Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

12 reviews

theboricuabookworm's review against another edition

Gripping and raw. The lyrical way Mailhot writes about pain and trauma and grief will leave you gasping.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

I'm struggling to rate this one because I don't feel like I have adequate words to do so?

I struggled with the format--or lack thereof really--and the audiobook narrator. I actually got like 35% through and then had to restart it waaaaay slower because I was finding myself missing things and not paying attention. I definitely think I would've done better with it reading it physically, there are just way too many poetic moments and literary devices at work for me to track on audio. I'm grateful for the Q&A style afterwords because it did clear up some of what the author was attempting to do. Like I now have a greater appreciation for the work she put into making her writing seem simple and punchy when while reading it, it mostly just felt jarring and hard to follow or stay invested in. 

The topics covered are obviously intense. Big trigger warnings for a lot. Covering them is absolutely vital to her story, though, and her journey towards reconciliation and healing.

Overall, I can tell it was brilliant, it just wasn't totally for me in this format. And that's okay and doesn't detract from the skill it took to write it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

carnimdream's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Violence, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness and Abortion

lureads2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

3.5

Beautiful writing, important insights into indigeneity, native womanhood, trauma, and motherhood; but while the book is marketed as an exploration of the author's bipolar disorder and PTSD, the book ended up focusing mainly on the author's many fraught relationships with dissappointing men, which was frustrating to read about. Further, the author's criticisms of the mental health system were often shallow and trite, and fell flat for me. Nonetheless, this book holds stark and devastating revelations about what it means to be an indigenous woman, the experience of trauma and PTSD, the joys and horrors of grappling with Indigenous identity and with motherhood; so overall this is an important and well written book, as long as you are ready to explore these themes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol

mayaism_01's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

This was gut punch, after gut punch, after gut punch. I feel like I’ve been shattered into a million little pieces and I will never recover from this. I don’t think I’ve ever been possessed with so much anger while reading a book. I loved this so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Eating disorder, Vomit, and Abortion

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.

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

hannaheiserman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

hannahollihan's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism