Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Elissas: Three Girls, One Fate, and the Deadly Secrets of Suburbia by Samantha Leach

6 reviews

florapants84's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.5

"Rich junkies might have more resources, but they end up dead too." —Cathy, Director of SoCo Rehabilitation Clinic
 
I remember an older cousin pressuring me to watch "Cruel Intentions" with her at a sleepover, and then just drifting off to sleep after it was over. She was a fan and had seen the film countless times. I, on the other hand, didn't get a wink of sleep that night. I was traumatized. Rich kids had issues too, and they seemed way more complicated than the ones I was juggling at the age of 14. I wouldn't have traded places with them for all the money in the world then or now. This book had a similar effect on me. It's dark, gritty and an utterly unknown area of expertise for me. However, although the author and others mentioned in the book were a good 5 years or so younger than me, I could totally relate to the painful adolescent emotions coursing through their veins in the early 2000s and beyond. I was there; I lived it. I wouldn't go back to those teenage years for all the tea in China. While this is by no means a perfect book, I did appreciate Leach's journalism experience in creating a narrative non-fiction tribute to her childhood best friend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent

flufficorn's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

This book definitely gave me feelings. As an addict in recovery, I recognized some of my own story here, and did my best to confront it as the book went along. It feels strange to listen to a story that I can relate with on such a personal level, and finish it thinking I am one of the lucky ones that avoided the troubled teen industry. 

This is very human story about 4 girls facing the trials of adolescence while internalizing their own trauma and also acting out their trauma on their own bodies through body shaming, eating disorders, drug abuse and addiction, and toxic interpersonal relationships. Its heavy stuff, so tread carefully if this content is triggering for you. Regardless of the content warning, I firmly believe that stories like this need to be told more often. If we spoke more openly about these topics as a society, we would be more prepared to meet the challenge of them in a way that does not shove those suffering further down the dark path of self-medicating and self-hate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization

laurensilva's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

The writing isn’t the strongest, but it’s a devastatingly informative inside look at the Troubled Teen Industry, which many of us know so little about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

thatgirlkev's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Drug use

Moderate: Death, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

seyfert's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Self harm, and Alcohol

sebrittainclark's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.5

Elissa, Alyssa, and Alissa all found their way into the Troubled Teen industry, and all three died less than ten years after graduating from their program. Leach uses first person accounts from friends and family to create a memoir of these young woman's lives, their time in the troubled teen industry, and how that industry left them with trauma and no ability to cope with the freedom adulthood provided. It was an interesting story that I couldn't put down.

Thanks to netgalley and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Addiction, Drug use, Self harm, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer