Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

43 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

Finished reading: September 8th 2024

"There have been so many times when I was scared to speak up because I was afraid somebody would think I was crazy. But I’ve learned that lesson now, the hard way. You have to speak the thing that you’re feeling, even if it scares you. You have to tell your story. You have to raise your voice."

It's true that I don't usually read celebrity memoirs, but there has been such a hype around The Woman In Me and in the end I couldn't resist. Especially since I already had some knowledge of the things that happened to her, and I was curious to see just how far things really did go. Boy, this memoir was no picnic! Britney Spears tells her story as it is without any filter, and it is shocking just how much she has had to endure ever since she was little. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be SO betrayed by the very same people who are supposed to protect you... And how it was even possible for it to take that long for her to be able to do something about it. While I would have liked more dept in certain parts, I can't deny I liked the way this was written. Simple, but very effective and there are many trigger warning worthy topics incorporated along the way. She isn't afraid to name names either, and I applaud her for finally being able to truly speak up for herself. I remember certain events from when I was a teenager, and this memoir has definitely put things in perspective. It's truly a miracle she was even able to perform and create new content while being in such an impossible situation! I listened to her music when she first became popular, and while I wasn't a true fan or anything I'm still glad I finally read this memoir. It shows some of her music career, but the main focus is on her personal situation over the years. If you like reading celebrity memoirs and don't mind things getting dark, I can definitely recommend The Woman In Me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hilarylouise's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

_ren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.5

I have read some of the reviews, and understand that people who usually read memoirs have their educated opinions about Britney's memoir feeling like a girl's dairy or just generally unpolished. I, as someone who does not often read memoirs, thought that the writing style had some pros and some cons. The pros being the casual conversation feel of the whole book that made me feel that this was truly Britney speaking to us (some say her social medias are still highly controlled, I personally do not believe that), and the cons being the numerous jumps and time skips that were not warned about or acknowledged while I was reading. The time-skips were quite an annoyance at times because as someone who has kept up with the Free Britney Movement since summer of 2022, I felt that some details we uncovered that were crucial to the movement were not mentioned from Britney's perspective. I would have loved to seen more of Britney's version/feelings toward specific things we had uncovered about her case. In the end, this is definitely her way of saying FU to everyone who had wronged her through books, interviews, and documentaries. I am proud of her for just that.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

Wow, some people are actual garbage and I can't believe the actual brainwashing power the media and paparazzi had to make us all feel negative thoughts about Brittany during the 00s. Absolutely disgusting and I hope only good things for Brittany in the future (and a lot of bad karma for her family and the media people, and her awful exs) 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Physical abuse

mermaidread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

rachdunder's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Abortion

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Pregnancy

black_flamed_candle_b00ks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

I listened to an ASMR audio of this book which was really good. I do however wish Britney had narrated her own book, I think that would’ve made it a five star read for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

zydecovivo's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Brittney Spears’s The Woman in Me is her chance to tell her story. As a very young fan when her star was rising, I didn't understand what she was going through in the early 2000s or what her conservatorship meant. Listening to her story, in her own words, brings a perspective to both her experiences and women's treatment within the music industry that we've all been missing for a long time. It is not a perfect book. Some memories don’t seem fully relevant to her reflections and some especially emotional situations seem to literally be indescribable by the author. I think there are also some instances glanced over that may reveal more trauma than the author wants to focus on in this text. But I can tell Spears wrote from the heart and her ability to discuss the horrors she was subjected to should be commended. This is a must-read for anyone thinking of entering the entertainment industry and will probably be a gateway used to move the industry forward to avoid such blatant abuse again in the future. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cerysl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic