Forged by Fire is gripping! And excruciatingly painful to read. A few thoughts:

I’m not sure if I bought the 3yr-old narrator with such a close and intimate narrative distance (or lack of distance). The boy seemed far too sophisticated for a 3yr-old. That aside, the situation is compelling and realistic, the dynamics of domestic violence vividly heartbreaking, and the dialogue toward the end stellar.

I found the big jumps in age of the protagonist jarring at times, the handling of themes blunt, and the POV uneven. I gathered Draper was going for a Toni Morrison effect, but I’m not sure she pulled it off one-hundred percent. Maybe 90%...