Children and adults

This is the early life story of a man when he was still a child. Naturally, children are yucky, especially when neglected and manipulated, as in this family. I'm just amazed how many people hate the main character and blame him, when his parents and step parent were not emotionally connected to him. His father was neglectful and the step parent was very manipulative. To those who say the boy was as bad as Ms. Potter, well, then Ms. Potter is worse, because she's supposed to be the adult. I think people didn't just get sucked in by Helena's natural charm, but they really missed the fact this was a story about a child.

And how dare she say "I'm your mother." Stepparents, get a clue. Never do this. Discuss your relationship and try to actually have one, not just view the child as a nuisance to be dealt with.