Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir by Nikki Grimes

4 reviews

doll2021's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Nikki Grimes provides a raw unfiltered look at her life through this memoir. Presenting her truth of her childhood you go on a journey through living through abuse and having to also manage living with a parent with mental health issues who also is in an abusive relationship. Grimes highlights that this memoir is the truth and not necessarily fact because she has had to fill in the gaps of memories she lost due to trauma. While not long, this book does pack a punch. One of the most poignant points of the story are the relationships Grimes presents, from her relationship to her mother deteriorating over time to her relationship with her father growing. Extremely emotional and at times hard to listen to, this memoir highlights the impact of growing up in abusive environments and Grimes’s resilience. The audiobook is narrated by Grimes herself, so you can hear her tell her story and appreciate the cadence of her poetry. I do wish the memoir was a little longer and able to flesh out more parts of the story, such as her relationship with her sister and also how/if she reconnected with her foster-siblings. Additionally, there is not a lot of closure for her relationship with her mother, but that reflects the complicated nature of growing up with and growing apart from someone in your life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

honeybeewitched87's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bravokidroxy's review

challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

I loved the look at “Swiss cheese brain” as my sister calls it, traumatic memory loss. I had a gloriously lucky childhood and getting a tour thru all the holes left by Nikki’s life on her life, an experience barely a fraction of the difficulty hers has been. The use of poetry as a medium adds to the liminal nature of sharing these kinds of horrible spaces with each other safely. 

A top level poetry book. A top level memoir. A top level Black History Month read. Generally top tier. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

purplepenning's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

A difficult story to hear, but incredibly worthwhile to listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence