Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner

58 reviews

alicecrow's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

(Audiobook) This book was very disturbing at times — at time hard to listen to, but I appreciated the author’s insights. A well written book with powerful subject matter. One thing I couldn’t shake from my head though — at the beginning of the book it says some of the people in the book are actually composites of multiple patients so that the author could explain a higher psychological truth. That made me wonder how true everything was throughout the book. Overall, it was good though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

firedew's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, and Cancer

gmacphail's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

silodear's review

dark sad medium-paced

1.5

This book was weird and took me forever to read. I’m not sure how to feel about it. I have many questions about how the subjects profiled in this book provided their consent (did they??) And I have some major qualms with the way the author talks about queer and trans people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

whatchusellin's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book was really really good. The topics were incredibly heavy and all five of the clients went through deep trauma and abuse which could be triggering. I really enjoyed the vastly different cases that all come back to the human condition of wanting and needing connections with others. And how your past will haunt you until you face it. Lastly, the authors narration was really interesting to hear the therapists perspective, especially when she shared points that did not make to her clients. I definitely recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

throwback682's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

2.75

As others have mentioned, this book has lots of problems, including the audiobook narrator putting on Chinese and First Nations accents, deadnaming and other transphobic comments, among others. There were just so many times that I cringed. The author at times seemed self aware but often was just painfully out of touch. The book did feel rather exploitative, and often felt fake. I felt like it was particularly insensitive about sexual abuse, for example the way the author distinguished between “violent” sexual abuse and… what?? It’s all violent! I think I agree with other people who called the book trauma porn. I did (enjoy doesn’t seem like the right word) parts of the book. I did gain some understanding into how childhood trauma can impact people, and felt hopeful at times that I and people I love can heal from difficult things. But overall the book felt pretty icky. I’m kind of shocked how many people uncritically loved it. Definitely read with caution especially if you’re a survivor of abuse, especially sexual abuse or child abuse generally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Genocide, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Dementia

This book is all about people who have overcome HORRIFIC things, mostly in their childhoods. It is very very difficult to read.

kjperry97's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

serinehart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

I think people's use of the label "trauma porn" is an expression of their own personal sensitivities and morality more than a helpful descriptor. This book is ultimately optimistic in showing therapeutic case studies of individuals who improved into better circumstances, which I found to be an emotional bolster, personally. The author does characterize these stories as those overcoming adversity. But I wonder if the public reception is positive because of the analytic lens to the detailed horrors of these individuals' lives of that of a health care worker. I'm thinking in contrast to Hanya Yanigahara's A Little Life, a work of fiction that describes a character's life details that are entirely similar to Gildiner's clients real lives. Is "trauma porn," i.e., the fear that we or others may get some perverse pleasure in the torture of others, only applicable to stories that are not real, that have a happy ending, or that are perceived to be handled by an author with good intent to serve some (read: higher) purpose? This was something I was thinking about while reading, due to it's obvious similarities to A Little Life and how the content of that book was received by the public as controversial. Which is not to defend "trauma porn" as a genre, but as a label, since it strikes me as entirely subjective. Or possibly symptomatic of a societal squeamishness with the details of trauma, and therefore a lack of understanding or being able to address it properly when it happens in our communities. And my moral sense personally is suspicious of censorship, which doesn't leave room for differences in reading experience or interpretation. But of course be mindful of your own sensitivities.

I've currently been reading and listening to podcasts on therapy cases and transcripts for their optimism and demonstrated conflict resolution in action, especially with how therapists honor people's emotional inner worlds and respond to most everything with compassion and respect, even when disagreeing. This one was challenging to read, but also reassuring in its level-headed approach to lived horrors and plotted progression of clients' improvements, suggesting that no one is so broken that their life cannot be improved. Of course this is an oversimplification, but something I hold on to to counteract my own depression.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

kellee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.5

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I’m glad I read this book. It was hard to read at times, and content warnings for all sorts of abuse, but I regard Laura, Peter, Danny, Alana, and Madeline as people who deserve much much more than they were given as children, and they deserve to have their stories told, so I am glad to be a witness. My forthcoming review has more to do with the writing and Gildiner’s approach, which are the reasons why I ultimately gave it 3.5 stars. So, spoilers from here on.

I have several issues with this book. Gildiner wrote about how it was imperative that her clients be unrecognizable, and so I’m not sure how much was real or composited for each. Some explanations for their pathologies seemed a bit too simple, aka

Laura’s issues with her father leading to her choosing the wrong men, Peter’s emasculation due to his mother, Danny’s throat cancer due to his losing his first language, Alana fighting her father in the video game, and Madeline’s fear of abandonment due to her mother. Maybe it is that simple, but I would have appreciated more nuance.

Gildiner used a Freudian approach for her therapy in the 80s, which I imagine is not requisite anymore. However it was fascinating to read about, especially the dream interpretation. I also had an issue with her therapeutic approach in general, including her emotional involvement, and especially her sarcastic remarks; for example,

hearing about Madeline’s affair and her seemingly sardonic comment in the book, wondering if he was the one who brought them coffee.

One more quick thought before I wrap up; I listened to this on audio, and I did not enjoy the narrator’s characterizations or voices for Peter, who is Chinese, or Danny, who is Cree. I also felt some inherent bias from Gildiner (it was a different time, and she was born in 1948) but as someone who is AAPI, I am sensitive to Caucasian interpretations of AAPI experiences. I did appreciate that she acknowledged her limitations for Danny, but I struggled as to why she didn’t with Peter.

Lastly, I’m not sure how I feel about the term “psychological heroes.” It’s undeniable that Laura, Peter, Danny, Alana, and Madeline endured horrific childhoods, but I don’t know if I like that Gildiner put them on display as heroes. I don’t know if I can idealize any of them, since there’s no one can live up to those kinds of standards, but I <i>can</i> acknowledge their resilience and their strength. 

3.5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

fanchera's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment