Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby

52 reviews

makeintoall's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

4.75

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carleesi's review against another edition

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5.0

Five stars without question.

Amazing. Tear jerking. Hilarious. Heart breaking. Gut punching. Beautiful.

Hannah’s reflections on neurodivergence were incredibly powerful and timely for my own struggles with executive dysfunction and learning to accept myself for how my anxious OCD brain works.

I’m struggling to find words for just how powerful this whole book is. I felt every word deep down. Hannah is a remarkable storyteller, writer, entertainer and commentator. It is truly a gift that she chooses to share her voice with us all.

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micklesreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This was incredibly good, and Gadsby is just as good a writer as she is performer. I was triggered and then laughing in the same breath more than I can count. Gorgeous book.

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cassreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

This memoir was hilarious and moving, much like Nanette herself. There's so much to unpack here and so much I loved, from her decision to start with an epilogue (a reflection of the out of order way she came into adulthood, a promise that the present is just the beginning) to her constant attention to the world and people around her and how she was shaped as this like. little enmeshed creature.

I particularly loved her descriptions of childhood, which are so resonant for any lonely weirdos, neurotypical or not. And then there's her description of her creative process, which is so intriguing; she takes a simultaneously systematic and chaotic approach to it that, I think, ties into her descriptions of her own autistic thought process. I can't wait to watch Nanette again with the context of this "memoir situation" in mind. The audiobook is the right way to read it, I think, because Hannah's narration is so stellar; I can't imagine reading it without her impression of her mother.

There are some blocks of time that are missing, pieces of her life that I would like her to explore more. Coming into her lesbianism and her gender presentation, for instance, instead of just coming out. At the same time, it would be too much to ask of someone who is already giving her audience so much of herself, and it's not really necessary for this story.

10/10, perfect 5 star read to start off the year. A wonderfully moving, tense, joyful, and devastating read.

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achingallover's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

5.0

When I have my thoughts in order I will write more

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ankelsocks's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

TW: mental illness, suicide, physical- mental- sexual- child- abuse, trauma, physical trauma, depression, anxiety, genderdysphoria, lgbtqi+ abuse and more that I can't think of right now.

I'm quite blown away by this book. The biggest chunk of it reads(listens) like an autobiography, detailing Hannah's life as a child in a tiny Tasmanian town to where she gains traction as a comedic artist. The last half is a detailed description of how she sculpted Nanette out of her trauma's. Red threads through the story are Hannah's autism, her relationship with her mother, her sexual- and gender identity and her (in)ability to interact with the world around her. The first half has its slow parts, but is generally really helping to gain insight in what made Hannah Gadsby who she is. She is witty, self -deprecating, but also critical and angry, especially when she mentions the political tensions surrounding homosexuality in Australia during her growing up. I listened to the audiobook, which I'd generally really recommend, since it's read by Hannah herself, telling you her story.
However much I loved this book, it was also incredibly triggering. Perhaps it was the added layer of hearing Hannah Gadsby read/tell the book herself, but the book is full to the brim with heavy topics. Suffering from mental illness myself, this book triggered anxiety attacks in me. I often listened to while cycling, and sometimes had to stop because the book made me too anxious or sad.
If you can find a way to deal with that though, please read(or better: listen to) this book.

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