Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

A Menina da Montanha by Tara Westover

43 reviews

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

Educated by Tara Westover is a well-written,thought-provoking, fascinating and a powerful memoir. Overcoming and breaking free from her survivalist Mormon family  in order to go to college. This is Tara’s reminder to everything that education extends beyond the walls of the community and encompasses our everyday experiences and to question our ingrained beliefs. Emotional, heartbreaking yet utterly moving and deeply inspiring. I applaud Tara for her honesty and resilience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kathleentcarroll's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.0

I felt like almost every chapter was unnecessarily filled with traumatic and gory details with very little payoff; I’ve read memoirs from other authors who have experienced traumatic events without feeling like I was reading a slog of someone’s every trauma, but westover couldn’t do that. I also felt like she omitted so much detail about HOW she became educated, achieved these impossible feats, and made it out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

elizabethtm's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism, Car accident, and Classism

sary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness

oproy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Wow, I’m floored. I didn’t want to stop reading. This was a harrowing and inspiring tale of a young woman who had every possible obstacle thrown her way and still was able to overcome them, all while navigating the feelings and thoughts that come with puberty and growing up. 
It was honest in a way that made you love and at the same time hate each person she wrote about. Honestly one of the best books I’ve ever read, highly recommend.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

micheller0se's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

I think this book might have changed my life.
This book is such a marvelous, deeply interesting exploration of the power of education, of the meaning of family, of struggling with abuse and still being able to forge an identity for yourself afterward. Her path towards education is also a path towards being able to think for herself, instead of being told what to think by others. This might be the strongest, most powerful message woven in between the threads of this memoir, an ode to finding yourself through education.
So much nuance, so many tiny little intricacies present in the text show that Tara Westover truly is a historian -- that she's able to see the many different versions of a story and present them to the reader, making them reflect upon the significance and meaning of each unique account. "[...] nothing final can be known", as she quotes John Stuart Mill.
I feel like I'm going to reread this soon, just so I can underline the passages in this book that are so powerful they would make anyone stop reading just to reflect upon them. I shouldn't have been scared of underlining this book, gosh!! I gotta start being more willing to do that, whenever I think it might be important to me.
All in all, wonderful book. Marvelously crafted, beautiful writing, moving and powerful message. I cried reading this. I think it will stay with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide, Miscarriage, Racism, Vomit, and Mass/school shootings

insideunder's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Classism

michellec9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death and Excrement

nessynoname's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely harrowing. I'm floored. The terrifying lows this woman has experienced and the peaks which she has climbed in spite of it. Stunning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Blood, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy