Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Forgotten Girls: An American Story by Monica Potts

20 reviews

hellbender's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

Like the author, I grew up in the Ozarks in the 90s and was excited to find a book authored by an Ozarker about the hardships of rural communities. But this book is only 1/3 that, and is 2/3s the story of her best friend and sisters. That wasn’t quite what I wanted out of the book, and I found that component of it long, drawn out, and boring. The way the statistics were peppered in also broke the flow, making the whole book feel rather disjointed to me. The ending also left me wanting solutions. It outlines the problems facing rural communities, but no real tangible ideas to improve the communities. So while I liked the subject matter at a high level, I think it could’ve been well addressed in 2/3rds the number of pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Car accident

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Miscarriage

vroomvroomvrose's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Death of parent

andrea_lachance's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

My extremely biased review of this book

I grew up and currently live in Arkansas. I checked out this book from the county library and Monica Potts signed the copy. The Forgotten Girls is a perfect encapsulation of the frustrations of growing up in a southern town.

I was texting my friend as I read; we’re both from Arkansas and went to college here. I marveled with her about how atrocious the schooling was in Clinton. If we’d been born a decade later and 100 miles south, we would’ve been taught that women have an extra layer of fat on their bodies and that’s why they tolerate hot dishwater better than men.

This book really resonated with me, even if the ending felt a bit rushed. I hope Darci is slowly building a boring, stable life for herself.

I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

aimebo's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

milliebrierley's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Death of parent

lilyreads01's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Suicide

claireh6's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

meursalt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

rchatterjee188's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

the_wistful_word_witch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This book was just as hard as I expected it to be in many ways, and even harder in some. Not because of the writing or style - which are both smooth and lead you easily through both the memoir and the analytical parts, but because it hit waaaaay too close to home. I had to take a couple of breaks because it made me too emotional. 

I spent a good chunk of my life in the town that Monica Potts writes about, from around the time I was 10 or 11 to 24 (although it was only part time once I turned 18 and started going to the UofA in Fayetteville and travelling abroad during my longer holidays). I actually grew up in her periphery, being in the same grade as her middle sister, Ashley, although we weren't in the same friend groups. I know all of the people mentioned, some better than others. And I spent a good portion of my time there wishing I was somewhere, anywhere else. 

It felt like Monica was telling a very similar story to my own. I ran away from Clinton as fast as I could, and spent years trying to forget it and Arkansas in general. And I left behind many people that I cared about but couldn't save, people who are stuck in cycles that are painfully similar to Darci's - more forgotten girls. I have since reconnected with some of them in one form or another. Others have been lost to time. 

This book made me ache with sadness, rage, dispair... And it just solidified my determination to never move back - not to Clinton, not to Arkansas, and maybe not even the US. More power to those who are capable of doing so, maybe their ties were stronger. My experiences have changed me too much to fit in, if I ever did at all...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use