Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Finding Me by Viola Davis

79 reviews

itscassie's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Viola’s storytelling ability coupled with the depths of vulnerability and healing she shares had me in awe throughout each chapter. I felt I saw a distant relative telling me their life lessons and speaking to the young girl, adolescent in me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical trauma

morgane3471's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

2.75

I wanted to love it but I I didn’t.  I really liked her in HTGAWM and was interested in learning more about her life. Sadly, it was poorly written in my opinion and It wasn’t really captivating. It felt very repetitive . I don’t understand why this book as got so many good reviews. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

pagesandpixels's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

So poetically written. I listened on audiobook and it was beautiful and engaging. What a life Viola lived and what an honor to listen. Another great book that reminds us why we need to buy/listen to women voices and stories.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Excrement

clpaige's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Medical content

Moderate: Infertility, Racism, and Toxic relationship

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Every single performance I’ve seen Viola Davis in, her acting ability has taken my breath away. I’m usually reticent toward celebrity memoirs but this takes the cake for one of the best memoirs I’ve read. As Davis takes readers through her difficult and tumultuous backstory with searing candidness, we begin to understand the many layers of who she is and how she came to be the person she is today. From the racist climate of the East coast to the colorism glaringly prevalent in both film/stage and the Blck community, Davis’ voice is emotionally intelligent and critically astute. There are definitely very dark moments layered through out this story, so I would definitely recommend checking content warnings on those, but each of these moments is handled with immense care and grace. I really loved this read, it’s definitely made me want to watch “How to get away with murder”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Cancer

smsegal's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Death of parent

daringdelaney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Star rating out of 5:
5/5

Would I recommend the book:

Absolutely! With trigger warnings (Graphic Domestic abuse, Racism, Physical abuse,
Sexual assault, Abortion, Addiction... Possibly more)
And a warning about it's use of profanity but it's mostly direct quotes.

My favorite part was:

How intelligent and articulate Viola Davis is.
And:
“My biggest discovery was that you can literally re-create your life. You can redefine it. You don’t have to live in the past. I found that not only did I have fight in me, I had love.”

"Memories are immortal. They're deathless and precise. They have the power of giving you joy and perspective in hard times. Or, they can strangle you. Define you in a way that's based more in other people's tucked-up perceptions than truth."

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are"

“I now understand that life, and living it, is more about being present. I’m now aware that the not-so-happy memories lie in wait; but the hope and the joy also lie in wait.”


Do i think the book is well written? Why is or isn't it? Was engaging, delightful, or inspiring? Was it staid, boring, or contrived?

She did an amazing job sharing her life stories and her family's stories. The words she chose to portray intense times were eloquent, flowy, and emotion evoking.
I loved her (movie) work before this book but now I'm starting to love Viola Davis.
The immense respect and admiration I have for her is deep. The things she endured as a child and throughout every phase of her life I can honestly say that I've never experienced. I've never missed a meal for days. I've never had to lay in my own urine and go to school the next day reeking. I've never had to fight with huge rats over my bed & pillow. I have never opened the door to my father's mistress completely naked without a care to hide an affair. I've never witnessed my father beat my mother within an inch of her life and I've never experienced racism on the level that Viola has for being too dark or "not pretty enough" She has been through more than any woman ever should have to. What she went through for being dark skinned, what her mom went through...absolutely terrible! She wrote about her awful struggles without comparing them to others which can easily happen when discussing such things. Viola's biggest life defining moments were when she fell to her knees. She's been baptized and has had many moments when all she had was God to rely on. There is a lot to admire in this woman and I hope she maintains her relationship with Jesus Christ.

This book is beautifully written and wonderfully (self) narrated into an audiobook. I'm so so glad I impulsively grabbed this one. 


Was it what you expected it to be?

Not at all. It exceeded my expectations.

How I discovered the book: 

Searching my library app for a nonfiction autobiography less than 10 hours long (Barbara Streisand's is 45 hours long!)


Format I read it in: Audiobook read by the author 🤩

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

keats1787's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infertility, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Death of parent

inthemoonforcheese's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism