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joiceeg's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, and Drug use
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, and Sexism
serenevannoy's review
I can't really handle stories of kids in peril, and I was not expecting the violent child rape that happens early in this book. Not a fault of the book, but I wasn't enjoying it that much to begin with and that was the deciding point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Pedophilia
studiouspoppy's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
In his incredible memoir “I’m not broken”, Jesse León talks about his experience as a survivor of CSA in the seventies, understanding his life experience as a second generation latin immigrant in the USA, a queer kid growing up in the seventies in a hyper masculine culture, and how his experience of CSA marked his development and exploration of sexuality in a world that was already really difficult for queer people, specially BIPOC.
I enjoyed this book and the way Jesse managed to tell a very difficult and personal story, show how far he’s come, and centered his narration in the people around him, acknowledging that his recovery was hard and was something he managed with great difficulty, and how important his family and friends were as a support system. I was afraid it was gonna be a “I’ve gone through worse and managed to achieve so many things, so everyone else isn’t trying hard enough” and it was the opposite.
The author managed to depict one of the worst things a person can go through, and the way he started that part of his story felt raw and sudden, and painful to read. I though it was really poetic the way is so unexpected as a reader, how he managed to communicate his experience like that. It was also very interesting the way he analyzed his feelings at the time, talking about how as a latine kid, being raised in a very sexist community, the CSA by a man really affected how he felt around his own masculinity.
There were some issues with the parts written in Spanish, from very imprecise translations, to using conjugations that didn’t go together, which seems like mistakes in the editing process. An English reader probably wouldn’t notice, but as a Spanish speaker it was very noticeable.
Overall, this book was really hard to read because it was raw ad explicit in the way it depicted drug abuse, suicide ideation, sexual assault & exploitation, and while I think it was really well written and had a really interesting and thorough sociological analysis of identity, trauma and intersectional ways of oppression, it’s definitely not for everybody and I certainly hope that the final version includes clear TW. I liked it, and I think it was well written so I do recommend it, but as a very hard topic, I’d say it should be read carefully.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for giving me access to a digital arc of this book.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for giving me access to a digital arc of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Racial slurs, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Racism, and Trafficking
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