Still Standing

by Natalie Queiroz

[zooloo1983]

I can safely say there are absolutely no words I can say after closing this book on this breathtaking, painstakingly yet hopeful and poignant memoir but I shall try. Shall I tell you how in awe I am of this woman? How she has the strength to put on foot after another despite the ordeal that no one should have to go through? How reading this memoir it really puts your own life in perspective? How strong Natalie really is even in her darkest moments? About how this doesn’t read as a book, but more as a conversation over a mug of tea?

How this one woman found the strength after being attacked by her partner, stabbed 24 times nearly losing her life and her baby’s life by mere millimetres yet still fights for survival and basically stick two fingers up at death.

I lost count how many times my heart broke for Natalie, not for pity but because she has put down in black and white this brutal attack, she has laid it all bare for you to read and given an insight to her darkest times. The open letter she had written for her family tore me to pieces. She has shown her vulnerability, how weak she felt but at the same time, it is her strength that shone through. Her lust for life with her 3 beautiful girls.

This is by no means an easy read. It is honest, it is brutal but it is a story that needs to be told. She is completely honest with her feelings especially with Bobby, and I have so much respect for this woman. Admitting her feelings is what a lot of people probably wouldn’t do. They would probably ignore them, but she took the bull by the horn and bared it all for the world to see. That takes courage.

I am incredibly moved by Natalie’s story and the amazing things she has done for charity since and continues to do so. She may not feel it all the time but I see her as a force to be reckoned with. Her final goodbye well that chapter of her book (and life) just proves how strong and formidable she is.

I do not usually read memoirs, first time reviewing one too, I mean how do you do that? Yet, when I got the email about Still Standing, I knew I had to read it. I knew this would be a poignant book that I just had to read. Whilst reading her memoir, it really did feel like I was chatting to Natalie over a cup of tea and cake in a coffee shop….(now I just want cake) and something I would love to do. Still Standing is very conversational, and matter of fact, that I finished it in a day. I couldn’t put this book down without thinking about Natalie and Leah and how one day everything changed for them and their family.

Thank you so much, Natalie, for baring your soul and telling your story. You have moved me and made me smile with your (in)appropriate jokes (butt plugs anyone 🤣) and I am in awe of you and your strength to pick up the pieces and carry on.