Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

20 reviews

scvqa's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

“One hot afternoon during the era in which you’ve gotten yourself ridiculously tangled up with heroin, you will be riding the bus and thinking what a worthless piece of crap you are when a little girl will get on the bus holding the strings of two purple balloons. She’ll offer you one of the balloons, but you won’t take it because you believe you no longer have a right to such tiny beautiful things. You’re wrong. You do."

“Did you know your sink was made in Argentina?” I asked when I was able to speak.
“Argentina?” he replied.
By way of answer, I reached up and ran my finger over the tiny sticker on the bottom of his sink that said Made in Argentina.” [...] That Made in Argentina sticker isn’t under the bathroom sink anymore. We don’t even live in the house with that bathroom sink. Before we moved out—years after we first became lovers—Mr. Sugar meticulously peeled the sticker off and with it he made me a card.
Made in Argentina it says on the front. Inside he wrote, “But it feels just like home.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing

kiwichill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol

clittleford3's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective

2.5

One thing is certain: Cheryl Strayed can write! 

While I didn’t always agree with the advice and some of the topics were not ones I wanted to hear, she did an excellent job of making each response a story and drawing you in to her tale. Much of her advice is anecdotal. The style sitting somewhere between Jenny Lawson & Brenè Btown. 

There is quite a bit of sex and sexuality related content and many four letter words that start with F.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Love love love this book. It’s cliche, but it really did make me both laugh and cry. This memoir came to me at exactly the right time and place in my life. I only ever hold on to books I rate five stars, and this one has earned its place. Sugar/Cheryl kindly, lovingly, and patiently gives advice, which stems from stories from her own personal life. She is as vulnerable with her readers as her readers are with her. It feels like I’m reading a conversation between two friends.

There are two quotes towards the end of the memoir that I feel capture the essence of the advice Sugar/Cheryl gives:

“It was a becoming that I would not have dreamed was mine” (323)

“Your life will be a great and continous unfolding” (351).

I highly recommend this book. And if you like this one, then you will also love How to be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky/Ask Polly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

pennyforyourthoughts's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

I don’t know exactly how to review this book as it’s a collection of advice columns that are only connected with overarching narratives from Sugar and not much else. Some sections made me cry while others felt like a slog to get through. Not all of the advice will impact everyone the same. I think I did the book a disservice by pushing myself to read it all rather rapidly as taking the sections in more bite-sized chunks when you need them may have been the better option. Overall I enjoyed the realness that this collection provided, showing humanity in all its different forms.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

readbyroska's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

Read it if any of the following applies to you, and you can’t find your peace:

you’re feeling lost, hopeless, not good enough, deserving but unlucky, regretful, guilty, ashamed, disempowered, confused, heartbroken, lonely, isolated, alone, misunderstood, underachieving. 

Read if you are a partner, wife, husband, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, daughter, son, child, friend, fuck buddy, teacher, student.

Read it if you don’t have anyone in your life who can love you and know you but still tell it to your straight. 

You will find something here for you, so sift through and find it.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

throwback682's review against another edition

I got through the first 2-3 letters. I cringed when Sugar didn’t address medical fatphobia levied against a grieving mother. As a queer person I turned it off when Sugar talks about crying with joy at a Pride parade featuring police and republicans. I’m sure this book is beloved by many, but it’s certainly not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Grief, and Medical trauma

koplomps's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

tinyy's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

I think I desperately needed to hear this:

”There is nothing more boring and fruitless than a woman lamenting the fact that her stomach is round.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

I definitely missed some trigger warnings but there were so many I can’t remember them. If I had known about them, I wouldn’t have read the book. It’s so heavy. Despite that, I know that it helped me a little bit, deal with some of the things that have happened to me.

amberlfaris's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment