Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

88 reviews

kailiyahknight's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

lanayagraham's review against another edition

emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.0

I will be thinking about this one for a long time! It was a heartbreaking memoir about family, addiction, dreaming, and overcoming. I watched a small clip of an interview with the author, and I wish I had caught on to the light heartedness with which she shares her story and her present joy. The book just felt heavy with pain and the parents' choices confusing. That being said, it was a fascinating window into an experience of poverty in America.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

hfrisco's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

andlovetoowillruinus's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Classism

silaskpipson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

If I may, let me first preface this review with a little bit of background. I have never cried at a book. I am barely, if ever, one to cry at movies or television. Music gets to me, but that's pretty much it. The Glass Castle changed that sentiment, flipped it on its head.

Because by the end of this tour de force, I was first teary-eyed, then bawling, and then promptly going upstairs to hug my mum and thank her for the life that she'd given me.

Jeannette Walls narrates her life's story to the reader in a way that left me feeling dazed, unsure of whether I should scream and hurl whatever vitriol I could come up with at her parents, or laugh along with their family's truly one-of-a-kind humor and outlook on life. In this way, then, Walls has provided the most impeccable specimen of a memoir possible. Though her story is at times tragic and at other times euphoric, in the end, there isn't one sole feeling that the book left me with after its closing page. Instead, I was simply left sitting, mouth slightly agape, suddenly forced out of the world contained within its covers wondering why in the hell I hadn't read it sooner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bella613's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

This is a very well written story, by and about someone who overcame an intensely horrible foundation in life to become stable and successful. 
I won't say I liked it, though. 
The last third or so was the best out of the book- tbh I would have rated the first half 2 stars. This might be because the beginning events take place before she could possibly remember them. 

I know it's a memoir, and it's her perspective on her own life, but something I can't quite put into words to felt off about it. It reads very casually, in parts that are clearly not lighthearted. Some people described it as straightforward writing style but it felt more detached to me. I obviously dont know the facts of her life but I felt the distinct impression of someone exaggerating, not necessarily to gain sympathy or praise, but more because they actually see themselves as the main character of the world. The whole family is clearly very intelligent (even though both parents are extremely closed minded, selfish, and arguably psychotic) and the kids took a lot of initiative despite never being taught or shown any responsibility. 
I think the biggest thing that made it difficult for me to relate and/or take something from this book is that the people in it don't feel real. Walls describes everyone in her life as very clear good vs bad characters- there are the evil ones and the victims, and no in between. And despite this, she shows almost no resentment and describes no clear forgiveness. Everything that was done to the children is swept away and they sort of just act like nothing happened once they are on their own. There's no boundaries set but there's also no reconciliation. 

I listened to the audiobook, which the author reads herself. I would have preferred a different reader but I would say I'm glad I listened rather than reading it in physical copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katmystery's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Utterly engrossing. The compelling true story of the author’s difficult and atypical childhood and her complicated relationship with her erratic parents. Walls’ no-nonsense storytelling is riveting, and she narrated the audiobook herself. As an unsupervised child who raised herself from a young age, the author encountered many situations which may be triggering for some readers, so be sure to check the trigger warnings if you’re interested in reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pedophilia

kaelizaco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Medical content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

halloween_writes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death of parent