Grateful To Be Alive - A Book Review

A book review by Scott Wade

With incredible authenticity, D.K. Sanz's gentle voice will bring you into a multifaceted spectrum of shock, tears, anger, laughter, and resolution.

Grateful To Be Alive by D. K. Sanz was published in 2023. The audiobook is under development. D.K. is also the noted author of Shattering Truths, a novel published under the name Kyrian Lyndon. She has published three poetry collections, A Dark Rose Blooms, Remnants of Severed Chains, and Awake with the Songbirds, all available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

From her childhood home in Woodside, a drug-infested neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York, we are introduced to the reality and perceptions of a gifted child whose parents immigrated to the United States.

Her journey carries us through the mysteries and dangers of her teen years amidst the backdrop of challenging family dynamics and trauma. The imagery of city life is cleanly portrayed as if a masterwork of art was transposed into words.

You will walk beside her with a special pass into her thoughts and struggles. As event upon event pummels her world like a squirrel stuck in a pinball machine, she escapes into multiple addictions. A myriad of choices steers her path into an unpredictable adult life that a Hollywood screenwriter could not create.

D.K. Sanz's honesty and transparency of the dark years that led to tragedy and a life out of control are critical to understanding her harsh but beautiful journey. As a published poet, her fluid thoughts and descriptions flow with ease. You will sense her pain, hope, and resilience reserved for heroes. While this is a confession of raw truth, it is also a guidebook that will bring the reader to a path of peace. The only weakness discovered was the inability to lay the book down at the sacrifice of sleep.

This journey is a must-read, a must-share, and a must-gift. A teen will relate to her adolescent years. A young adult will recognize the bridges of troubled waters in finding a path in life. Older adults will find themselves reflecting on life-long struggles and discover it’s not too late to resolve them and live life to the fullest. She doesn’t tell but shows how her battle was won and strives to make the path wider for those who follow.

I highly recommend this intricate but personal testament to life. You will be challenged. If not you, someone in your orbit needs to hear her story. I did. I still do.

***

By this time, I had some understanding of what a powerful enemy addiction is. It cripples you. It blinds you. You're the prisoner, and despite all of the risks, it's hard to break the chains. You tell yourself it will be okay. You believe what you need to believe. You lie to yourself because the disease lies to you.

- D.K. Sanz from Grateful to Be Alive, a memoir

***

DUPLICITOUS

by D.K. Sanz

He carries his torch for you

In the dark emptiness of his soul,

Where it lights only

His limited space

In a vast universe.

It matters not

If it burns

Or extinguishes.

It is deceptive.

It is false.

It has nothing to do with you.

He is so duplicitous.

She is so trusting.

Her world seems ideal,

But it isn’t real.

He enslaved her

Because she was already

In bondage.

The master was ego.

*Used by permission.

D.K.Sanz lives on Long Island, New York. She wrote her first novel at the age of sixteen and hosts an active blog at kyrianlyndon.com where her goals are to help others find a path to recovery, happiness, and peace.