lexiefolkerts's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I did not know anything about this book before starting and after reading a few pages I feared I wouldn’t like it because it seemed too distant from my reality. I was wrong. Although I haven’t lived the same life as Terese or endured the same traumas, there were so many ways in which I connected to her story. This book had so many good quotes to pull from that I felt drawn to and raised emotion out of me. I would recommend this book to anyone that’s had an imperfect romantic relationship with a man. This book also delved into childhood trauma, childhood SA, grief, bipolar, suicidal thoughts, love, and heart break.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death of parent
sanmeow's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
a simply lovely memoir told through essays. very open, honest, and emotional. i applaud the author for the honesty about all the struggles she's been through, and i really like her attitude and writing style. everything else honestly feels like i'd be saying too much, so i'll end it here, but this is a truly beautiful book.
librarycatnip's review against another edition
3.25
Was looking for more content on bipolar, and less of a lyrical memoir.
kgeigs's review against another edition
4.0
This was a poetic, raw, honest Memoir. It broke me at times. I found myself re-reading sentences just like I do when I read poetry, giving the words time to sink in.
annebennett1957's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book better than I did. Was it the subject matter? Was it the random way the story was revealed? Was it that I couldn't picture any of the people or the setting? I am not sure.
I had this book recommended to me so that I could more familiar with the travails of my BIPOC brothers and sisters. It indeed broke my heart, Mailhot's story is so discouraging and horrifying. I kept thinking about the quote from Sherman Alexis' The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian: "Gordy gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians. And he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reason: the fricking booze. Yep, so let me pour a drink for Tolstoy and let him think hard about the true definition of unhappy families." (p. 201)
Not sure if alcohol was completely to blame for all the misery in Heart Berries but it was certainly a contributing factor.
I'll have to think about this story some more...right now all I feel is sad.
I had this book recommended to me so that I could more familiar with the travails of my BIPOC brothers and sisters. It indeed broke my heart, Mailhot's story is so discouraging and horrifying. I kept thinking about the quote from Sherman Alexis' The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian: "Gordy gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians. And he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reason: the fricking booze. Yep, so let me pour a drink for Tolstoy and let him think hard about the true definition of unhappy families." (p. 201)
Not sure if alcohol was completely to blame for all the misery in Heart Berries but it was certainly a contributing factor.
I'll have to think about this story some more...right now all I feel is sad.
anna108's review against another edition
4.0
This book felt like a journal. A diary through a really rough time of life.
ericaegg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
jeskaness's review against another edition
5.0
Raw and beautiful and horrible and refreshing and heavy.
kphmitten's review against another edition
1.0
This was simply not my writing style at all. I found it confusing to figure out which man she was talking about. I didn't like the lack of story to explain what was happening.