Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong

13 reviews

yourbookishbff's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Disability Visibility is an anthology of essays edited by disability justice advocate Alice Wong. I don’t think I’ve ever read a collection of stories and perspectives so intersectional, raw and (as a non-disabled person) necessary. The structure of the collection is itself a stunning example of “disabled praxis,” as defined by A.H. Reaume in their essay “Why My Novel is Dedicated to My Disabled Friend Maddy,” as each essay simultaneously adds to and stands apart from preceding narratives, building a collage of experience that reflects the community built by and for those seeking disability justice.  

Loosely framed as essays, these range from first-person narratives to transcribed Ted talks to eulogies to artist manifestos to poetry. Several of these stories reflect the trauma and abuse experienced by those living at complex intersections of marginalization, and I was thankful that every essay includes detailed content and trigger warnings at the start. Through this unvarnished truth-telling, the intention of the anthology is made crystal clear - this is a collection rightfully built to amplify disabled voices for the benefit of disabled people and not for the gaze or comfort of non-disabled people.

I read this slowly, over more than a month, and I’m grateful I took my time with it. It challenged me to think about my own areas of deep-seated privilege and about the systems and spaces I have made inaccessible because of this privilege. It expanded my understanding of and respect for inclusivity and helped me to see the ways in which disability rights work has been consistently constrained by non-disabled people. These stories force us to ask, as s.e. smith does in their essay “The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by Disabled People:” “How can we cultivate spaces where everyone has that soaring sense of inclusion, where we can have difficult and meaningful conversations?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cancer and Child abuse

In this collection of essays, trigger warnings for each individual essay are included at the start of each essay.

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I consider myself familiar with disability justice principles and discussions, and I still learned a lot from this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Cancer, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Abortion and Excrement

amberinbookland's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Excrement, Ableism, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Blood, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Medical content, and Death

laupm's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Classism

lilacs_book_bower's review

challenging hopeful informative lighthearted sad fast-paced

4.75

I really enjoyed this book. Alice Wong as the editor has gathered a wide range of essays and interviews from people with disabilities, and the collection covers a huge range of topics. I liked the approach of reading about the different aspects of disabilities that people wanted to discuss; topics range from medical care, discrimination, wheelchairs and artificial limbs, transportation, and accessible clothing. I appreciated the wide selection of topics. The only flaw I would say with this book is that some of the essays are so short (three pages), that the reader is left wanting more. A few felt like they introduced a topic and then abruptly ended. Overall, a very strong collection of narratives and a fast read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Fatphobia, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Ableism, Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

booksandboba's review

informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Abandonment, Mental illness, and Chronic illness

Minor: Sexual assault, Excrement, and Medical content

atomicbritt's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Racism, Abandonment, Classism, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Ableism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual assault

ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Everyone should read this. It covers a multitude of disability rights issues as well as being incredibly intersectional. Some sections discuss very difficult/triggering issues, but many of these come with content warnings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Acephobia/Arophobia, Medical trauma, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Sexism

Moderate: Genocide, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage

elizabethkore's review

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A book that should be a modern primer for disability studies and narrative. Covers a variety of topics, centering and advocating for disability narratives. Authors highlighted are from a variety of backgrounds, with physical and/or mental disabilities, and predominately QTPOC identities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual assault, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Genocide, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Death, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Cancer, and Bullying

Moderate: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Vomit

spiritedfaraway's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Stories are the closest we can come to shared experience… Like all stories, they are most fundamentally a chance to ride around inside another head and be reminded that being who we are and where we are, and doing what we’re doing, is not the only possibility.

       – Harriet McBryde Johnson 

Everyone should read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Abandonment, Grief, Police brutality, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Sexism, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abortion, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Slavery