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jessar's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
4.0
I have spent the majority of my life evaluating myself, my identity, my well-being and my life against my relationship with my mother. I knew, as a child, that I had a difficult relationship with my mother. I learnt in my adolescence that not everyone had the same relationship with their mother. I felt profoundly alone. Books like What My Mother and I Don't Talk About remind me that my experience is not an isolated one and that, positive or negative, there is a whole spectrum of how people relate to their parents and there is beauty and pain and catharsis in it all.
All fifteen writers took a different angle to their essays which meant the book never seemed repetitive and covered multiple topics across the lens of motherhood and "childhood": grief, abuse, self-esteem, money, status, fatherhood, feminism and beyond. I initially thought the book was all women writers but it was lovely to hear some male perspectives also. I definitely think I will refer to these essays again throughout time and i'm curious to see how I meet them in the future.
All fifteen writers took a different angle to their essays which meant the book never seemed repetitive and covered multiple topics across the lens of motherhood and "childhood": grief, abuse, self-esteem, money, status, fatherhood, feminism and beyond. I initially thought the book was all women writers but it was lovely to hear some male perspectives also. I definitely think I will refer to these essays again throughout time and i'm curious to see how I meet them in the future.
pradust's review against another edition
3.0
Particularly liked the following essays: My Mother’s (Gate) Keeper, 16 Minetta Lane, and Are You Listening?.
kimmitagarza's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.25
some selections are beautiful, some I could do without.
fatima_05's review against another edition
5.0
I can’t even begin to describe how much this book wrecked me and healed me at the same time. It truly takes you on a journey of understanding how different and important is the relationship with your mom. Every writer depicted each relationship in a very raw and emotional way that makes you see with different eyes the role of a mother in their kids life. It truly helped me heal my inner child.
mystikbabe's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
gabbuz's review against another edition
1.0
The beginning was promising and touching, but it kept getting worse. The intimate stories about family dynamics were slowly turned into political opinion essays. Unsurpringly, all the different authors held the same set of beliefs.
I am so disappointed. This book could have been so much more than that.
I am so disappointed. This book could have been so much more than that.
somelittleinfamyreads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this collection of stories. The voices within varied greatly not only in writing styles but in the sort of relationships and emotions they held in regards to the relationships they have, had, or didn't have at all, with their mothers. From troubled pasts to the takeaway that even the best relationships have ways they can grow, with relatable and underlying themes of how clouded our judgement becomes with those closest to us, for better or worse. I think the stories I liked the best were the ones that stood back and took a more analytical approach, gathering viewpoints from other friends or family for reference.