Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today by Rachel Vorona Cote

13 reviews

ksmith952's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

2.5

The premise of the book is fascinating and there are some moments of good points and well-researched observations. However, much of the book revolves around the author’s personal history rather than to the topic set out in the title. While the author has her own journey, as do we all, that’s not what I want to learn. The book would have been half the size but twice the interest l to me had Ms. Cote dispensed with the autobiography. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, and Death of parent

xxlua's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

2.5

i had such high hopes for this book and i wound up pretty disappointed. i had gone in expecting a piece of feminist nonfiction, exploring how societal expectations from the victorian era still impact us today. instead most chapters were written more like a memoir. it felt like the author used this book to process her trauma and mental illness and sometimes justify her own shitty behavior. 
each chapter points were made and ideas were thrown out and they were never tied together  in any thought provoking or insightful way. 
the author references a lot of victorian and present day literature, oftentimes with spoilers to a lot of works i havent gotten to read yet. 
the chapter “cheat” frustrated me the most. no points were made. the authors behavior is not an example of a woman being “too much” - its the example of a woman being a manipulative shitty person & taking ZERO accountability for it. 

the greatest win here goes to whoever designed the cover - well done on that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

molliekneath's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Infidelity, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

graceesford's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

george_tte's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

2.25

I had thought from the description that this would be an academic study of gender-based constraints from the Victorian era and their effects on the expectations on women in modern times. However, it was instead a mix of memoir, academic study of Victorian literature, and a bit lighter on the study of Victorian gendered expectations that I would've liked. It was still a thought-provoking read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Fatphobia

zitronenzest's review

challenging informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

mxpringle's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

sistermagpie's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm

albatrossonhalfpointe's review against another edition

2.0

Full review at https://kingshearte.blogspot.com/2021/10/too-much-rachel-vorona-cote.html

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

readingwithcats's review

I honestly don’t understand this book at all. It starts off promisingly enough with Jane Eyre, but then we delve into a rather…odd…interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. From there we veer into a 1950s children series, a turn of the 20th century children’s series, a movie from the 1990s and a more recent (I guess?) movie I’ve never heard of. And woven through all of this is a memoir that I wasn’t expecting *at all.* I have too many good books on my tbr to keep going with this mess. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm