Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Hunger - Die Geschichte meines Körpers by Anne Spielmann, Roxane Gay

88 reviews

xabbeylongx's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

2.0

SPOILERS AHEAD

Book Review: 

This is my second attempt at reading Gay’s memoir, and I finally finished it, this time. There are quite a lot of trigger warnings, so if you’re likely to become affected, this book isn’t for you. 

I don’t like to criticise memoir’s, as I don’t think it’s right; someone has poured their heart out, and if you’re talking about the content the memoir, it can get really personal. So, I’m going to start off by saying that I really liked this book because it was so personal, and Gay bared all by writing it. It has a lot of content that others would maybe try and hide, as she did for all those years, but I really like how she now tells us about it. Her character growth is insane, and I love reading about it. 

Second of all, I’d like to say this book is so thorough, so in depth, and it’s nice to read a memoir so realistic. I, too, struggle with my weight, and it’s so incredibly refreshing to read about someone with similar-ish struggles to me. It’s validating! Reading about everything that has happened to her, every personal hell she’s had to deal with… I mean, there is a lot I cannot comment on or even begin to understand. However, with regards to the weight prejudice and the eating disorder, I really like how it’s not sugar-coated, and I liked reading it from someone else’s POV. 

I’d say that, personally for me, some of the writing itself was a bit repetitive. I liked the small chapters that were put in, but sometimes, they weren’t necessary. A lot of the time I was reading over it, and I was thinking that I had already read it, but it was actually a different part. It also had a bit of a mismatched order, in my opinion, but I am a stickler for chronological memoirs, so that’s just my preference. It was quite a good read though, even if I found it did take me a while to finish it. 

 

Book Summary: 

Roxane Gay talks about her struggles with her weight, and her experience with eating disorders. 

After an incident of r*pe from someone she loved and trusted, she turned to food for comfort. She wanted to be in a ‘bigger’ body, in order to keep herself safe, and to try and stop people from looking at her. She ate and she ate, until everyone around her was worried about her size. 

She dropped out of college, and disappeared for a while, wanting to get away from her parent’s disappointment. She gave her body to many people, men and women, because she felt she didn’t deserve to be treated nicely. She wanted to lose weight, but she would lose weight, and then become nervous because of the attention, and then would put it all back on again. She wasn’t happy with how she looked, and tried many diets. For a few years or so, she would often would eat as much as she could and vomit it back up. Slowly, she was learning how much she was damaging her body, and she was starting to try and change her mentality and find herself worthy of love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism and Violence

naomiwinograd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

This was a tough book to get through. I almost cried several times, and i’m not a very emotional person. This book deserves no less than 5 stars because of how perfectly it depicted her story and how necessary it was to be told. It’s brave for anyone to tell their story, because it’s terrifying. (I don’t need to elaborate, read the book) But it gives other women hope. It honestly changed my whole perspective. I’ve always been on her side with these sorts of things but she made me not only realize WHY i fight for these things but also made me passionate about them. As someone with a BMI under 30 i never really understood fat phobia to a great extent. Maybe I never will. But she really helped me get closer and i think any book that does that is a good one. Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

compelling, searing, startling personal and painfully relatable in parts, hunger is a powerful memoir on food as both comfort and shield, the body as both a haven and prison. gay's anecdotes on her personal experience w/ fatphobia are impactful; most ppl think they know how it is but they actually dont at all, oblivious of the minutiae of inhabiting the world in a body most - as gay states - view as both visible and invisible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Medical content

mads_jpg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

Even more powerful hearing Gay's perspective in her voice rather than just reading the words alone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

graecus_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

outstanding memoir. great commentary on fatphobia and racism, incredibly intersectional. i really enjoyed gay’s reading of the audiobook, would recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Racism, and Rape

leefox's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

ammmiiiii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism

buttongirl22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

This book is so beautifully written, even when it touches sensitive and heavy subjects. It made me feel more secure in my womanhood, but also made me question how I see myself and women in the world. It challenges cultural perceptions and self-image in an emotional and profound way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Rape

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Racism and Suicidal thoughts

zedohee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative relaxing sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mental illness and Grief

Minor: Racism and Vomit

sofa_gee's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Minor: Racism and Toxic relationship