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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Cora Ryan

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was so touching and emotional. You could really feel the struggle and pain the character felt being different. It really pulls at the heart strings but in such a powerful way! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a great emotional story.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Rachel Moss

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green, And Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory was a great read! I thought this was a very well written, coming of age story. This story is great for all ages, teenagers to adults. Gregory has led an incredible life, with tons of stuff that shouldn’t even have happened, and I felt very honored to he able to read her story. It must have taken so much courage to share not only her experience with her disability but her whole life story and I applaud her courage in doing so. I can’t wait to hopefully read more from her in the future!

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Lorralei Hoerner

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started reading this memoir during vacation, and took my time to read this book. There were moments that made me sit back and think….the book was descriptive and was very good. This memoir tore at my heart strings as looking at Mary Gregory’s life, growing up with a deformity and hardships. This hit me a bit, while my own mild deformity differed, I can relate and overcome like Mary. We then learn of Mary’s mom having mental health issues and her father as a preacher coming out, with many ups and downs. This is truly a journey….and many pieces to this memoir but it was a very good read.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of Mary E. Gregory told in her own words, it is the story of how her world changed when she was just five years old and what happened over the course of her life after that. Mary was born into a loving family in Nashville, Tennessee, she had her mum, her dad and two siblings, a brother who was the oldest and an older sister in between the two. They were well thought of and respected in the local community but from birth, Mary had challenges, she was born with a cleft palate and had multiple surgeries over her life to correct it and the issues which came with it, this would be something she would have to accept and learn to live with over the years. The main troubles started when her father, a preacher in the local church and a pillar of the community came out as gay, this was compounded upon with the HIV and AIDS crises which were starting to come into the mainstream media and create the stigma and taboos around the diseases ehich people believes they could catch just by standing near them. The life that Mary knew was going to change drastically after this as her parents separated and divorced, the church goers and friends of the family all retreated away from them and some started rumours and talking about the family behind their backs, it was also at this point that her mother started to develop mental health issues as well.

After the divorce went through, Mary and her siblings didn’t see their father for a while until the custody and maintenance payments were sorted out, it was during this time that their mother retreated into herself and began neglecting the household and them, her older brother had to grow up quickly and look after both himself and his sisters, trying to keep them going to school on time and not letting on how bad things were at home. The situation got to a point where the school called their mum and it finally broke through the wall she had built around herself and she started booking after things again, however, when the car broke down it started over again, plus when they got to see their father, she started arguments and it became too awkward for the arrangements to stick. Their mothers increased paranoia around the situation and what she believed people were saying about her she began to use her children to wage a war against their father, this led to her buying a car, packing them into it and driving away from the only home they had ever known without looking back.

On their road trip, they visited family members to say a last goodbye to them and in between staying in rest stops, spending the little money they had on food and gas, they passed through many places until they arrived in New York where the next stage of their adventures would be. This is where Mary and the others learned about life and how hard they would have to work to stay fed, warm and with a roof over their heads, sometimes this didn;t happen at all, they shuffled from hostels, to hotels, to apartments and back to sleeping in the car, going to food banks and soup kitchens so they could eat and their mother hopping from job to job between welfare checks, the had to attend school, even though it was hard for them and embarrassing, but they made some friends along the way.

The memoir continues as they keep moving along when their mother;s paranoia hits its peak, Mary learns a lot about life and how she should approach it and scattered in between the memories are snippets of her adult life and how she has grown and changed into the woman she is today. Overall, this is a wonderful story of adversity and how even childhood trauma can be used to create a strong sense of self, while teaching others how to observe, process and learn from life, no matter what it throws at you.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Shelly Kittell

Intensely personal, Mary shares a large part of her personal life growing up. Finding out her father was gay threw her family life into chaos which caused her mom to pretty much break. She was already showing signs of schizophrenia. The journey ahead was long and quite the adventure. Overwhelming, frightening, and hard for a child, it is amazing that Mary was able to come through this to be strong and resilient. A hard read for me because it was a little close to home but worth it. Mental health is so very important. Thank you for sharing it.

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Liz Vrchota

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was quite the interesting read and escape from my typical normal pick up. I like books that make me think regardless of the storyline or ideas behind them and that is normally what will draw me to them, so that is was drew me into Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory. This is written very much like a journal or diary and gives us a glimpse into the mind of Mary E Gregory and her struggles as she traverses life and travel. I loved the way she kept things raw and real and didn’t attempt to sugarcoat anything. I was invested from the very beginning and was never really bored with the story, which is always a concern when you pick up a memoir. I would be highly interested in seeing what else we may get in the future from Ms. Gregory.

Review by @lizaileen
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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Sherry Sharpnack

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a memoir by Mary Gregory about life w/ a mentally ill mother while suffering from a facial deformity. What.A.Combination.
Mary’s mother leaves her husband b/c the husband, a pastor, comes out as gay. She moves the family around, eventually cross-country to California. Mom has mental issues, but the three kids don’t know that, nor understand. They just know they spend a lot of time in the car, eating fast food or from convenience stores/gas stations. Mary is ugly b/c of her cleft lip, and has problems w/ eating b/c of the holes in her mouth from her cleft palate. I deeply felt all her problems in school with classmates.
It’s understandable that when the family finally lands in Long Beach, CA, Mary eventually ends up as a drug addict and exploring a different lifestyle. This makes me sad, b/c for a while, she was really into basketball, fitness, and school, but slid away from that. The eldest, Paul, leaves the family as soon as possible. Sam, the elder daughter and middle child, bonds w/ an undocumented immigrant boyfriend and spends years getting him back to California from Mexico. This leaves Mary to fend for herself, and for her mother. Mary’s mother gets fatter and fatter, and less and less able to manage her own life, much less raise children. Reading the descriptions of the mother’s various domiciles left me nauseous.
Mary eventually falls for a guy eleven years older than her, another immigrant who needs her to marry him for a green card. It is surprising that this works out at all, but it does. The reader roots HARD for Mary to find love and stability outside of her nuclear family unit. After Mary meets Pierre, it feels like the memoir speeds up, far more superficial than the parts about her young childhood.
The whole book reminds me of Tara Westover’s “Educated,” without the Mormon background, and w/ an overtly schizophrenic parent. I was SO pleased to read about Mary finally getting surgeries to fix her deformities!
I will round up to four stars for this nearly stream-of-consciousness salute to a girl who survived to find a better life.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Lorrene Huisman

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always enjoy reading a memoir as it tells me a story thru the author through themselves to what they experienced and how they would describe things rather than having someone else describe it for them.

Reading this I certainly felt so many emotions reading the very well written memoir thru the eyes of Mary. I believe we all have had ups and downs in life and its hard and difficult to understand what exactly the person had to undergo when they tell their story. But with Mary and their story, I truly felt I was there living every moment, feeling emotion, what they experienced and endured.

Mary didn’t have an easy childhood to say the least. She had been born with Cleft Palate and I find thru reading , as I would expect, it was not easy as she often felt she didn’t belong and had no place in the world, This stirred a lot of emotions for. I had a illness as a teenager that I did conquer, but I still can remember the kids making fun of me as I lost some of my hair through treatments.

If that wasn’t enough to have to live through her mom had a mental illness and it often impacted Mary and how they felt and it wasn’t always easy as anyone would expect. On top of all this her father who was a part of the church as a preacher revealed he was in fact gay. This greatly impacted Mary and how their life would develop.

As I read on the emotions and things I felt in my heart were very much real. Mary rose above everything in the end that life had thrown at her. I don’t know her personally but if I did I’d look her in the eyes and tell her that I’m proud of her, through out her memoir there was a lot of pain, and hard times, and emotions for sure. But all in all it tells you no matter what you are going thru, you can beat anything and everything at all costs. You can achieve more than you ever thought was to be the path you were mean to walk. Mary never gave up and was a wonderful person who believed in going against the odds. In the end, despite it all, she became victorious. Though it was a hard struggle, of hardships and even a uncertain future, Mary pushed and conquered everything, She truly triumphed and is a remarkable person.

I loved this memoir from start to end. Defiantly going on as one of my personal favorites. I highly recommend, This memoir does anything but disappoint the reader. I dare you to read it and walk in Mary’s shoes and see what she felt, and went thru, and the courageous woman she became.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Kerry Carr

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really interesting read. It is the story of the authors life and all the trials and upheavals she had to go through in her life to get to where she is today. This story is inspirational and moving. Some parts are hard for you to understand in today’s society such as all the stigma surrounding her father being gay.

Mary had a really hard childhood, from her father’s sexuality, her mother’s mental illness and her own struggled with having a cleft palate Mary has had to struggle with stigma and bullying on every step of her life.
One thing this book proves is that it doesn’t matter where you start in life, you can improve and become the person you want to be. I found this story so sad in parts but also extremely inspirational. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Tausha Treadway

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory. This is such a great read. Its actually a memoir and I don’t usually enjoy many memoir’s but this one was amazing. Its the story of Mary a young girl who at the height of the Aids pandemic her father a Baptist preacher came out as gay. Her whole family’s world was shook and her mom was so blindsided that she took the kids and traveled all over the US. Mary was also born with a Cleft Palate so she was teased always as a kid by kids and teachers alike. When her family settles in New York her mom’s mental health is at an all time low. At all times the family was poor no matter where they landed and the kids were raising themselves basically because of their mom’s mental health and their dad’s lifestyle. This is such an emotional, sad, read about a family that is probably more prevalent than not. Do yourself a favor and read it today!

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Travels Through Aqua, Green and Blue by Mary E. Gregory–Reviewed by Jerricka Brown

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love a nice coming of age story. I usually don’t read memoirs, but I am happy I read this one. I was very moved by the heartfelt story. I can relate to the emotion behind it. I am a fan of this author now. I can’t wait to read more.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Karen Pearman

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I must say that I love reading biographies and memoirs. You truly get to learn so much about an individual by picking them up. This was a person I had never heard of but a relative recommended I read it and I’m so glad that I did. This is a beautifully written retelling of her story, although at times extremely difficult to read because you feel so much sadness for her enduring the things that she did. I felt that at times I wanted to take her back in time and give her such a different lifestyle with another family. But the ending had me feeling like truly there was a purpose behind all that she went through and that it happened for a reason. She truly was on a ride of life and no matter the twists, turns, stumbles, and falls that she experienced she came out a winner in my eye. Highly recommended book to read for males and females and I believe it would be a great book club read.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Angela Packard

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green and Blue: A Memoir, is not my typical genre of book. Once I started reading, I could not stop. Mary tells of the hardships of being born with a bilateral cleft pallet, the teasing and bullying that happens because you are different. When Mary’s father, a Baptist minister comes out as gay, her mother and siblings are treated differently. People of the church turned their back on them, which broke something in her mother. This is a gritty story of a mother who checks out on her kids and how her paranoid schizophrenia affects her kids directly. Traveling the country, never staying in one place for long for fear of someone chasing them; living in hotels, cars, and with strange men on occasion, Mary and her siblings are on their own most of the time. It is a story of triumph as Mary tries to overcome her childhood to become an adult, she can be proud of. I found myself constantly cheering for Mary and her siblings Paul and Sam.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Ashley Dover

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue is the story of Mary who was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Through this memoir, you will understand the hardships, name-calling, and bullying that people who were born with deformities dealt with in a time where being different was not recognized as correct. Mary was born in Nashville, TN to a Baptist minister. Her family was suddenly ripped at its foundation when her father became an openly gay man.

This memoir is the story of Mary’s journey across the country from Tennessee to New York to California and many more places with her family as her mother went on the run. Discover what it is like to overcome to live below the poverty line during tragic moments in American history and how those events transformed her into the woman she is today.

Although nonfiction is not my favorite genre, and I had a tough time getting started with this book, I couldn’t put the book down once I got over my “fear” of a nonfiction work. The story is woven with many kinds of coming-of-age topics that a lot of children and teenagers must endure to come out on the other side and be contributing members of society. I encourage you to take this journey with Mary and discover how your own journey shaped you into the person you are today.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Anantha Rusum

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A beautiful and profound piece of work, this book paints a vivid picture of a turbulent childhood of a girl, who is born with a deformity, and had to sail through harsh waters because of the decision her parents had taken. Her mother, takes her children and travels from place to place, running hand to mouth after separating from Mary’s father. She does not bother about cleanliness or food and tosses her children from place to place on the basis of her whims and fancies. The story is about how Mary handles her childhood, and adolescence, her school, her relationships and emerges into a fine young woman who can handle things on her own. This is the story of a girl who had to face the turbulent storms and emerge victorious, a mighty and majestic force with her soul in the right place. This book is a beauty and anyone who has weathered a storm can relate to this book.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Jenni Bishop

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory is a memoir of the authors life and travel. It is a moving story that will touch on the ol’ heart strings and it is also interesting. The writing style takes a bit to get used to as it is written in diary form and there are a lot of details that could have been left out. As they say “less is more”. Having said that I did enjoy the story and Mary’s trials and tribulations and it takes a lot to bare your sole and put yourself out there like she has done. Give it a go.
Reviewed by @jennadb

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by MPolicicchio

Terrifying Love: A Halloween AnthologyTerrifying Love: A Halloween Anthology by Serena Nova
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Terrifying Love: A Halloween Anthology

4 out of 5 stars

The new stories of the frightening ways love can manifest are interspersed with haunting love poems. Each tale takes you to the edge of your seat. Will strangers risk everything for each other? Does true love last through the centuries? Can beings see past their differences or long-held beliefs to find true love?

One of the stories that had me gripping my pillow was Reflections of the Past by Melody Calder. Mary’s story started with feeling out of place where she should have felt at home. The chances Mary took to find belonging led her to real love. When everything in Mary’s world is destroyed, she finds a way to get her revenge. Sins of the past haunt Lia in ways she doesn’t even know yet as Mary’s vengeance collides with Lia’s heart. With Lia’s understanding, Mary is finally able to find peace.

The other story that caused my pillow distress was Runes and Fangs by Victoria Larque. Kayla has every reason to hate after what she has gone through. Minette should feel the same way but doesn’t let her light fade because of the actions of others. When Kayla first meets Minette, Minette should cower but doesn’t. Minette finds it within herself to be strong. Kayla should despise Minette but can’t seem to feel anything other than protective. Together, they seem to be able to accomplish the impossible while finding love.

Which story will be your favorite?

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Kerry Baker

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory is a moving and heartfelt memoir. It was so compelling from the moment I started reading it. The way the author takes you on this journey with her, the highs and the lows, is incredible. You feel everything she is writing about and can really imagine the life she lived.
Memoirs aren’t something I read very often as I tend to find fall into the trope of “you’ve read one, you’ve read them all”. However this book is most definitely the exception to that rule. It is entertaining, emotional and thought provoking. I enjoyed every moment of reading this book and I already know I will be reading it again!

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Shadel Ayerbe

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory.
If you liked The Glass Castle, you’ll adore this gripping and moving novel about a young girl’s triumph against childhood trauma and poverty.

When a person succeeds to break the pattern, some seemingly predetermined lives wind up somewhere else completely. From the outside, Mary’s mold had been shattered. Mary’s peaceful childhood was turned into a voyage of discovery among the world around her and all the possibilities that existed within her when the unexpected happened in her conventional southern family.Mary’s mother, feeling betrayed and unable to deal with this new reality after her father, a beloved preacher in her close-knit Tennessee community, came out as a gay man at the height of the AIDS epidemic, sent Mary and her siblings on a years-long cross-country odyssey through New York, Nevada, and many other places, eventually landing them in California.

At the start of this trip, Mary was a charming, innocent, and clever girl who had no idea what was going to happen to her. From her adventures through aqua, green, and blue, she would emerge stronger, wiser, and much more equipped for everything that was ahead of her in life.

I loved this story and the concept of it as well.I loved every page of it. Every chapter was exciting.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Lydia Pelton

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh wow.

Wow. I really can’t place in words how this book impacted me. This story is about a child growing up and preserving despite her past and the trauma that had affected her life. This will keep you turning the page and celebrating that life can knock you down but you can get to the otherside!

