Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence by Michele Filgate

18 reviews

cady_sass's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This is a heavy read. As with any anthology or collection of essays with multiple authors, some things are going to resonate and others are not. I think there is genuinely something for everyone here, whether your relationship with your mother is good or great or toxic or non-existent. A lot of tough topics are handled very eloquently and it may be tough to get through at times but it’s a worthy read. I’d recommend this to most people, I think you’ll find something that sticks with you for a long time to come. I know I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Cursing, Ableism, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Sexism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

sakisreads's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

3.5

What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About is a hard-hitting, (sometimes) harrowing set of essays written by a range of authors. I loved the ways in which it was so nuanced; even when some mothers inflicted harm, their children found ways to forgive. I read this with the knowledge that regardless of what pain people can inflict on their loved ones, the bond can still be so strong and well, relentless 😳 I found the essay by Nayomi Munaweera especially challenging 🥲 

All in all, difficult but definitely worth reading 👏🏼

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Rape, Body shaming, Child abuse, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

aus10england's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.75

Oh, this was profound. All the stories were engaging and poignant. I only wish they were all longer! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape and Alcoholism

Minor: War and Death of parent

samanthajore's review against another edition

4.5

I don't know what I was expecting when I went into this book but whatever I was expecting this book blew away all my expectations. Throughout the different essays multiple authors went into their way of breaking free from the trauma they were put through when they were younger. The different stories all showed different perspectives of how trauma changes people and how it manifests. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

its_j's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Drug use

klor's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Picked this back up ahain after I DNF-ed earlier in the year because I wasn't quite ready for it. The book has a rich variety of stories and authors and I find myself particularly drawn to the more reflective and longform ones. I enjoyed Thesmophoria, 16 Minetta Lane, and the last three stories (Her Body/My Body, All About My Mother, and I Met Fear on the Hill). I also had a soft spot for The Same Story About my Mother. It's insightful how I can relate my relationship with my own mother spanning through various moments in various stories. A lot of these are heavy and talk well into traumas but also in how complex love and relationships are. I probably still won't recommend it to my mother, but it did make me want to get to know her more, complications and all.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

adeliab's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Ableism

Minor: Pregnancy

dtierra's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Pregnancy, Self harm, Bullying, Cancer, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, and Emotional abuse

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Grief

mdcmaliwat's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

I think this book resonates best with people who have already reflected a bit on their relationship with their mothers.
Also, not every essay will be relatable. We don’t all experience the same things, so it’s only natural some essays will touch you very profoundly and others not at all. That said, don’t discredit the essays you can’t relate to as bad writing.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts