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4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
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Content Warning: Sexual assault, body dysmorphia, PTSD, death scare, pregnancy, surgery, parental death, parental neglect, concussions, stage fright, child actor
I picked this up because it's one of the shortlist books for the 2022 Toronto Book Awards and I also wanted to see Women Talking at TIFF (but didn't make it). But I kinda wish I hadn't. This is the type of memoir that pretends to be insights into what happens when you don't look at mental health struggles, and the life of someone who lives with trauma, but doesn't dig deep into those. Considering these are six stories that are supposed to be the "most dangerous stories of [her] life," I just didn't feel all that connected to them.
I only had empathy for Sarah during the J*an Gh*meshi essay - her story of being sexually assaulted at 16 was hard to read. And even harder to read that people believed her but also place doubt on her and her story. I remember following that story really closely and waiting to see what would happen.
But the rest of this memoir is ... meh. I know I should feel more empathy but this feels more like a humble brag than a "these bad things happened and I want to share my story." I know that the goal of this was to look at "a charmed and successful life" from the other side, but I don't know that I have that much sympathy for someone who still is in show business, still extremely successful, and still is able to get everything.
I don't think I can fully recommend this. I've read some really good essay collections, but this was not it. I have a feeling Jennette McCurdy's book will be much better.
Content Warning: Sexual assault, body dysmorphia, PTSD, death scare, pregnancy, surgery, parental death, parental neglect, concussions, stage fright, child actor
I picked this up because it's one of the shortlist books for the 2022 Toronto Book Awards and I also wanted to see Women Talking at TIFF (but didn't make it). But I kinda wish I hadn't. This is the type of memoir that pretends to be insights into what happens when you don't look at mental health struggles, and the life of someone who lives with trauma, but doesn't dig deep into those. Considering these are six stories that are supposed to be the "most dangerous stories of [her] life," I just didn't feel all that connected to them.
I only had empathy for Sarah during the J*an Gh*meshi essay - her story of being sexually assaulted at 16 was hard to read. And even harder to read that people believed her but also place doubt on her and her story. I remember following that story really closely and waiting to see what would happen.
But the rest of this memoir is ... meh. I know I should feel more empathy but this feels more like a humble brag than a "these bad things happened and I want to share my story." I know that the goal of this was to look at "a charmed and successful life" from the other side, but I don't know that I have that much sympathy for someone who still is in show business, still extremely successful, and still is able to get everything.
I don't think I can fully recommend this. I've read some really good essay collections, but this was not it. I have a feeling Jennette McCurdy's book will be much better.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
This is great! Sarah confronts a lot of unpleasant memories throughout this book, and I enjoyed her viewpoint, voice, and perspective. Audiobook read by the author is always a plus.
I think it's more of a "not right now" than a DNF. I'm just not in the mood for a memoir right now.
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I've really gone back and forth on whether or not I should actually rate this book. I sometimes choose not to give a star rating to a very personal account of a person's life and the trauma they've experienced. This book, while being a personal account of the author's trauma and how she chose to overcome it, also presented a bit of a challenge for me. I think I'll leave this book unrated but it does feel a bit like a 3 star read if I'm rating only on the reading experience.
This is a collection of essays all about Sarah Polley's life and the ups and downs she experience growing up as a child actor in Canada. At the start of the book, the author clearly states that this is a series of essays written over the course of many years as her way of reckoning with some of the things that she experienced. It is a not a book that was written all in one go to be published together. I don't think she wrote any of these essays with the express idea of a book in mind.
And that is my biggest hang-up with this book. The structure of the collection is the book's downfall in my opinion. The essays span many years and really cover the gambit of Sarah Polley's life. But it's not put together in a linear way. I think the collection would've been far more effective if we started with the essays that illustrate the beginnings of Sarah's life and work up to the present day. I would have connected with her story much easier if we didn't jump around all over the place.
I think the starts to explore some really interesting topics in each of these essays. But I think the book lacks a depth that could've made this an absolutely outstanding memoir. I think I'd still recommend it if you are a fan of essay collections about a person's response to trauma and how they have overcome what has happened to them in life. And I'd definitely recommend the audiobook, which Polley narrates herself. But this is not going to make it to my top favorite non-fiction reads, unfortunately.
This is a collection of essays all about Sarah Polley's life and the ups and downs she experience growing up as a child actor in Canada. At the start of the book, the author clearly states that this is a series of essays written over the course of many years as her way of reckoning with some of the things that she experienced. It is a not a book that was written all in one go to be published together. I don't think she wrote any of these essays with the express idea of a book in mind.
And that is my biggest hang-up with this book. The structure of the collection is the book's downfall in my opinion. The essays span many years and really cover the gambit of Sarah Polley's life. But it's not put together in a linear way. I think the collection would've been far more effective if we started with the essays that illustrate the beginnings of Sarah's life and work up to the present day. I would have connected with her story much easier if we didn't jump around all over the place.
I think the starts to explore some really interesting topics in each of these essays. But I think the book lacks a depth that could've made this an absolutely outstanding memoir. I think I'd still recommend it if you are a fan of essay collections about a person's response to trauma and how they have overcome what has happened to them in life. And I'd definitely recommend the audiobook, which Polley narrates herself. But this is not going to make it to my top favorite non-fiction reads, unfortunately.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
For all but the last essay: this was so wonderfully written, so strong, and so crazy. I loved it so much.
For the last essay, I feel deeply conflicted. As a disabled, chronically ill person, it was really hard and weird to hear an experience where pushing past her boundaries saved her. It’s weird. It challenges a lot of things that I know to be true for myself.
It almost makes me not want to recommend this book to my friends who are chronically ill. I know that concussion recovery is not the same as chronic illness, but it is all the same really, really trippy reading about her experience. I am deeply happy she recovered, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad people are having good experiences with that doctor.
It’s really hard to listen to that book today in 2023 when millions of long covid patients are being told to just push themselves, which invariably makes things worse.
It’s weird. It’s hard. I have deeply complicated feelings.
For the last essay, I feel deeply conflicted. As a disabled, chronically ill person, it was really hard and weird to hear an experience where pushing past her boundaries saved her. It’s weird. It challenges a lot of things that I know to be true for myself.
It almost makes me not want to recommend this book to my friends who are chronically ill. I know that concussion recovery is not the same as chronic illness, but it is all the same really, really trippy reading about her experience. I am deeply happy she recovered, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad people are having good experiences with that doctor.
It’s really hard to listen to that book today in 2023 when millions of long covid patients are being told to just push themselves, which invariably makes things worse.
It’s weird. It’s hard. I have deeply complicated feelings.