Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll by Priscilla Presley

10 reviews

05_haggler_prouder's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Pricilla's perspective is fundamentally flawed. She was groomed at 14 into a coercive controlling domestically violent relationship. She simultaneously details the various types of horrors she faced and witnessed, while expressing her continued love and admiration towards Elvis whom she describes as a friend, lover, father and god. 

I feel like she's sincere about the praise, but she's also terrified of the retribution she might face from the fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, Rape, Addiction, and Infidelity

candicemcrae's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

skelleybean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Physical abuse, and Body shaming

emmablue's review against another edition

emotional

4.25

poor priscilla

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Body shaming

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Minor: Child death and Body shaming

nerdinthelibrary's review against another edition

i genuinely don't think i can rate this. it's pretty well written, fast-moving and compelling. the entire story is fascinating, particularly because there's basically no point at which priscilla seems to ever realise that what's happening is bad. she was groomed and abused from age fourteen and there's never any point, even with the hindsight of her writing this in her forties, where she criticises elvis. there are a few times when she offhandedly says that something was bad but she always follows that with a justification. makes me so curious about the framing of the sofia coppola movie considering the fact that priscilla was involved and seems happy with it. not to make priscilla sound stupid because i don't think she is, but i really do wonder if the coppola movie does frame the film as being about an abused woman and priscilla didn't realise, because this book literally describes elvis throwing things at her and flying into rages and taking pictures of her naked as a teenager and convincing her to take pills and not allowing her to get a job and isolating her from any sort of support system she could have had, and she never seems to find any problem with it. anyway, fascinating book, would recommend, incredibly disturbing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Drug use, Addiction, and Physical abuse

kingfreckle02's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

sarahreadsalotofbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

I knew Elvis was a mess but I didn’t realize he was an abusive groomer.

He began grooming Priscilla when she was 14 telling her how to behave, what to wear, how to wear her makeup.  By the time she was 16 they were sexually involved and he had convinced her to take sexual photos. He was emotionally and mentally abusive, as well as physically abusive at times.

Throughout all of this he was also grooming her parents, eventually getting them to consent to allow her to leave them to go live with him for the remainder of her high school years. 

Priscilla comes across as someone with Stockholm syndrome finding his behavior humorous as she narrated this at times. She describes the time he raped her as “forcefully made love to her”. 

As despicable a person as he was, this was a well-written, informative book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Cursing, Mental illness, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Infidelity, and Sexual content

blueeyedshook's review against another edition

4.0

The story of Elvis and Priscilla is actually quite shocking. I had no idea they met and got together when Priscilla was 14 with Elvis 10 years older than her. And her parents just let it happen. They even let her go live with him in America while they were still stationed in Germany!! Whoa. Seriously?! I kept waiting to find out that I was misunderstanding, but then she'd talk about being 16 and going to school or whatever. I know she has come out and said that it was a different time. Still, he felt predatory. He sought her out. He said she reminded him of his little sister. He would have her come over and lay in bed with her after parties (but just talk for hours.....wanting to save intimacy for a time when they were "ready" because it was so important to him). It felt like he was grooming her. Even once she was older, he didn't want her to have a job as a model because he wanted his woman home to care for him. I know it was a "different time" but not like biblical times! Adults dating minors was still frowned upon.....RIGHT?!
Anyway, Priscilla narrating the audiobook was worth it all. She is so clearly still in love with him--which is why I think she was a bit in denial about how weird or inappropriate some of their relationship was, as well as in denial about how he acted in some ways like not knowing what the drugs he offered her would do to her.....yes! He offered her drugs at a very young teen age as well.) She would laugh while she was reading, and it made it so much more real and relatable. Her little giggle at his humor was so cute. I really enjoyed listening to her read it, and of course here about Elvis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Addiction, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

rickieskidmore's review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship