Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair

38 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. 

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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.

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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

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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

anjasshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

kilonshele's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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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

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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

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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

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

A beautiful and insightful read. I wouldn't consider myself a Selma Blair fan and have always been indifferent to her as a performer. This book is a worthwhile read for anyone who enjoys powerfully human memoirs. It completely stands on its own merits regardless of Blair's stardom. This book was so painful yet beautiful. There is a rather lyrical quality to Blair's writing that I adore. I loved her honesty, self reflection, and openness with the intense hurt of her life. This is very much a book about the struggles of addiction, illness (both phsyical and mental), and finding a sense of belonging/home in a world that can be really painful. Please do check trigger warnings for this one cause the author has been through some rough stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

melissa_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I have been wanting to pick up this book for a while now. Selma was not an actress I watched but I certainly knew of her and her career. 

I really appreciate her oppenness. I want to watch her documentary 😭 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, and Eating disorder

lexa's review against another edition

5.0

Emotional and raw and heartbreaking and beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol