Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir by Michele Harper

13 reviews

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

2.5

I read this for my university’s virtual book club because I am trying to branch out in the types of books that I read. I typically don’t read nonfiction or memoirs, but after loving Becoming earlier this year I thought I might like another autobiography… but this one did not do it for me. I enjoyed some of the stories, but the book overall felt very preachy and holier-than-thou. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

jourdanicus's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

I came to this book after reading a few other medical memoirs and boy was I not prepared for it (in the best way). Dr. Harper recalls stories of patients who have affected her and draws connections between their experiences, the lessons she learned from them, her own experiences as a Black woman/survivor of abuse, and to top it all off brings in discussion of systemic and institutional racism/sexism/violence. Just... incredible. It was both refreshing and challenging (in a growth way) to read a memoir by someone who is so mentally and spiritually well, and has truly done the work to get to that point. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone, I think we all have a lot to learn from it. Much respect and appreciation to Dr. Harper for sharing parts of her life and perspective in the form of this book.

*And yes, there are a lot of potential triggers discussed in this book but Dr. Harper handles each topic with such sensitivity and grace that, while this may be a challenging read for some, it is not carelessly or blatantly triggering. I hope the content warnings don't drive away any potential readers.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

fionac326's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Blood, and Medical content