Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Finding Me: A Memoir, by Viola Davis

11 reviews

watson_my_shelf's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

This is a very, very deep dive into Viola's story of growing up very poor. Viola overcame many obstacles to get where she is today. She had a dream to be an actress, and she fought so hard to make it come true. This was hard to read at times, but is so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use, Bullying, Addiction, Medical content, Grief, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read/listened to. Viola Davis is an incredible person. Her strength and all the things she went through is unimaginable. This was a hard book to listen to at times, Viola does not shy away from taking you through memories of her childhood. Her dad’s abuse towards her mom, sibling abuse from her older brother, poverty so intense most of the time they didn’t have electricity, food or a working toilet. How she overcame so many obstacles and horrible things that happened to her growing up to then go on to graduate from Juilliard, then go on to act with Denzel Washington and then Meryl Streep until her big break out in How to Get Away with Murder is truly incredible. She is an amazing individual and a true inspiration.

This book is one that I know will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Infertility, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Vomit, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Excrement, Bullying, Cancer, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment

melmattocks21's review

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

Literally one of the best books I’ve ever listened to. Wow! Loved learning about Viola’s life- the heartbreaks and the triumphs. Highly recommend the audiobook, which is read by her! A must read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, and Death

kiomarys2000's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Cursing, Misogyny, Drug use, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, and Alcoholism

herceia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Incredible, inspiring, beautiful, unbelievable, amazing, brutal, heart wrenching, and so much more. A perfectly brutal memoir

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Grief, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Drug use and Pedophilia

minibean24's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Viola’s story is incredible, and her memoir is beautifully written and painfully raw. I felt like I could feel her hurt. Her narration in the audiobook is fantastic- it made all the important people in her life absolutely come to life. **Please pay attention to the content warnings, as some she discusses in detail and are quite hard to hear about, even if they are not a trigger!**

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Cancer, Abortion, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Incest

Minor: Kidnapping, Infertility, Drug use, Sexism, and Drug abuse

kcelena's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring relaxing sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

bujoxbooked's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

5 stars

I really enjoyed reading Viola's memoir! I tried to read it along with the physical copy of the book, but mostly just listening to the audiobook. Her voice was great and I'm so glad she read her own memoir. From reading her story, she has been through so much throughout her life so far. She's made it so far and I feel like she didn't celebrate each milestone that she met along the way! She traveled she got into Juilliard, the awards she's won, and the amazing movies/shows/plays she's been in is AMAZING! Her love story with her husband Julias was so sweet and beautiful. Overall, I loved it and I'm glad that she shared her life story with us. I'm not much of a nonfiction reader as I usually like to escape real life, but I still enjoyed her story even as heavy as it was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, and Rape

kshertz's review

dark informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

Her story is just amazing. She has lived through and learned so much. I think it’s powerful to hear what she went through. It is a unique story, one you don’t hear often enough. I have even more respect for her now than I did before. She seems so authentically herself and grounded. This book is a must read if you’ve seen her in any movie ever. She is real about them all. She takes full responsibility. She’s an amazing voice we should be listening to today. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

hesticht's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Abortion, and Racism

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Classism, Death of parent, and Drug abuse