Reviews tagging 'Child death'

While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger

11 reviews

nialystic's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hellokaley's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

2.5

This memoir is raw and does not skirt around mental illness and the impact when left untreated and unsupported. The way this was written combined the story of the author’s family in with historical facts and details of some of the articles she has written on the topic. Although I found the history of mental health in America details to be really interesting, I found most of the memoir to be painfully detailed and long. There were so many characters and I felt the level of detail and random stories didn’t connect well into the plot. I almost DNFed at 80%, but carried on. 

There were parts of the story that I’ll think about and many things that resonated, but all in all, I think it desperately needed editing and I wish it were 3-4 hours shorter. This won’t be one I will personally recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

katreena's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Very raw! 
This memoir explorers a lot of the uncomfortable feelings that people don't talk about having when in a mentally ill family. The author doesn't sugarcoat suicide and shows the real emotions for multiple sides. The author is a journalist so it's very well written and informative sections. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Alcohol

jeannine_'s review against another edition

3.5

I listened to the audio book over the last two weeks, which is read by the author.  This is an intimate memoir that is centered around the Kissinger family: a large Catholic family in the Midwest. 

The first half of the book is the story of their family- how the parents met, the many kids and their early life, the parenting style, or at times, lack thereof. And, the way mental health challenges greatly affected their family. This includes multiple instances of death by suicide and most of the family members dealing with bipolar disorder, depression, and definitely (imo) PTSD. These traumatic incidents are compounded by the fact this all took place in what I think was the 60’s; the surviving children and parents didn’t talk about any of it, no one received therapy, and basically, barely acknowledged the trauma. It was a stuff-it-under-the-rug approach. Which, clearly didn’t help anyone, but, is also indicative of the cultural and societal approach at that time.  

I found the first half-ish of the book (it’s a little more than the first half, maybe more like 65%) very interesting and engaging, and despite being a sad story, somehow not depressing at all. I appreciated the opportunity to learn about her and her family’s experiences. 

The second half (minus the last chapter) though, really lost me. I mean it took this book for me from an almost-five-star to me repeatedly thinking “this is dragging, how much is left?” It just went too in the weeds and I think could have been edited to be more concise.   I would have enjoyed this more overall  had the book stuck to telling her family’s story more (including the present day, which is in the last chapter and I enjoyed) and the presentation of available mental health resources less. . Especially since much of this was outlining what was available in the past, and even the author acknowledges that today’s mental health climate is much different and better (still with a lot of room to grow). 

So- overall, 3.5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

alisherly's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mollz12's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely an amazing and sad book. I picked it up because of my brother leaving this world 2 years ago and taking his life. This book really drives home the importance of talking about things and letting it come clean. What a beautiful story by her and her truth about her family and all of the trauma. I cried just thinking about how her family went through it twice, and how I am still coping with my loss. Read with caution in case of triggers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Medical trauma

vnessc's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

louiepotterbook's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Title: While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence
Author: Meg Kissinger
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: September 5, 2023

I received a complimentary eARC from Celadon Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Candid • Traumatic • Impactful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

While You Were Out begins as the personal story of one family’s struggles then opens outward, as Kissinger details how childhood tragedy catalyzed a journalism career focused on exposing our country’s flawed mental health care. Combining the intimacy of memoir with the rigor of investigative reporting, the book explores the consequences of shame, the havoc of botched public policy, and the hope offered by new treatment strategies.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I have a keen interest in books (particularly memoirs) that tackle and advocate for mental health issues, so I was grateful to be offered an advanced reader copy of While You Were Out. I was unaware of who Meg Kissinger was ahead of picking this one up, yet I quickly came to hold a special place for her and her siblings in my heart.

Meg tells her family's story in a moving, yet professional manner. She combines personal memories and experiences with steadfast research to deliver a heartfelt exposé of a system failing the most vulnerable of people. From a young age the Kissinger family was faced with continual heartbreak, and yet somehow Meg is still here to tell their story. This is a memoir that will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you empathize. And it will make you angry at a system designed to fail.

While You Were Out is an important and impactful addition to the growing list of mental health literature. I could not put it down. It's a memoir I won't soon forget, and will be continually recommending. If you do decide to pick this one up, I'd definitely suggest proceeding with care for yourself.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• memoir readers
• fans of Educated and/or The Glass Castle
• mental health advocates

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"This is what telling your story can do, she told them. It can bring the dead back to life - not in the same way but as a kind of transformation. It doesn't take away the injury, but it can give you a feeling of power when you are in control of the narrative. The balance is shifted back to you. There's new life, resurrected." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Abortion, and Pregnancy

death of sibling, anxiety, depression

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

this was absolutely devastating. be careful if you’re looking to read this because it is extremely heavy. overall a very important story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol