Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

5 reviews

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

This book is a good mix of memoir and history and stats on indigenous people in Canada and the US. The author describes growing up with a bipolar mother in precarious environments and how their suroundings influenced their behavior.
The author doesn't tell the reader what to do or think. She rather observes what happens and what doesn't happen. What gets said and what doesn't and thus encourages readers to self-reflect on their own behavior

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

Minor: Police brutality

remimicha's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

lilia's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Genocide

Minor: Cultural appropriation

coralie_michon's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

wow. pendant l'espace de 24h, je me suis immergée dans la culture d'Alicia Elliott, une femme avec une plume impressionnante ayant un père autochtone et une mère catholique. elle raconte sa vie, celle de sa famille, mais surtout, celle d'une communauté qui a été forcée de garder le silence pendant beaucoup trop longtemps... 

elle est une femme si courageuse pour avoir trouvé la force d'écrire et publier cette collection d'essais et j'en suis particulièrement reconnaissante. elle donne au lecteur la chance de réfléchir sur plusieurs éléments de la culture nord américaine basée sur le colonialisme et l'effacement du passé. elle met en lumière plusieurs conséquences de l'arrivée des européens sur les territoires autochtones que nous voyons pas du premier regard. elle le fait à travers d'anecdotes de sa propre vie, ce qui a un effet immense sur notre perception de la situation. 

elle raconte la vérité sur le racisme, le colonisation, le génocide, l'arrachement de culture, la violence, les injustices, la pauvreté, les réserves, les tentatives d'assimilation, la santé mentale, les abus sexuels et plusieurs autres éléments qui l'ont touchées, elle et sa communauté. elle parle de façon crue, directe, certaine. elle n'a pas peur d'exprimer ses opinions et raconter son expérience. elle s'en est sortie, elle en est très reconnaissante. elle connait sa chance, chance qu'une grande majorité des siens n'ont pas eu par le passé, n'ont pas en ce moment et n'auront jamais dans le futur. 

lire cette oeuvre a changé ma vie. étudiant en histoire, j'ai eu plusieurs cours de l'histoire nord-américaine. jamais, au grand jamais, je n'ai eu l'opportunité d'en apprendre autant sur la culture indigène et jamais, je n'ai appris toutes ses injustices. le curriculum canadien cache beaucoup de secret par rapport au passé ( quoique le présent n'est pas transparent non plus ) et je me sens reconnaissante d'avoir eu la chance de lire ce livre et de me renseigner sur les enjeux actuels en lien avec le passé paternaliste canadien.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

This collection of essays shows how Native identity intersects with various other hardships that the Canadian/American governments have bestowed upon non-white and lower class people: mental illness, child services, lack of acknowledgement of the genocides of Native and Black people.

I really enjoyed this collection! I think Alicia's writing style is really accessible and almost conversational; she walks us through various aspects of her upbringing and how it relates to a broader commentary on being Native in modern North America. My favorite aspects where when she highlighted how many Native women have been killed and left, as if people still have this "hunting Indians" complex they want to fulfill. Unfortunately, I hadn't heard of these unjustified murders—to no surprise to anyone.

Her essay on sexual assault touched me so, so deeply and I could write an essay on how it made me feel. I hope she knows how much that essay meant to me as someone who's been SA'd (trigger warning, btw).

There were some essays that were just fine but I overall enjoyed it and learned a lot, so I'm giving Alicia her flowers. She reframed how I look at a few things (see: essay on photographs). Read more Indigenous authors! This is a great place to start.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia