valramirezcruz's review
5.0
Despite sharing absolute horror stories from her childhood, Jeannette's ability to maintain her humor and portray her childhood optimism so unabashedly while remaining extremely candid is what makes this my top favorite book of all time. At the same time, this book is a perfect capsule of extreme poverty and mental health struggles in America. It's an impactful read for those who have lived a sheltered and privileged life but it never strays from being relatable all the same.
I could go on for hours but I might as well start my 9th read through. And maybe while I'm at it, buy a new copy that's cover hasn't completely fallen off it's binding.
I could go on for hours but I might as well start my 9th read through. And maybe while I'm at it, buy a new copy that's cover hasn't completely fallen off it's binding.
nazeefa_ahmed's review
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Absolutely love this book. Really made me think deeply about familial relationships and how to strive for greatness despite circumstance. Her parents were peculiar people, but Walls was able to rise up and build a live for her self and I admire that deeply.
shel_conn's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Really happy that I listened to the author read this one. She managed to portray a harrowing story with love and empathy and grace.
sadiereadsagain's review against another edition
4.0
This is the memoir of a turbulent and neglectful childhood, but don't let that put you off. Because this book is far more than that. Unlike many, many books in what I think is now tagged misery-lit, this is not just a list of traumatic experiences reeled off for rubbernecking. Jeannette Walls is more than a victim or product of her upbringing. Her story is told with an almost novelesque narrative, with some beautiful writing. It is insightful, whilst absolutely capturing the innocence of a child who loves her parents before she is old enough to understand their flaws, and then as an adolescent who loves them despite those flaws. And flaws is putting it mildly. Although Jeannette is kind in the telling and painted her parents far more sympathetically than I think they deserved, I was disgusted at the neglect and cruelty she and her siblings suffered due to nothing more than selfishness. Whilst her father clearly loved his children, his alcoholism and eccentricities put them in dangerous situations and plunged the family into a level of poverty and deprivation that it is almost hard to believe was true. I initially felt for Jeannette's mother, who obviously struggled with her husband's drink problem, but it quickly became clear that she was completely self absorbed. The children suffered even more than they already had to, due to her conviction that her art came before anything else. The revelation towards the end of the book was unforgivable. It was Jeannette's compelling way of telling her story, her spirit and the light that I felt shine from her character that kept me reading, and I'm glad I did. To know that someone can face such adversity and yet still come out of it with such a generosity of spirit, compassion and drive is amazing to me.
lharrison1211's review
4.0
I liked this book, but for some reason I had a hard time getting into it! The stories in it are incredible and crazy that they are true. I appreciated all of the details and found it super interesting and shocking what she lived through