malorykiyomi's review against another edition
5.0
I was moved by her resilience in the face of abuse to forgive, her faith when she felt abandoned, her candid approach to therapy, and so so much more. I'm better for having read this book, and I scarcely feel this way about books.
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Moderate: Animal death, Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Infertility, Abortion, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Minor: Incest
mecmccann's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexism, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Mental illness
mariasilva's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Racism, Sexual violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Drug abuse, Rape, Excrement, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Incest, Infertility, and Medical trauma
seullywillikers's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Cancer, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Excrement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Racism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness
minibean24's review against another edition
4.0
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
maryannc's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexism and Racism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Rape
doomluz's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Rape, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Abortion, Incest, Classism, Grief, and Body shaming
random19379's review
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Rape, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abortion
blueeyedshook's review
3.75
I knew quite a bit about Davis from interviews and articles but of course this was a whole deeper level. And it was HARD. Such pain and darkness that she has lived through that the beginning was hard to get through simply because of her difficulty and the gravity with which she wrote it. But out of pain, has come beauty. I think the pain was focused on quite a bit more than the beauty though. Although, my hope is that this leaves room for her to write another book in the future.
The book leads right up to her winning the Oscar for Fences, but really passes over the successful years around that with a light hand. We do get a glimpse of meeting her husband and how he is (their relationship seems precious). And introduced very lightly to when she adopts her daughter.
I appreciated that she focused on her experiences. (it definitely wasn’t a Hollywood tell all or even tell some about any of the people in her movies or shows with her. Barely a tidbit about how Denzel Washington challenged her when he directed.) This was a book about Viola. And of course it focused on how poor she was, her love for her family (even in their own pain), and the experiences she faced in school, work and life with the color of her skin. Not only being black but being dark skinned black. Being a white woman, I have never experienced anything like she has, and I find it utterly ludicrous that she was considered not only different but ugly because her skin is so dark (even among other people of color). Makes my heart hurt. So much of this book just broke my heart for her and for all the little girls out there who have experiences prejudices and atrocities.
What a glorious thing that she can attest that all of that difficulty she faced and the trouble she had finding self-love was faced and began healing in her roll on How to Get Away With Murder. Watching that show made me feel like she was really coming through in the character, and she confirmed that to be true. Such breakthrough, not only for her but for all woman who look like her as well.
My favorite part, though, was the way she talked about her parents. How even through the pain, she loved her father and how he grew and healed as well. And the way she talked about her sisters, ugh. Heart wide open.
(My less than favorite part was how her favorite word must be the f word with mf taking a close second. But I digress.)
A beautiful, heart wrenching, aching memoir that I hope is not her last.
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Abortion, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, Classism, Death of parent, Medical content, Abortion, Excrement, Pedophilia, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault