Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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

40 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

colyforniaroll's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

colleenmdavis's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment, and Grief

maddy4prezident's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative fast-paced

5.0

This was such a fast, informative book and it was so well written. So much so that I found myself recommending it to people before I even finished. Foo's narrative style is at once both rich with information and full of character and personality that makes it a fast, enjoyable read. Her willingness to be vulnerable and admit her own shortcomings while still focusing on a generally positive and hopeful arc made the book an excellent read. It invited reader to relate to Foo while also reflecting on their own experiences and applying the knowledge she imparts into the reader's own life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Self harm

yaelm's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Mental illness

huldasif's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I learned a lot from this book, even with my degree in psychology and my own past trauma and recovery. It was very well written and researched, but also heavy and emotionally draining. It's divided up into five parts and I found that I needed to take good breaks between those parts, and sometimes more often too, for my own well-being, so it took me a long time to finish. I cried with the author and I laughed with the author and I got really angry too. All of the emotions! However, I really appreciated this work and it's not just an extraordinarily well written memoir, it's also something you can use for reference, because she doesn't just say something and demand that you believe her, she cites research and gives all of these sources so you can then look it up yourself. I really appreciated the effort and good, hard work that went into this book. So well done!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Grief

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

wow, this is such a necessary read. while there are some dark personal moments, they are coupled with informative commentary. also, i really recommend the audiobook because their are audio clips from the authors therapy sessions which i thought added a lot. please check content warnings!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Bullying, Ableism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

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

gabrielasage's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Self harm, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Car accident, and Addiction