Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh

4 reviews

relf's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

The title led me to expect a spiritual, nature-oriented meditation, and this book was that . . . but it was also the memoir of a person born in Derry, Northern Ireland, into the midst of The Troubles, and an account of the ways, both destructive and constructive, that she dealt with the trauma and grief she experienced. ni Dochartaigh's writing is beautifully poetic, focused on the natural world and wild, "thin" places--the places where borders between worlds melt away--that consistently sustained her, but it's also ruthlessly honest about her own feelings and problematic behavior. The same words, phrases, and images show up repeatedly through the book, in the way that they might in a meditative chant; there's something thought-provoking, restoring, and unifying in their appearance in those different contexts. This book will certainly stay with me. The author's recountings of her own traumas and grief are vivid enough that I might not recommend this book to someone whose own trauma or loss is very fresh, but for those still healing from past losses, I recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

annick's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

Chapter five was when this book finally clicked for me. Beautifully sad and heartbreaking moments of reflection. 

I loved so many phrases that I took to underlining the book as I went. 

I was deeply moved by the lyricism and soft/quiet of the sadness and loss she speaks of. It moved me and yet amplified my own sorrows. 

The writer style is one of repeating phrases (‘I think about…’) and recurring nature themes (various birds, insects, wildlife, as well as wind, river, sea, light and shadow)

The final few chapters weren’t as strong 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship