Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair

15 reviews

daniellekat's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

2.75

I mostly enjoyed parts 1 and 3 but hated part 2. This felt disjointed at times and although Blair is an ok writer, there were too many random anecdotes for me (and WAY too much name dropping). This was written in a truly honest voice, but the lack of structure and introspection had me wondering, as a reader, "why do I care?" I also felt like Blair frequently lost sight of her privilege. I think keeping in mind that her chronic illness and lived trauma has likely had a significant effect on her memory recall and perspective of self, helped me get through this without totally hating her. Ultimately, I can appreciate and sympathize with her struggles and hardships, but I can't say I would recommend this one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Death of parent

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

I'll be honest, I haven't watched anything Selma Blair has been in, but I still wanted to pick this up for the learning about MS. I will say it didn't cover this as much as I thought or hoped it would. While the writing is real and raw, I felt lost in the story and the timelines. It portrays many ups and downs in her life; ways she was enabled, but also how she progressed through the various decisions she made and their consequences. While I love when a memoir is read by the author, Selma showed many emotions throughout, that while you would hope it would add to the story, I found it distracting. What I enjoyed most was the reflection throughout the story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

itsgnat's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

kilonshele's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

curious_oyster's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Death of parent

paigicus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

Title: Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up
Author: Selma Blair
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: May 17, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Vulnerable • Straightforward • Fitful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention.

Although Selma went on to become a celebrated Hollywood actress and model, she could never quite shake the periods of darkness that overtook her, the certainty that there was a great mystery at the heart of her life. She often felt like her arms might be on fire, a sensation not unlike electric shocks, and she secretly drank to escape.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I've been on a celebrity memoir kick lately, and Selma Blair's was up next on the docket. Going in, I knew very little about the author aside from having seen her in a few movies (most notably Legally Blond - a favourite of mine). And I must say Mean Baby didn't wow me like some celebrity memoirs have.

Selma narrates her story in a non-linear manner, touching on her childhood - particularly her strained relationship with her parents, - her alcoholism and depression, her MS diagnosis, and life with her son. The first half has a fair amount of name dropping and superficial meandering, when in fact there could have been a lot more reflection and emotion. The strength of this memoir lies in her opening up about her MS diagnosis and living with a chronic illness. Yet even here there could have been a lot more depth.

I can't pinpoint exactly what this memoir was missing, but I know it was lacking something. It didn't pack the emotional punch I'd been anticipating, despite some extremely difficult and heartbreaking circumstances. It's Selma's right to remain very surface level in telling her story - but as a reader I wanted so much more depth.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• celebrity memoir fanatics
• readers wishing to learn a bit about MS

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Someone once told me that grief is love you can no longer express."

"I learned how it feels when someone else’s thoughts touch a part of you that you haven’t felt before."

"Books also taught me how to notice things, how a moment can be a whole story." 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

makinzimyers's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

brookeshelves's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Rape

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Stalking, and Death of parent

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail