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Book Reviews of A Piece of Cake: A Memoir

A Piece of Cake: A Memoir
A Piece of Cake A Memoir
Author: Cupcake Brown
ISBN-13: 9780553818703
ISBN-10: 0553818708
Publication Date: 2/28/2006
Pages: 480
Rating:
  • Currently 4.9/5 Stars.
 4

4.9 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Crown
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

29 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 296 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
An amazing story told by a woman who has gone through the wringer and then come back to tell the tale. She describes living through every hideously bad experience I can imagine, and then (along with the grace of God and some amazing friends that see something in her worth saving) she works her butt off and she makes her long-forgotten childhood dreams come true.
amichai avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 368 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This is an amazing story of a woman who became a respected attorney after life in foster care, gangs and as a multi-drug addict. Inspiring and fascinating. Recommended!
destinyj avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is a funny, yet touching story of a woman's triumph over drugs, alcohol, and the foster system to become a strong, successful woman. It was a little bit of a simple book, but it held my attention and made me care about the character.
marcym avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 159 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I thought this book had a lot to offer, but would be more easily understood if a person has struggled with addictions themselves. I found myself saying "Just say NO lady, don't smoke that crack today!" I've never been there, so had a hard time believing some of the things she did to stay high. I can't say I blame her, she really did get a bum rush from people and the government when she was a young child. It's amazing that she fought her way to the top, and her story tells you how hard it was.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
An amazing memoir you can't put down.
vonita avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 58 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Very inspiring story.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 71 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Although this book covered so many sad topics, it was such an uplifting book in so many ways. It's so cool to see how God puts people in our lives at just the right time and they say just the right thing. I admire the author's courage to share the whole, raw truth about her life - even when the truth was really ugly. I'll have to share this one with friends before I pass it on - it was that good.
KristinF avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
An emotional "in your face" memoir on surviving the worst life has to offer. From losing her mother at 11, to being torn from the only family she knows, abusive foster homes, life on the streets, drugs, alcohol, bad relationships, gang involvement and violence. Cupcake has survived it all. Through a strong spirit she perserved and pushed herself through college and law school. A difficult road for most with just one of the devasting life consequences. This girl has managed to come out on the top of the heap and live to write about. A very inspiring autobiography.

Be warned though.. this book is peppered with very careful language, drug language and adult situations.
nerdylou avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is by far my all time favorite book! Cupcake is an absolutely beautiful women who managed to come out on top and beat all odds. A true survivor in the face of real tragedy. You will not want to put this down.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Good, juicy, down and dirty book: Couldn't put it down. Can't be someone who doesn't like cursing!
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
I read this a couple of years ago and it was well worth my time. I really enjoyed the story and it kept me wanting to read.
babyjulie avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 336 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
GREAT BOOK! As someone who knows enough about drug addiction and recovery to make a statement I definitely recommend this book. Unlike a lot of other drug and alcohol recovery books (this is not "just" one of those by the way) like for example A Million Little Pieces by Frey this is an honest account. Everything this woman went through (in terms of her addiction) has been gone through by countless others and she really has a way with words. This book reminded me of numerou life lessons that I've let slip from my mind over the years and how important it is to keep fighting. It's unreal how her early life was though, with the courts and police, and running away you'd think someone would have stepped in somewhere. She totally turned her life around and is now helping others- I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in any of the above or just plain memoir fans. I'd keep it if my bookshelves weren't so darn full! :)
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a page-turner for me. I couldn't wait to finish it because it was packed with so many curves and turns that you'd wonder how this woman actually made it through.
It was hard to believe that this was a true story.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
This is an excellent book. It was hard to put the book down. It held my attention all the way to the end.
eclecticreader10 avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
I really wanted to like this book, but I found too many inconsistencies. I do not totally believe her story. I think it started with the facts and then a lot of it was embellished. After reading I googled her and found that others shared my opinion. In fact she was compared to James Frey (A Million Little Pieces). I am very disappointed.
rhodapenmark avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
I thought Cupcake Brown's story was pretty fascinating. I couldn't put it down. I like memoirs and this one definitely felt very real and it was easy to kind of "get into her head" and it sucked me in from the beginning.

But overall, I agree with others who do not believe this is all a "true story". SO many things about it bugged me! I felt like it could have been 200 pages shorter and still been exactly the same book. The endless descriptions of drug use didn't impact me. There's a (fiction) novel by Luke Davies called 'Candy: A Novel of Love & Addiction' (later made into a movie with Heath Ledger & Abbie Cornish) that just brought the drug lifestyle to life in a way that this book didn't at all. It was hard for me to really feel the desperation or get the impact of her drug problems during much of the book. I felt very confused at times and the events of her story were not always clear (in my opinion).

The biggest issue for me as a reader was having such a difficult time just accepting all of the stuff she did (crime and violence)...it seemed like she was so blase about it and that really bothered me! I think I'm usually pretty understanding of peoples' antisocial behavior when I read books of this type, and I know abuse can do crazy things to a person, but I just got this vibe that she was an incredibly dangerous & angry person...even at the end, I just didn't get a real feeling that Cupcake was truly remorseful for ANY of the wrongs she'd done!

To me (probably because I couldn't relate to her recovery or her faith) the last 1/4 of the book was just a neverending string of cliches. I was so happy that she was finding a happier life and getting healthy, but every other paragraph was just cringeworthy for me. I'd recommend this to a person who doesn't mind reading a lot of "filthy" stuff but also believes in God.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
If you like memoirs (or even if you don't) READ this one!! It will stay with you and blow your socks off. It inspires you to be a better person. You won't be able to put it down. Read it!
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
AWESOME!!!!!!!
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 3 more book reviews
I found this book to be very interesting. It is about the life of a young lady known to people as "Cupcake Brown." The book is about the things she had to endure while growing up.
shamrock1 avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Excellent read!
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 117 more book reviews
The book was not bad overall but I have a hard time believing that someone who was so heavily drugged would be able to remember so many details of her past. She goes on about not remembering anything about the previous night when she woke up, but she just wrote a chapter on going out what they did and getting high or drunk. If she wakes up with no recollection of the night how did she write such a detailed account of the period leading up to it?!?!? It makes you feel sorry for her in the beginning but by the middle of the book I was blaming her and her friends for the reason things are the way they are. She tells of selling her rented furniture, using aliases for store credit cards which got maxed and never paid, stealing from everyone. Perfect example of where the stereotype comes from. You go from sympathy in the beginning to wishing she would just O.D. or get killed just to end the drain on society. Very long book. Not something I would recommend but not a horrible book, either.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 7 more book reviews
I heard of this book through a friend. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. Cupcake's story is one of true endurance. Its almost unbelievable that she even made it out of the nightmare that became her life. The brutal honesty with which she wrote was compelling and made me feel like I knew her personally. Great memoir. Loved it.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Very good! So inspirational
starkissed2012 avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 16 more book reviews
Great book...incredible story of a girl who had a life that most of us couldn't even imagine. I really enjoyed reading this book and finished it in one day.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 11 more book reviews
Roller coaster. Many sad situations for a young woman that breaks your heart, but so inspiring. I didn't want it to end. This was the best book I read in 2010. Buy the book NOW!
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 213 more book reviews
This is one of the best books i have ever read on drug addiction and recovery. It was excellent! I must read. She really draws you into the story emotionally. I couldnt put it down!
jennaboo avatar reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Heartwrenching and hopeful; it was a tough read and quite thought-provoking. It had a positive outcome but it didn't come easy!
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on
Loved this book! Cupcake shares things about her life that you would hope would never happen to anybody. Couldn't put it down.
reviewed A Piece of Cake: A Memoir on + 59 more book reviews
Gripping tale