Reviews tagging 'Death'

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

15 reviews

kelsey_kels's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Death of parent, and Alcohol

biab00's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

devan's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

1.5

I think I am being generous with a 1.5. People have said this book is poetic. It feels more like stream of consciousness - verbal vomit. I know mental health can be a tough topic but it felt more like “woe is me, I can’t stop saying yes to this unhealthy relationship and I feel bad no good about it”. 

Memoirs are tough to review but it brings up a question about who they are written for. If someone needs to tell their story, who am I to stop you but stories like this being praised feel a bit like rewarding & praising toxic relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

spicycheesecake's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

Such a beautiful book. The writing is amazing, and the story being told is so captivating. I was immediately pulled in from the first page, and felt emotional the whole ride through.

There are many things I could not relate with, but I understood everything, and I felt like I was there -- spectating, watching, experiencing.

I've learned about myself and my own relationships just from seeing the perspectives in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Abortion

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Residential schools, illnesses, rehab, divorce, foster home, teen marriage, child services, neglect, postpartum depression.

catapocalypse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is brief, but a big experience. Mailhot crafts prose that feels effortless, sometimes almost offhand, while also feeling like poetry. I was too engrossed to take time to write down the many beautiful entries I wish I had, so I think this will be one of the few memoirs that I may need to physically collect for myself.

Mailhot does not flinch at all from a number of difficult topics, so be mindful of content warnings if needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Racism, and Toxic relationship

mxae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

A hard read. Glad to have read it once, but complicated, especially for those who have also experienced trauma. Leaves a kind of madness with the reader, which is a beautiful skill. The afterword is also excellent and a way to own the reading of the book. Its own kind of genius.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Abortion, and Death of parent

stevie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

mscalls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5

It’s always hard to review a memoir, considering how personal it is. For me, at least, it is never the content of what the author chooses to share that is under review. It generally tends to drift towards execution of whatever story it is that they want to share. In the case of Heart Berries, I can tell how much care Mailhot put into sharing such vulnerable aspects of her life, having dealt with so much pain. Considering this, it was such a delight reading her acknowledgments and seeing the absolute joy and support she has for and from her loved ones.

Mailhot thoughtfully writes about various events that occurred during her lifetime, musings of being an Indigenous woman, and white society; all of which were told in a nonlinear fashion. On the note of white society, I found her description of self-esteem being a white invention really profound, especially with her conclusion that it seemed like “identity capitalism.” Mailhot’s comments on what forgiveness meant in her culture and white culture also left an impression on me; how the latter sees it as “letting go,” while the former rejects the idea of framing pain like a problem with a solution.

When it comes to structure, admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of the nonlinear approach at first, but I realized how well it worked in this situation, considering the ways memory and trauma work. These rarely unfold in chronological order and, at least to me, it started to make sense to have the book structured the way it was. The lyricism of Mailhot’s writing ebbed and flowed. The times lyricism didn’t come through, it felt very rough around the edges, but it almost felt intentional. After all, thoughts are never that clean. The narrative wasn’t always easy to follow (and the overall structure being nonlinear doesn’t help), but in a way, I think that challenge is needed and thoughtfully questions what a memoir should be and how they are structured.

Overall, I found this to be a powerful memoir with raw emotions, leaving much for the reader to contemplate in such a short span of pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization