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4.53 AVERAGE
4.53 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I’m not going to rate because this book is so deeply personal and individual that I don’t think it’s rate-able.
As the author notes, this book is not and cannot be for most people. And some parts of the book certainly did not resonate with me, but many parts did. I was especially moved by discussions of how cliche and language fail us, how true compassion requires courage and dealing with our own discomfort, and the importance of meaningful, fearless friendship. I can see myself returning to this book and getting something different from it many times over the course of my life.
As the author notes, this book is not and cannot be for most people. And some parts of the book certainly did not resonate with me, but many parts did. I was especially moved by discussions of how cliche and language fail us, how true compassion requires courage and dealing with our own discomfort, and the importance of meaningful, fearless friendship. I can see myself returning to this book and getting something different from it many times over the course of my life.
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Suicide attempt
I was scared to read this book. I lost one of my best mates to suicide a few years ago and I speak to his mum regularly. I wasn’t sure I could handle this book right now, but it turned out to be one of the most illuminating things I’ve ever read. It’s always very beautiful to read a book that connects with every feeling in your body - the kind of book you instantly message people about, thinking about the people we love and the ones we love and lose. I’ve been in a cloud of fog while coming off of my anti-depressants and this book shone through that with an empathy and clarity that feels transformative.
challenging
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
It feels impossible to me to rate or review this book. It will stick with me for a long while.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
A memoir from a writing professor at Princeton whose sons both commit suicide about six years apart. A short read, but intense and sad and thought provoking.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
This book is courageous and open, authentic and vulnerable, raw and gentle. The author speaks of her immeasurable and unquantifiable loss and reflects on this in her own context, with words that do somehow manage to carve out a shape of the depth and intensity of her emotions, yet also philosophies on what it means to encounter and live on. It is profound and heartbreaking. I have no idea how she wrote this book, but I think anyone who reads this will treasure it. It rips you open, so it's best to go in prepared. But it is a depiction of the abyss she is facing as a parent who has lost children and it is a true gift that she has shared it with us. The author reflects on parenting, mental health, trauma, choices and much more. The writing is real and deep. I think it will bring solace to anyone navigating the day to day of dealing with loss and acquainting themselves with living in the now and now and now.
If you have read this and need other books that speak to similar themes, gentle and tender representations of death and loss are:
Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking.