Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

15 reviews

zesha's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

 C – I can’t really speak for the credibility of this book. It feels trustworthy to me, and that’s about all I can go off of. But because of that, this book leaves me deeply sad and angry for Britney. She was wronged in so many ways, most of all by her own family. 

A – I feel this book is authentic. It brings what Britney felt, and probably contradicts her mom’s and sister’s books that they put out. I may try to find and read those sometime, just to see what they say. But only if I can find them through the library or somewhere free—I refuse to give money to either of them. 

W – The writing felt really good to me, easy to read and it flowed well. It kind of reminded me of how I write, so perhaps that’s why I like it so much. 

P – There was… a lot in this book. It hit me hard. I had only known bits and pieces from the media, and we all know how the media loves to contort things. But this does show that sometimes, you have to fight for yourself. It might mean waiting until the right moment, but your own freedom is important to your mental health. 

I – I wanted to keep reading this book whenever I looked away from it, and often had to keep myself from going back to it because I knew I needed to sleep/do other things. 

L – I mean, the conservatorship didn’t make a bit of sense, but it happened anyway, didn’t it? Ridiculous. I’m just glad she managed to get out of it. Thirteen years though… 

E – Is “enjoy” the right word for this book? I learned a lot about Britney through it, but I’m not sure if I’d say I enjoyed learning those things. But I do feel like I understand her better now, so for that I’ll give her high marks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexual assault

weelasswithabook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

CW: alcoholism, DV, suicide, mentiom of child loss, mention of car accident, CSA, mention of PPH, cheating, abortion, PPD, depression, anxiety, child removal by other parent, familial abuse, financial abuse, body shaming, diet control, mental health crisis, forced institutionalisation, gaslighting, manipulation, miscarriage 

🌟 Memoir 

God this was a difficult read. Right from the get-go it's just a heartbreaking perspective on Britney's life. Right from the beginning of her life she was exposed to suicide, death, and abuse. Just the content warning list above should give you an idea of just how sad this poor woman's life has been. 

Britney Spears was a staple of the majority of us elder Millennials childhoods and there's a sense of guilt there (at least how I feel) that we all just took her persona at face value and assumed her life was glitter and dreams. Obviously we weren't to know what was going on behind the curtain, but I don't think I'll ever hear certain songs of hers the same after reading this, now I see where some of the lyrics may have stemmed from. 

From a technical aspect, I've seen reviews complaining about the actual writing of the book, and I do agree it felt very juvenile, HOWEVER, this woman was basically trapped as a late teen for the majority of her life and had her voice stifled. It's only very recently that she's had her own life back and I don't think we should be too hard on her for the technicality of her writing. I think it's pretty unfair. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Abortion, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

casperoliver's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

If you enjoyed "I'm Glad My Mom Died", then PLEASE give this one a read!   This book gave a sense of authenticity, openness, and a sense of connection that kept me captivated til the end. I personally relate to Britney's story, and her writing is absolutely phenomenal. The audio book by Michelle Williams is a great way to enjoy the story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

katelynprice's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

I am still thinking about this book weeks after reading it. I admire her so much for taking back control and telling her story. My biggest takeaway from this book and Prince Harry’s is having so much more empathy for celebrities and the scrutiny they live under. There’s so much to be said about ethics, mental health, misogyny, and trauma in these pages, and I think it would make for interesting book club discussion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Medical trauma, and Car accident

emilywiltzius's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

3.5

It is hard to rate a book about someone’s personal experience, especially when their life was so publicized. Most of what I read I already knew, some of it I did not. Some of it shocked me, most of it did not. I feel for Britney. I cannot imagine having your life controlled the way hers was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Alcohol

linnylionheart's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Rape

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Dementia, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

underage drinking ; underage smoking ; underage driving (at 13)

jul_grk's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

It makes me sad to read about everything that Britney has been through in her life, especially at the hands of people who were supposed to love and care for her. 

Despite the book not being as detailed as it could have been, it was more than enough to show and explain not only everything Britney went through, but how it has impacted her and will continue to affect her. 

This book does read almost like a teenage diary, but that is not surprising considering most of the control of her own life started to disappear when she was a teenager. So many opportunities and life experiences were taken away from her and it has definitely left its impact. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jaz_gets_literary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I started this at the gym this morning and just finished it a few hours later. I could stop listening. I am feeling so many emotions. Mostly anger. So many people failed her. Her father took her total body autonomy away from her and everyone around her just went along with it. There were lots of horrible things that happened to her before that but that one was the worst to me. I don’t understand how no one saw that it wasn’t right and agreed to it. I’m going to have to sit with this one for a while but I truly hope that she finds peace and happiness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical trauma, and Abortion