Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

23 reviews

amandapaige14's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

5.0


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stevie's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5


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mscalls's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

1.75


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atsundarsingh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

This was so, so hard to read. It was incredibly poetic, but also one of the rawest things I have ever read, and so painful. This is so intimate and personal, I almost can't believe the author shared all of this. Mailhot is so inspiring, and so intense. 

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margothere's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

4.75


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aarora's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25


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bookdragon217's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

"Nothing is too ugly for this world, I think. It's just that people pretend not to see."

Heart Berries by Terese Mailhot is one of my favorite memoirs I read this year. I read this one back in July and it is only now that I can fully process some of my thoughts and feelings. Mailhot's writing is honest and raw and she holds nothing back. She bares all the ugliness on the pages but still leaves you with a semblance of hope. You're left contemplating about the complexities of the human condition and what it means to love so much that it hurts. You're also left wondering if it is possible to love someone fully when there is so much pain and trauma embedded in their loins. 

Mailhot takes you through her battles with mental illness, the history and trauma of Indigenous people, motherhood and longing to be loved. The book reads like an open wound as she picks away at the scabs and scars that are left behind from her trauma. You especially see this in the ways that she speaks directly to the pain she feels of not being seen and loved by her children's father and how that pain almost mirrors "madness".

The writing is absolutely exquisite. I highlighted so many passages that need further introspection. I will definitely reread this one because I feel like it will hit differently every time. What stays with me the most is how she writes about Indigenous women's pain and explains how humanity was born from pain. It is felt on every page. The quote I still think about is: "My people cultivated pain. In the way that god cultivated his garden, with the foresight that he could not contain or protect the life within it. Humanity was born out of pain." She's not afraid to speak about it and boldly calls it out. This book is one that haunts me because of it's unflinching manner and the way it bravely speaks truth to power. 


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esmithumland's review

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I knew nothing about this book except for the title, and I was surprised at how painful it was to listen to. 

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memorable's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced
Unfortunately, I didn’t fully understand everything in this book; however, it is a strong memoir that presents a lot of resilience.

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nmp's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5


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