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jennchilla's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
korine's review
4.0
This book is incredibly powerful and I so admire the author for overcoming what she has overcome and for sharing this story so others might understand. I strongly recommend this book for those whose loved ones are struggling with substance use disorder.
The one thing I would've liked to have seen resolved or emphasized more greatly is the role of childhood trauma. The author's awful experience as a very young child was mentioned several times, as well as her mother's disbelief that it happened, but it feels unresolved after finishing the book. Perhaps the author didn't feel comfortable sharing the resolution of those experiences but given the important role of childhood trauma in addiction, I think it would be valuable.
The one thing I would've liked to have seen resolved or emphasized more greatly is the role of childhood trauma. The author's awful experience as a very young child was mentioned several times, as well as her mother's disbelief that it happened, but it feels unresolved after finishing the book. Perhaps the author didn't feel comfortable sharing the resolution of those experiences but given the important role of childhood trauma in addiction, I think it would be valuable.
megatsunami's review
3.0
This book is well written but I think it would have been stronger if the author had chosen certain episodes to focus on about her struggles with addiction and PTSD, rather than recounting so many details of events. There was a lot of narrative like "Then I went to a party where I saw Joe, a guy I had dated before Mark, and asked him if I could get some heroin. He said yes, and he introduced me to his friend Louis. As soon as I met Louis, I was attracted to him and we went off to shoot up together." As a reader, there are too many people and relationships for me to follow, and a lot of time is given over to a surface recounting of her actions.
As an addiction memoir, this book left me with a lot of questions about how she actually recovered and what were the things that helped. It's okay not to know - there's a lot that's hard to quantify about addiction recovery and healing - but I didn't feel like I took away a lot of insight. The last chapters about pregnancy, giving birth, and finding recovery and healing as a parent were the most interesting to me.
As an addiction memoir, this book left me with a lot of questions about how she actually recovered and what were the things that helped. It's okay not to know - there's a lot that's hard to quantify about addiction recovery and healing - but I didn't feel like I took away a lot of insight. The last chapters about pregnancy, giving birth, and finding recovery and healing as a parent were the most interesting to me.
meldav4's review
4.0
Strung Out is a raw, honest, and gripping memoir about the struggles a young woman faced throughout her life of addiction and recovery. Though I cannot personally myself relate to what she has gone through, I am connected to others who have faced addiction, so I can relate to many parts of her story from the outside looking in. I strongly feel this is a memorable story that begs to be voiced and shared to many, for I feel we all are connected to someone who has faced some type of addiction in some capacity, or may one day be.
I am so incredibly proud of Erin for sharing her life story with the world, and exposing her faults and mistakes for everyone to see. Most importantly is the true life lesson that though one might once be at rock bottom and contemplating suicide, life is not completely lost and over if you have some support, some love, some help, from someone, somewhere.
Reading her story had me feeling a myriad of emotions, which is a kudos to the writing, as I felt so connected to her and what was happening. I was intrigued and felt compelled to read on and find out what was going to happen to her next. The reading itself was easy and flowed smoothly, unlike many memoirs I have read in the past. The style was written in such a way that it did not read like a typical memoir or diary, but felt like a novel of fiction. Not only was her life one to be admired and commended because of how far she went, but she was able to tell and share her story in a way that exposed her talent of writing!
I am so incredibly proud of Erin for sharing her life story with the world, and exposing her faults and mistakes for everyone to see. Most importantly is the true life lesson that though one might once be at rock bottom and contemplating suicide, life is not completely lost and over if you have some support, some love, some help, from someone, somewhere.
Reading her story had me feeling a myriad of emotions, which is a kudos to the writing, as I felt so connected to her and what was happening. I was intrigued and felt compelled to read on and find out what was going to happen to her next. The reading itself was easy and flowed smoothly, unlike many memoirs I have read in the past. The style was written in such a way that it did not read like a typical memoir or diary, but felt like a novel of fiction. Not only was her life one to be admired and commended because of how far she went, but she was able to tell and share her story in a way that exposed her talent of writing!
jadechurch1983's review
3.0
There are important messages here in this book. As someone who has had drugs in his past, I can identify with a lot of the aspects of Khar's story. She has a poetic way with words and describes things in a visceral way. The story is important and raw but it tends to get dragged down a bit much in the seemingly endless romantic aspects of her life. I realize that those things probably had a lot to do with her drug problems, but in terms of adding intrigue to the story, I started to get numb to the seemingly endless number of guys that were in and out of her life. I enjoyed this book overall, but Khar's story doesn't particularly stand out or have some uniquely compelling aspect to it, and that's why I'm giving it a 3... I could maybe give it a 3.5.
elizabethtye's review
3.0
2.5/5 stars rounded up. eBook. Not much to say about this one. Run-of-the-mill drug addicted Erin who is saved by the birth of her son. Not a new story, but the writing was solid.