Walking On Eggshells by Lyssa Chapman

Hardback Book Edition

Years ago, I can remember watching a few episodes of the reality television series 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' and seeing Dog's daughter, 'Baby Lyssa' on the show

When Lyssa Chapman came out with her memoir in 2013 titled, Walking On Eggshells, I was curious about her memoir, so decided to finally read it this year.

Knowing a little bit about Lyssa Chapman's life already from watching 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' reality television show and reading other news sources... So, I wasn't expecting to gain too much new information about Lyssa Chapman's life from reading her memoir. 

Walking On Eggshells by Lyssa Chapman didn't provide much new to me information. Yes, I did learn a few new things from reading her memoir that were a revelation, but overall much of what I read were things I already knew about her. 

Yes, Lyssa Chapman's life is sad and tragic in more ways than one. She experienced neglect as a child, her parents divorced and were either addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Lyssa was sexually molested as a child, she was bullied in school and exposed and given drugs as a tween/teen like pot and cocaine from her mom, and she lived in poverty most of her young life. Lyssa also had no real boundaries and/or good adult role models growing up. Lyssa pretty much ran wild, especially when she went to live with her mom in Alaska. It ends up that Lyssa started having sex around the age of 12 years old for the first time with an older teenage boy. She was even gang raped by a group of older boys. Lyssa eventually became pregnant at age 14 by a man 10 years older than she was and she was in love with this man... Lyssa had her daughter, Abbie, the day after her 15th birthday and decided to keep and raise, Abbie. This meant that Lyssa dropped out of school in the 9th grade in order to raise her daughter. Lyssa's drug and alcohol addiction escalates and so does her poverty as she is abandoned by both of her parents and most of her family off and on during the time she becomes pregnant and has her daughter. Lyssa also repeatedly makes bad choices after having her daughter, which in many ways is expected as she has no good role models. 

So, these are some of the high level highlights of what one reads about in Walking On Eggshells by Lyssa Chapman. I think you now have a brief snapshot of the tragic and dysfunctional life Lyssa Chapman had growing up. 

However, I felt that Lyssa Chapman paints herself too much in the role of victim throughout her memoir. Yes, I think her parents were negligent in their duties as parents based on Lyssa's account in her memoir and should have done more to protect her during her childhood and teenage years.... But as Lyssa grows older and keeps repeating the same bad behaviors like slipping back into a life of drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex, she keeps using excuses as to why that kept happening.... I am not saying that a person can't slip up and back slide, as it happens to the best of us. But it seemed to me that Lyssa keeps using a lot of excuses that grew old reading about in her memoir. Especially when Lyssa kept saying that she wanted a better life for herself and her daughters (Lyssa married, had a 2nd daughter, and divorced, which was also written about in her memoir.).

Overall, I wasn't very impressed with Lyssa Chapman's writing even though Lyssa had a co-writer helping her write her memoir. There was a lot of repetition in her life's story. Plus, I felt like many areas of Lyssa's life were very watered down and could have been written about in more detail. Then again Lyssa only has a 9th grade education, so expecting a well written memoir from her just may have not been possible.

The following is a blurb about Walking On Eggshells by Lyssa Chapman from Amazon:

From one of the stars of A&E’s hit reality show Dog the Bounty Hunter comes an empowering memoir that can inspire others to break the cycle of abuse and forge happiness out of extreme adversity.

As a child, Baby Lyssa’s parents divorced and left her neglected. Things only got worse from there. Walking on Eggshells reveals Lyssa’s nightmare journey from mental and physical abuse to removal from school and confinement at home, flight from protective services, and teen pregnancy. Despite it all, and against incredible odds, Lyssa found her faith. She also found her way out of the spiral of bad decisions and even worse luck to build a healthy relationship with her mother and father and forge a rewarding, positive life with God.

An astonishing true story of one young woman’s trek from poverty and abuse to fulfillment and stardom, Walking on Eggshells is heartrending, powerful, and inspiring.
From one of the stars of A&E’s hit reality show Dog the Bounty Hunter comes an empowering memoir that can inspire others to break the cycle of abuse and forge happiness out of extreme adversity.

When most little girls play house, they might imagine two happy parents with several well-behaved children, pretty rooms, flowers in the yard, and a white picket fence near the sidewalk. Me? I just wanted parents who could stand to be in the same room with each other. . . . From my youngest days I always knew that God had something better in store for me, that He had a better life waiting for me. —from the Introduction

The ninth child of bounty hunter Duane Chapman, twenty-five-year-old Lyssa Chapman has overcome an upbringing that can only be called tragic. In her piercing memoir, she shares the details of her harrowing life and her faith journey and offers advice and solutions for readers who feel overwhelmed by their own dysfunctional circumstances.

I am giving Walking On Eggshells by Lyssa Chapman a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!