Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

12 reviews

wild_er_ness's review

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.75

‘There was a psychiatrist who tried to put me on Prozac. I quoted Brave New World. “I want to know what passion is! I want to feel something strongly!” The psychiatrist responded, “I think that passion might be a chemical imbalance.”’

‘I didn’t just understand the weight of my abuse logically. I felt it, like a blade through flesh, like a bone popping out of place. I felt it like a lover saying it’s not going to work: sharp, immediate, and terrifying. I actually felt, with searing clarity, the horror of what happened to me—maybe for the first time ever. I felt how tremendously sad it was that I was forced to make my parents feel loved at such a young age. I felt how courageous I must have been to endure that torture, day after day for so many years, by the people I trusted most in this world. I felt a sense of love and adoration for my childhood self that I’d never been able to summon before.’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Chronic illness

Minor: War and Racism

abitofapoet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad

5.0

wow. I’m so grateful i have had the opportunity to read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

vicjp's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Hate crime

kcrockford's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

gabhopesreads's review against another edition

5.0

This is the best memoir I've ever read. It's so well-written, phenomenal on audio and one of my favorites this year so far. I loved the narration, plus the included audios of her therapy sessions. I loved how she went into details about history, hers and forgotten history, erased history. I loved how it felt like I was put under a microscope and dissected, but in actuality she was explaining her C-PTSD. At the end, the message of hope mirrored my own that I was lucky enough to find years ago. I wish I'd read this sooner, when I'd been drowning in my diagnosis. But the thing with C-PTSD is it's always there, so this will be helpful to read at any point in my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racism, Grief, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Car accident, and Bullying

clarabooksit's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

I’m not good at reviewing books that wow me, but this blew me away. I love a book that both moves me and educates me, and this did both in spades.

Foo narrates her journey toward self-discovery and well-being with incredible candor and immersive storytelling. Her writing feels effortless and inclusive: it’s not just her story but an invitation to the reader to join her on her journey.

I loved it. Highly, highly recommend. A favorite of the year, for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Addiction, Mental illness, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Suicide, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death and War

emileesmith's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, and Drug use

4leisurely_reading4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mental illness, Bullying, Child abuse, and Violence

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

An absolute WOW of a book in so many ways. You're hooked right away by Foo's story of her childhood and the trauma she endured, trauma it's gutting to believe anyone actually has a life like that. 

I appreciate that the book is not totally chronological, but it doesn't jump around too much or in a confusing way. The order makes sense with the flow of the story and the pace at which both we and the author learn about her diagnosis and how she deals with and then goes through the healing process. You can tell that she's an amazing writer and storyteller.

There were parts that hit me hard personally too, like her being a workaholic at a toxic job while seeming super successful and like she has everything perfectly together. I'm honored that she shared her story and journey with complex PTSD. I appreciate her candidness and willingness to shed light on this very personal experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

jessdekkerreads's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Mental illness, Medical content, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Physical abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic