Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Being Lolita: A Memoir by Alisson Wood

14 reviews

lilawsahar's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Alisson reclaims her story with parallels to the classic novel Lolita. My heart hurts for the young girl who was taken advantage of and the wisdom she can glean from it. I have never read Lolita but Alisson does a great job of retelling of the plot and the views of the book throughout her years reading it. Im glad that now she can teach this book as a warning sign to young girls. What a power woman she has become. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Mental illness

katilein's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Rape

madelinequinne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

A hard and heartbreaking memoir to get through, but so important. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Self harm

tanvi45's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness and Self harm

laurenvoice's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Being Lolita: a memoir is brave, raw and emotional.

Giving this memoir anything less than five stars would be an insult. Alisson Wood bared her heart and soul in telling her story of power and abuse. Wood beautifully intertwined her story with Nabokov's story Lolita.

Part i was about grooming and emotional manipulation.

Part ii was about emotional and physical abuse.

Part iii was about discovering the truth, breaking the cycles and patterns of being in abusive relationships, and relearning what love is. Part iii spoke about the language used in stories to manipulate the reader, like in Lolita.

In this memoir, Wood made reference to Disney princesses: Ariel, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty; all these girls, portrayed as young and vulnerable, needing a "grown man", their prince, to save them. There were references to Alice in Alice in Wonderland, who was a child, small and vulnerable. And there were references to Lolita, Dolores Haze, a young girl, a child abused by an adult man, described as the seductress, as the one with all the power. When in fact, it was Humbert with all the power. Just like Alisson, she never had the power in her story; she was vulnerable and preyed upon; the teacher held all the power, and he used language and stories to manipulate her.

Being Lolita: a memoir is an emotional but empowering read. To understand the references made within this book, I would recommend reading Lolita by Nabokov. However, Wood does a spectacular job of speaking about the use of language used by Nabokov to manipulate the reader. Being Lolita: a memoir is an essential read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Self harm

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, and Death

bookswithgeorgia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

3.5

Alisson Wood writes poignantly about an incredibly difficult experience. Using Lolita and fairytales as a lens for her own experience, Wood is able to ask readers thought-provoking questions about consent, abusive relationships, and manipulation. Why does our culture portray girls with trauma as requiring male saviors? Why do many of the stories we tell encourage women to feel incomplete without a relationship to a man? Why do awful adult men keep preying on teenage girls and how can we stop them before they even begin?

Being Lolita is a compelling and consuming memoir. The book shines in revealing what it's like to survive a predatory and emotionally abusive relationship. I feel as though I have definitely walked away with a better understanding of how our culture has dangerously blurred young women's understanding of consent and power dynamics.

I ultimately rated Being Lolita as 3.5 stars because a large part of the memoir is a critical analysis of Nabokov's Lolita. It is an incredibly well-thought-out analysis and clearly helped Wood on her journey to better understand her own experience. However, the flow between Wood's recounting of her past and the analysis didn't hold my attention as well as I'd hoped. At some point, it felt like the threads of Wood's own experience were dropped in favor of an academic approach. While there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, it seemed disjointed to me as a reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

nura_aga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

wolfiereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship