Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Somebody's Daughter

A lilting, hauntingly beautiful memoir that will have you itching to call your mom, hug your dad, and schedule extra therapy sessions all at once. Ford takes us through her childhood and early adult years as she navigates a challenging relationship with her emotional mother and dreams of her father's love for her from behind bars.

Memoir is probably my favorite genre of non-fiction, likey because of the focus placed on sharing experiences through anecdotal stories and shirt reflections on such. I loved the honesty that Ford brought to this book; she tells it as it is and was, without shame and without remorse, but also offers careful reflections on everything. There were times in her story that I wanted to scream at her mother for treating young Ashley so poorly, but was always reeled back in with Ford's detailed notes on how she picked out her mother's love even in the dark moments. The part of Ford's story that most resonates with me is her flight from her childhood home, and the duality of how leaving affects her. I deeply relate to the split feeling of not doing enough by your family/loved ones, but also knowing that to fully grow into yourself, you need to leave them. It was honestly so validating to read about Ford's internal struggle and see how it reflected some of my own feelings, and I really commend her for so bravely putting her deepest secrets and "shortcomings" down in writing.

A truly beautiful and poignant study of familial relationships, sense of self, and how we all respond to the self-proclaimed "bad" inside of us.

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silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

“We don’t give up on our people. We don’t stop loving them.” She looked into my face, her eyes watering at the bottoms. “Not even when we’re burning alive.”

There is something about memoirs that are written so beautifully they almost read like magical realism that just does it for me. Ashley C. Ford's voice is one of the most lyrical and emotional I have come across this year - I couldn't stop reading it.

This book is so incredibly crafted, you can feel all the love and hard work Ashley has poured into it. I especially loved following this up with Ford's interview with Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, which touched on so many aspects of the book that I was curious about while reading; it cemented this book as a real masterpiece in my mind.

Considering how short this book is, I do not want to go into a summary of the novel, but I will mention what my favourite aspect - besides the prose - was. This is, of course, a trend for me at this point, but exploring different family dynamics and familial love was the highlight of this book. It's something that never fails to grasp my attention, but the way Ford approached it made me feel like I was experiencing everything she described for myself, particularly when it came to her relationship with her mother and grandmother.

The reason that I cannot give this book the full 5 stars is that I found the beginning to be difficult to get into and I almost put the book down. I am so glad I powered through it, but it was a little bit of a challenge. I also this that certain very important events in Ford's life were glossed over due to the conciseness of this book. I think it would have been very impactful to explore these (no spoilers!) in more detail.

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moonpotter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Ford's descriptions are cinematic; rarely before have I been so enthralled by the way a writer describes people and emotions. Truly, this memoir is a thoughful and complex picture of Ford's youth and family, and hearing her read it herself made it all the more personal. I felt as though I stepped into some of these scenes and lived beside her.

I also greatly enjoyed the interview at the end between Ford and Clint Smith; it is always enlightening to hear great writers discuss their craft. (I may listen to that portion again after reading Smith's book, since he discusses his own word in-depth, too.)

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discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

Wow. Just… wow. It feels weird to “review” someone’s account of their life. This is a deeply gut-wrenching and emotional read, but it’s also full of hope and tenderness and reconciliation.

Ford’s experiences speak powerfully about being a young woman, growing into a body you’re made to feel is wrong or dirty simply for how others react to it; about the disassociation from and turbulent relationship with that body after sexual assault; about desperately seeking the love and approval of an absent parent; and about so many other things—family, forgiveness, identity. This is such a compelling story in so many ways.

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merryfaith's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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marigold_faye's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

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