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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
10 reviews
dblue236's review against another edition
4.0
Note: I have added content warnings to this review, but it is important to me that I point out that the trigger warnings are about discussions of those topics and NOT that the views of the author herself are triggering.
Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying
Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, and Islamophobia
mxpringle's review
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
oliviapincin's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Islamophobia
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Hate crime, and Deportation
rieviolet's review
3.5
I found the informative parts very interesting and actually, I wish that more time and pages could've been spent on such reflections. However, I think that this could be a good starting point for people completely new to such themes.
The overall structure of the book didn't entirely convince me. I think that the essay-style sections and the self-help ones didn't blend together well. It might be a bit of a "me problem" as well, as I don't do very well with the self-improvement genre.
Also, as another reviewer pointed out, the mixing of academic and more conversational language made the writing style feel a bit all over the place.
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Islamophobia
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria
kelly_e's review against another edition
4.5
Author: Sonya Renee Taylor
Genre: Self-Help
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: January 25, 2018
T H R E E • W O R D S
Inspiring • Compassionate • Empowering
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The Body Is Not an Apology was recommended to me as a host favourite during an event in my online bookclub. I am not really sure how it wasn't already on my radar, but I so grateful to have it recommended to me.
An introduction to body positivity, Sonya Renee Taylor opens up dialogue on the roles of systems of oppression in human dissatisfaction, discusses feminism, and explores living with intersectionality and chronic illness. I particularly liked the combination of personal stories and reflections paired with the helpful evidence and tools to help my own personal struggles with accepting my authentic self. The writing is good and I'd highly recommend listening to the audio read by the author for a truly immersive experience.
The Body Is Not an Apology was a much needed reminder of accepting my own body as it comes. As someone who deals with chronic pain and mental illness, there was a lot that struck me as highly relatable. This is certainly a book I can see myself coming back to time and time again when I need a reminder.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• feminists
• bookclubs
• everyone with a body!
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Equally damaging is our insistence that all bodies should be healthy. Health is not a state we owe the world. We are not less valuable, worthy, or lovable because we are not healthy. Lastly, there is no standard of health that is achievable for all bodies."
"When we decide that people’s bodies are wrong because we don’t understand them, we are trying to avoid the discomfort of divesting from an entire body-shame system."
"Being different is difficult in a world that tells us there is a 'normal.'"
Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Classism
Minor: Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
overbooked207's review against another edition
5.0
8th book of January 2023 and 8th of the year:
“Systems do not maintain themselves; even our lack of intervention is an act of maintenance. Every structure in every society is upheld by the active and passive assistance of other human beings.”
“Radical self-love demands that we see ourselves and others in the fullness of our complexities and intersections and that we work to create space for those intersections.”
I absolutely LOVED this book! It’s inclusive; the quotes, writing, and messages/reminders are beautiful and impactful; so many parts really hit me hard on a personal level; it talks about the origins of the body positivity movement and the people who started it, and it also addresses the racist, oppressive, transphobic, ableist, and sexist origins of the systems, industries, companies, etc. that thrive off of self-doubt/self-hatred that are SO important to hear/learn about; the audiobook was beautifully narrated by the author; and the cover is stunning! This quickly became an all-time favorite book that I want everyone to read, and I want to buy and re-read/annotate it hopefully soon! TWs for ableism, body shaming, bullying, classism, eating disorder, fatphobia, grief, homophobia, mental illness, racism, sexism, sexual assault, suicide, and transphobia📖💕
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Grief, and Classism
emmehooks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Racism
brookey8888's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Classism
sierrascha's review against another edition
4.75
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, and Dysphoria
mary210's review
5.0
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence