Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

11 reviews

littleseal's review against another edition

This was a hard fucking read. I had to put it down several times for a variety of reasons: the explicit discussion about drug abuse (I actually hyperventilated during one scene), the anger I felt towards the addiction, and life getting in the way.

I applaud anyone who can work with people with drug addiction. It's a hard thing to deal with, and why I stay pretty far away from it as a therapist. I wanted to scream when Nic was with 'Zelda'. 'Lauren' seemed like a walk in the park compared to the issues 'Zelda' brought out in Nic.

If you have a weak stomach, proceed with caution. However, I do feel that this book gave me pretty great insight into the world of addiction. Will I work with clients who abuse drugs? Probably not. But I can still appreciate the writing.

Side note, it was hilarious that James Frey book was mentioned since that was also a addiction book that turned out to be fake. I haven't seen anything about this one being fake, so going to hope it isn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jenntucci2's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

2.5

I admire how raw and honest Nic is; however, the writing is simplistic and immature. There are some times when over shares intimate details which are intended to be raunchy but are just overly graphic instead. Could have left those details out of the book entirely.

He writes like a child. simple sentences; nothing complex. Very repetitive, feelings and thoughts are partially investigated. This book is a dragged on and is unedited use of 300+ pages which could have been shortened into a more impactful piece. 

The celebrity name dropping is also ridiculous. It’s obvious we’re supposed to think Nic is cool with all these connections; but it’s just cringe.

I do, however, appreciate Nic’s honesty. He explores these feelings of needing to be accepted by others and the justification of his self-destruction when he cannot achieve these goals of being better than everyone else. I really appreciated this exploration as it applies to everyone. The emphasis on mental health was also enjoyed, thought it could have been explored more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

jams_is_rad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A must read if you want to understand addiction and its power from the perspective of someone who's life has been ripped apart by addiction 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Alcohol

tetedump's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

_king_crusty's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

thatchickengirl23's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

kather_doc's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity and Self harm

thalia_gossling's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hannah_m_g's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

Bought this after reading Beautiful Boy (the companion memoir) not expecting to like it as much - I actually enjoyed it more. It's more fast-paced and less repetitive in comparison, reads more like a story, and offers the full picture of what actually happened with Nic. I don't know which I would suggest reading first - Beautiful Boy offers a lot of interesting facts and research into drug addiction and of course the devastating outside perspective of the parent. I would recommend Tweak if you're purely interested in the first-person perspective of addiction. Reading Tweak afterward definitely felt like filling in all of the gaps in David's story. I enjoyed both of them, but feel more connected with Nic's story, though I suspect that is an age/circumstance thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

vijethayc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

4.75

What can I say? This was a wild, crazy ride.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship