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Rating: 9/10

Kissing Asphalt is inspiring and heartfelt memoir that describes Delicia's life events and her journey of surviving the tribulations and traumatic past. A gripping narration of resilience and strength.

Delicia Niami's memoir recounts her past that changed in an instant when both she and her brother, Nile were abducted from Los Angeles to Baghdad. What unravels next is a series of traumatic events, misfortunes of rights, bullying, and abuse, plunging in deep into scarring experience.

This extraordinary journey is where she discovers her strengths and abilities, her true self and courage.

This is such an incredibly intriguing memoir. The author delves into past events and memories of her childhood, the journey from abuse to healing, the challenges and disturbances along with hope and courage. Her resilience truly shows that she is antifragile and she never loses her way of finding the way of the gigantic spiral of interlinking struggles.

Describing how vividly precarious the journey was, the situations she had to endure, Delicia wants to help others understand that you don't stand alone. She encourages her readers not to give up. A must read for all those who are transitioning from the complicated past to the healing present.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a book I couldn’t put down. Incredibly heartbreaking, and beautiful at moments. You weep for little Delicia but cheer for the fact that we know she’s still here with us, thriving. Not always an easy read, I had to put it down many times to just have a good cry. Needless to say I was very moved by this book. There really are no words, although I’m trying to put a few together. All I can say is I can’t wait for the next chapter in her extraordinary journey. - CultVult

Must read 🏆⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The most resilient woman ever navigates childhood trauma and bullying while remaining optimistic in unimaginable circumstances.

Kissing Asphalt by Delicia Niami is a biography demonstrating her incredible resilience in the face of abuse from trusted allies and strangers. The story has many characters as the Niamis move around, but Delicia and her mother are the leads in each others’ woes and triumphs. Delicia experiences trauma making her ashamed and fearful. Kissing Asphalt is about fighting feelings that keep you suffering in the past, and embracing the wonderful things bullies wanted you to hide from yourself. It is the first in Delicia’s ResiliantAF trilogy.

Rather than following a single chronological stream, the biography follows the flow of relationships in Delicia’s life. The whole story takes place from Delicia’s birth until late high school.  A section shares one character’s relationship and experiences with Delicia from introduction to conflict and resolution, then jumping to another person. As a result, the stories are not chronological, skipping forward and backward a few days or years. Once understood, this is a fantastic way to represent character relationships.

Overall, the book was a phenomenal read that explained well the good and bad coping mechanisms used by the author to deal with her past. I highly recommend this book, especially for people who have never enjoyed a biography.  Kissing Asphalt can be emotionally heavy because of the volume and severity of traumatic events. Delicia did a fantastic job by speaking matter-of-factly about her experiences and their impacts. Delicia’s language made the story easier to digest. Giving readers detailed descriptions of her perpetrators’ and friends’ characteristics and lifestyles made their intertwining stories feel more insidious. Readers see the juxtaposition between the friendly and terrifying sides of people as Delicia did in her youth. It can be sickening to see relationships continue after abuses have occurred. Readers then remember that Delicia is a child whose abusers use knowledge of her desires and fears to maintain their relationships with her.

Mature readers who binge or who like many breaks will enjoy the novel’s compilation of short stories. Delicia has a unique writing voice that immerses readers without disturbing them. The short stories were fast-paced with impressive character development, even on the characters readers barely saw.

Kissing Asphalt is professionally edited with a satisfying ending that makes readers crave more.

Trigger Warning: Sexual Abuse

REVIEWED BY

Amy DiMaio

Reedsy Discovery

Review of Kissing Asphalt

By C. Powell 28 Sep 2023, 04:58

This book, Kissing Asphalt, by Delicia Niami, is a memoir dedicated to the life of the author, Delicia Niami. Its 11 sections chronicle the ups and downs that helped shape her life into the woman she is today.

Kissing Asphalt begins with the birth of Delicia in Sylmar, California, to her American mother, Laurie, and Iraqi father, Hazim. After a bad divorce, her father kidnaps her and her brother. She suffers neglect from her father and his family but finds succor in her brother, Nile. After her mother regains custody, she tries to adjust to her new home with her mother and brother, who do all they can to make life easier for her. However, this is not always the case, as she recalls instances of abuse aided by her brother and neglect by her mother. She endures sexual abuse and molestation at the hands of the people she trusts. Through these sad events in her life, will Delicia finally see the silver lining? Or will her early years hold her down for the rest of her life?

I love the author's sincerity in detailing her life experiences. It takes a lot of strength and courage to write one's own story, especially when it has not been a bed of roses. I love her for that. Her writing style is also amazing. The use of first-person narration helped me to have the feeling of being present and taking each step of development with her as she reaches each milestone in her growth. Her early acceptance of who she is is, for me, a kindness that she deserves to show herself. Also, I found no errors while reading this book. Kudos to the editors and author for a job well done. I found out that Kissing Asphalt is one part of the complete memoir. I would love to read the second part of her memoir. I have no doubt that it would be as interesting as this book.

I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. The positives above justify my rating.

I recommend this book to teenagers and adolescents who are still trying to find their way and place in the world. I also encourage people who enjoy memoirs to read this book.

KISSING ASPHALT

We rated this book: 4/5

$15.99

Kissing Asphalt by Delicia Niami is unlike any memoir I have ever read. 

Capturing her life, Niami recounts the horrific tragedies of her youth, all of which have made her into the resilient, inspiring woman she is today.

Niami’s story begins with every parent’s worst nightmare. Recently separated, her mother allows their father to take four-year-old Delicia and her older brother Nile for five days on his own. Not having seen their father for a year, they are ecstatic, especially when he mentions he is taking them to Disneyland. However, Delicia and Nile notice as they begin to drive that nothing looks like the journey to this magical kingdom. Little do Delicia and Nile know, he is kidnapping them, taking them to Iraq as a slap to their mother.

Already, Delicia’s life is off to a terrifying start. Whisked into a foreign country separated from everything she has ever known, the two are forced to live here until they can be rescued. Not understanding a word of Arabic or anything about the culture, I find it a miracle that the two survived as they did, given their father’s clear incompetency. Finally, miraculously, their mother is able to locate them and fight for her children to return to the States.

Do not be fooled; although Delicia is saved from her captor, her life in no way gets any easier. She spends much of her childhood trying to fill the void of a father figure, putting her in extremely dangerous and life-endangering circumstances. Per the trigger warning, readers should be aware that Niami divulges into some very hard topics, including child molestation, sexual assault, and abuse, as well as suicide. Some passages were a very difficult read as she describes in detail the absolutely devasting events that occur. I cannot even fathom the horrors she had to face, and I was sick to my stomach hearing how abuse was such a heavy theme in her life. If readers themselves struggle with hearing recounts or stories of these difficult topics—please beware this is NOT the book for you.

The fact that Niami can write of these events shows her incredible strength. To have survived so many odds and lived to tell the tale is truly breathtaking. I aspire to have the kind of courage she must possess to tell this story. If you are a reader who has struggled with any of the topics discussed, I would recommend this book to you. Niami’s story may help you manage your own grief and find light even in the darkest of times.

Reviewed By: Theresa Kadair

AuthorDelicia Niami

StarCount4/5

FormatTradePage Count322 pages

PublisherResilientAFPublish Date15-Sep-2023ISBN9781647047603

Bookshop.org Buy this Book 

IssueSeptember 2023CategoryBiographies & Memoirs

I couldn't put this book down. I was captivated by Delicia's story. Her descriptive writing and dialogue exchanges with her mom and brother were so interesting. I loved reading about her life. What a brave author! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars.

September 28, 2023

A big life saver. I am very grateful to the author for writing this book - K. Council

September 17, 2023

Holy cow! There is no rest in this book. From the beginning you are pulled in and whisked away with 4-year old Delicia on the crazy ride that is her life. - Reader

September 28, 2023

A BIG thumbs up to the author for writing it. - G. Johnson

September 28, 2023

I cannot thank the author enough for writing this book. I have already recommended it to some of my friends. - K. Adams

Review: Kissing Asphalt is the raw and captivating memoir of Delicia Niami, detailing her tumultuous childhood and adolescence as a latchkey kid in 1970s and 80s Los Angeles. Right from the start, the book draws the reader in with Niami's vivid descriptions, whether of being kidnapped as a child and taken to Iraq by her father, enduring sexual abuse from multiple men in her life, or finding solace through her love of music and bands like The Go-Go's.

Niami's writing style is blunt yet poetic as she recounts scene after traumatic scene, never shying away from the darkest moments. Yet the book doesn't wallow in misery. Niami's resilience shines through, even at her youngest and most vulnerable. She teaches herself from an early age to find joy and humor wherever she can, appreciating small acts of kindness from strangers or creating adventures out of boredom.

The nonlinear structure reflects how memories of trauma are not neatly stored but emerge in fragments. Each short chapter reads like a snapshot, together building a mosaic of Niami's early life. The conversational tone makes her experiences all the more vivid and intimate. While heartwrenching at times, Niami's perseverance and self-reliance in the face of ongoing abuse is inspiring.

Ultimately, Kissing Asphalt is a story of how childhood trauma shaped a life, but didn't define it. Niami shows incredible strength in surviving and processing these formative experiences. Her memoir is raw, insightful, and written with both honesty and compassion. Kissing Asphalt is difficult yet rewarding, shedding light on issues like sexual abuse and resilience. Niami has created an impactful memoir that stays with you long after the last page.

@reads_jennifer

I’ve read your manuscript a few times now and while there is very tough stuff, I swear I smile every time because as I read your honesty and observations are a wonderful mixture of poignant and enjoyable. The book has heft and levity. Also, you took me right back to the 1980’s. There are places I laugh and even get tears and by the end I feel I’ve been on an incredible journey of ups and downs, but ultimately survival and resilience. Very powerful.  - Laurie Chittenden, Editor

I started reading this book with a sense of obligation to an old friend. I finished reading the book four hours later with a profound sense of gratitude and inspiration in my heart. Highly recommend this read to anyone!

Rating: 9/10

Kissing Asphalt is inspiring and heartfelt memoir that describes Delicia's life events and her journey of surviving the tribulations and traumatic past. A gripping narration of resilience and strength.

Delicia Niami's memoir recounts her past that changed in an instant when both she and her brother, Nile were abducted from Los Angeles to Baghdad. What unravels next is a series of traumatic events, misfortunes of rights, bullying, and abuse, plunging in deep into scarring experience.

This extraordinary journey is where she discovers her strengths and abilities, her true self and courage.

This is such an incredibly intriguing memoir. The author delves into past events and memories of her childhood, the journey from abuse to healing, the challenges and disturbances along with hope and courage. Her resilience truly shows that she is antifragile and she never loses her way of finding the way of the gigantic spiral of interlinking struggles.

Describing how vividly precarious the journey was, the situations she had to endure, Delicia wants to help others understand that you don't stand alone. She encourages her readers not to give up. A must read for all those who are transitioning from the complicated past to the healing present.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a book I couldn’t put down. Incredibly heartbreaking, and beautiful at moments. You weep for little Delicia but cheer for the fact that we know she’s still here with us, thriving. Not always an easy read, I had to put it down many times to just have a good cry. Needless to say I was very moved by this book. There really are no words, although I’m trying to put a few together. All I can say is I can’t wait for the next chapter in her extraordinary journey. - CultVult