think sometimes you forget just how hard it can be for someone getting their book out there when they don't have a big publisher behind them.

Easy enough to read although it does have glimpses of distressing content (nothing like the first book which was raw, shocking and central focused on what she survived) she writes with an easy enough flow.

It is nothing short of miraculous that Hendrey has came out the other side and with such positivity after what survived. If you haven't read the first book you absolutely should and for this one, especially the Covid stats it is shocking how many deaths/numbers and how things panned out. 3.5/5 from us, we have read Hendrey before and would read her again.

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What Nobody Knew by Amelia Hendrey

What Nobody knew by Amelia Hendrey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 260

Publisher - Self published

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

My story begins aged 3, when my mother abandoned me and left me with my brutal father to raise me. Nobody knew the secrets that went on inside that house, or the journey that I travelled on after leaving it, until now. This is the story of my survival.

What do you do when no one wants you?

How many people need to destroy a child until that child wants to destroy herself?

What if social services always got told a different story?

What would you do if you were in my position?

Survival is key.


My Review

Think of "A Child Called It" and stories of that vein this is Amelia's story and what she endured, surviving, growing up. A little girl, abandoned by her mother, "raised" by her father and his partner, a wee girl who knows very little kindness, love, even just basic respect or an environment to thrive.

This book is a wee bit different from those of the same thread, this one actually has reports, written accounts and documents from the very few people who had interactions with Amelia. For me, this is one of the most infuriating things about the book, so many opportunities for someone, anyone to help this wee girl, to spot the red flags and act. Today everyone is taught to look for warning signs, things that flag up a potential issue with a child, so many things in this book screamed out and yet still where missed. We flip between the authors voice and accounts of what happened then a document then back to the authors voice, this is how the book is presented, flipping between the two.

We meet a child that has a strength evident from a very young age to survive, adapt, push through time and time again with so many horrors thrown upon her. There are so many individuals to dislike and hate for what they allowed to happen, blaming this poor child, denying kindness, love, protection even understanding. They are so horrific, shaming, blaming, hurting even down to the small flash we see from the neighbour I hated the parts she was in, actively enjoying causing distress to a bairn. Knowing these have been living people, real encounters - it just baffles the mind evil like these individuals exist.

There are quite a few graphic scenes in the book, most people know picking up this type of true story that abuse will be covered. My heart was in my mouth more than once and I just wanted to reach out and protect this poor child that seemed to have no one in her corner, failed at pretty much every opportunity to catch what was going on. It is emotional, hard going, brutal, honest and one thing that comes through almost every single chapter is the strength in this wee girl who has now grown up and opened her world to readers to know her truth, her history, her story of survival. A raw and honest look into a heart wrenching account of one wee girls survival against the odds, 4.5/5 for me this time. If I ever met this author, and she was ok with it I would give her the biggest hug, God love her for surviving what she did and being brave enough to allow us into such a personal part of her life!

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