Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley

9 reviews

jjha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, and Grief

Minor: Blood and Miscarriage

ssorchaa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

bookworm_ohsea's review

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Child abuse

zosiablue's review

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

This was really remarkable. I'm not typically into memoirs & especially ones with personally triggering subject matters (old men taking advantage of teenagers), but this one felt like a public service. This is about the good men and bad men of the world, and Polley highlights them equally - she shows how easy it is to be a good man, how important it is to the health and future of young girls. She looks out for other girls through telling her own experiences, and it's just so beautiful.

Couple of ancillary things I found interesting - she talks about how defense lawyers in sexual abuse cases damage the victims, BUT wonders if keeping people out of jail in service of prison abolition makes this the greater good. She doesn't go into the nuances but just floating the idea made me 😦.

Second, the title - "running towards the danger" - challenges some of the current messaging of "be gentle with yourself." This is a cycle obviously - society says man up, then be gentle, then man up again. But I personally needed to hear this. I hide, I am often too gentle with myself. Sometimes I need to hear to run towards the danger. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

graceesford's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Gaslighting, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Miscarriage and Stalking

francestea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Two women in my book club recommended this book and suggested the audiobook, narrated by the author, which I appreciated. I must admit I didn’t know much about Sarah Polley before starting this but her life story is very interesting though also painful. It sheds a spotlight on the world of child actors and how well children are able to *appear* to adapt. I would love watch Polley with other former child actors do a talk on this subject. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Chronic illness

Moderate: Pregnancy and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual harassment

avisreadsandreads's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Stalking

nevawink's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent and Chronic illness

Minor: Sexual harassment

smavy's review

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

This book was raw and visceral and amazing. The author explores some of the most traumatic events in her life through the prism of memory and the reliability of stories. Sarah Polley’s personal story is one she is still grappling with. From the loss of her mother at a young age, to the treatment of child actors, to her experience with #MeToo and men who exploited her as a child actor — all of these essays combine to make a very strong narrative with heart and empathy and personal exploration at its core. 

I recommend everyone also watch her documentary Stories We Tell for another facet of Polley’s life. 

Remarkable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness

Minor: Cancer, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, and Stalking