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Erica Shoebridge

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very engrossing book. I sometimes struggle to stay interested in memoirs, but didn’t have that problem once with this one. I really resonated with Mary in her struggles as a child, despite my having a very different childhood than her. It was honest and poignant, and the writing made it easy for me to walk in Mary’s shoes as she remembers her life. I like how casually it was revealed that she has a facial deformity fairly far into the book, like it wasn’t something she focused on much, just a fact about her body. It didn’t define her any more than her dirty clothes. Ms. Gregory is able to embody her childhood self so well that it’s easy to forget that 8 year old Mary didn’t write it. It didn’t sound like an adult remembering; the voice and thought processes were clearly a child’s. I fell into this world and loved being invited into her world for awhile. Thanks so much, Ms. Gregory!

Reviewed by @ericalorraine
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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Kimberly Shirah

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary A. Gregory is an intensely readable book. While sometimes the writing style can obsess over small details, other times the style is hauntingly poetic. Mary takes us through her life, letting us see all the struggles that she faced at such an early age. This story also touches on mental illness and the effects that it has on the ones close to it.

This is a very powerful, inspiring story. I laughed, I cried, and I got angry throughout certain parts of this book. All in all, this book touched my heart, as I’m sure it will others. It should be noted that while I experienced all this throughout the book, you may not. There are some dry, long parts that, at times, are hard to get through, and sometimes not everyone will like the end result. I know I did though.

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Bobbi Wagner

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this memoir. This is a story that is written with a lot of heart and emotions. The author’s use of details made the story feel as if I was right there with her. This is a story about Mary and how her life growing up wasn’t all that great but also how she overcame what she went through to have a better life. I felt a ton of emotion throughout this story and felt for Mary. This is a fast paced story that I read in one day. This is a great story which I highly recommend.

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Review by @bjwagner

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory – Review by Angela Hayes

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A MemoirTravels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

3.5 Stars

 

I held on to this idea that someday I would look normal. I would analyze the faces of the kids around me, then look at mine and see the differences between what was normal and what I looked like. As an adult, I no longer do that. I find the faces that have genuine kindness in them, no matter what they look like. There is a kindness that shines through certain faces. I’ve analyzed the forehead, the chin, the cheeks, the nose, the lips, every inch of the human face all my life, and nothing conveys kindness like the eyes—especially the corners of the eyes. A face holds so much power, so much pain, so little regard, so little in vain. It does do what you want it to do, and I realized that it can do so much for good. It can have a kind smile, even if the lips are misshapen and scarred. It can have a kind profile, even if the nose is wide and flat. It can speak a kind word, even if teeth are missing. This is what I learned when I faced reality.”

 

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue is the emotive debut novel by Mary E. Gregory. It is an inspiring memoir that chronicles her young life of upheaval, tension, trauma, adventure, family relationships, dysfunctional family dynamics, secrets, humorous anecdotes, and overcoming adversity. The author shares her memories, which read almost like journal entries. She has a lyrical and poetic style to her writing – if not a little wordy and drawn out in places.
Mary has been thorough a lot in her life- overcoming situations that would defeat many others. Her story is interesting and moving- many events made my heart ache for what she went through.
I applaud the author for sharing her inspiring story- it is apparent that she poured a lot of heart and soul into her work. I really do think this would make a great movie.

Thank you, Mary E. Gregory!

 

Reviewed by @angelahayes

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory

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Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue: A Memoir by Mary E. Gregory
Buy Now – https://amzn.to/3fc8n9u
Genre – Memoir, Autobiography, Novel-Like Memoir
A young girl is torn from her “normal” life in Nashville, Tennessee and has to confront numerous stigmas within her own family.

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Mary E. Gregory is an American author, poet, and mental health advocate. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and is the youngest of three. Mary started writing short stories on her mother’s typewriter at the age of eight. She published her debut book in the summer of 2020.

Mary shares many of her coming-of-age stories and creative roots in her memoir, which are guaranteed to charm, intrigue, and redefine what resilience looks like. 

Mary is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach, and is a senior leader in IT at a Fortune 500 entertainment company in Los Angeles. She lives in sunny Long Beach, California with her Belgian husband of 25 years, Pierre.

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