Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Book of Mother by Violaine Huisman

16 reviews

_chonklord_'s review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

annecharlotte_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

La première chose à dire c'est que Violaine Huisman a une très belle plume et impose d'emblée, avec cette première autofiction, un nom et une identité forte. Je me suis trouvée immédiatement happée par l'étourdissante force de son amour pour une mère aimante, abusive, sublime et profondément malade. Deux parties à la première personne encadrent un récit à la fois empathique et distancié, à la troisième personne, qui constitue la véritable lettre d'amour à sa mère. Elle lui rend en effet ce qu'elle a toujours réclamé, sa pleine individualité de femme. Il y a quelque chose d'incestueux, comme elle le suggère plus loin, dans cette écriture qui restaure la mère disparue dans sa chair et la violence de ses peines et de ses désirs. Il y a une forme de violence aussi, consciente, dans sa façon de se glisser ainsi dans la peau de la fugitive pour la coucher une fois pour toutes sur le papier, fixer le récit de sa vie que la mère avait échoué, nous dit Violaine Huisman, à formuler de manière définitive. En émerge une autrice-narratrice à jamais marquée par la passion/violence dévorante de sa mère, consciente de son impact et défiant malgré tout la lectrice : oui, elle était terrible, oui j'ai souffert, mais garde à qui oserait ternir sa mémoire, dont je me suis fait la gardienne. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment

lwalla01's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I don’t know how to rate this or really how to think about this yet. 
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Having sat with this book for a little while, I think this book isn’t organized as well as it could have been. This book is part true story and part fiction. It’s classified as fiction because nothing in it is fact checked. This is essentially told from the authors memory, and by what she thinks happened from her mother’s point of view. The section told from her mother’s point of view is very compelling. However, as a whole I didn’t find myself as engaged in the story. This was on the long list for the Man Booker International Prize in 2022, and of what I have read so far it’s the weakest of the list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

emilyacres's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Abandonment

jaymoran's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

stephaniejaykay's review

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This novel tells of growing up in the shadow of a larger-than-life woman who lived hard and struggled with mental illness: gripping, dense, beautifully written, beautifully translated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death