Reviews

Open Heart, Open Mind by Clara Hughes

mellowdave's review

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4.0

A good look at the life of an accomplished athlete and human

It’s a good, quick read. It’s like a small group therapy session really, it doesn’t delve too deeply into anything, don’t expect any real revelations. Clara doesn’t really discuss how or even if she’s solved some of her problems, she just invites us all along on the journey.

bookwormadventuregirl's review against another edition

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3.0

Enjoyed the stories of Right to Play International and Bell Let's Talk the most.

yyc_heather's review against another edition

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3.0

For the 2019 Reading Women challenge, one of the items was a book about a female athlete. While I'm not terribly interested in sports, Clara's story is inspiring. She's an admirable person, both for her athletic achievements, her advocacy work, and her honesty in confronting her history of childhood trauma and mental health issues.

mountie9's review against another edition

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4.0

The Good Stuff
Even though her life has been tough at times, there is no self pity or blame
Fascinating background in the day to day training involved in a competitive athletes life
Likeable, honest writing. Feels like you are listening to a friend tell a story
Admire her for what she has accomplished with her life, especially her work with Right to Play and Bell Canada Lets Talks
Found it interesting what goes on during the Olympics
Speaks very openly about addiction and mental illness
Loved her Dad even though he was a very troubled man. She makes you feel the good in him, despite his demons
Honestly I was fascinated by the training and the ins and outs of competitive sports. The incredible drive and determination is awe inspiring (ok, also remember I am a Librarian and a nerd, so sports is sooo not my thing)
Interesting to learn about the pressure to dope and all about the different methods
I have always been less than understanding about the importance of sport and she really made me how much sport can inspire and help someone (Ok most of my negativity comes from being shit at sports and made fun of by jocks, I still remember being insulted in high school by a girl named Christine about my lack of athleticism - I'm 45 and I still remember that moment)
I really enjoyed the stories about her experiences while working on Right to Play. Truly inspiring, fun and so raw and beautiful
Loved her colourful dialogue (Yup I also believe that people who swear are more honest and trustful)
Amazed by the amount of eating disorders within competitive sports, Liked that she talked so openly about her own struggles. Hey we have something in common - who knew - no one is safe from that inner demon
Impressed with the connection in regards to her Father at the beginning and the end of the story. Nicely done

The Not So Good Stuff
Jumps around a bit

Favorite Quotes

"As a kid, you just try to survive. You grind whatever awful things you are experiencing into dust as they're happening.'

"My Dad used to say to me, "Clara, never put anyone below you, and never put anyone above you. There are good an bad people - you can't deceive yourself into thinking otherwise - but it has nothing to do with race or income."

"This lesson in a taxicab on a cold winter's day showed me the potential of human beings to transcend hatred, greed, and genocide. Even now I marvel that someone could come to this kind of peace after losing so much."

4 Dewey's

I received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review

liya_reads's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring

3.75

emmkayt's review

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3.0

Fast, engaging memoir by Canadian Olympian Hughes, who has triumphed at both Summer and Winter Olympics despite a troubled youth and mental health challenges. I was not a sporty kid by any stretch of the imagination, and was interested to read about how transformative involvement in sports can be for kids, both for Hughes herself and for the children she has reached out to through her charitable endeavours.

meghan_is_reading's review

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Sport, depression, body image, growing up in families with alcoholism and anger management issues. I might empathise with a number of these issues. also, holy crap Hughes is a fantastic multisport athlete! the writing isn't fancy, but it is honest.

shays's review

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3.0

One thing this book does very well is demonstrate that depression isn’t about causes. Hughes acknowledges the damage her coach did, while also noting that finally leaving him didn’t fix her. She shares meeting her husband, the man who would support her through all her ups and downs, but admits that love couldn’t fix her either. She pushed herself to extremes in training, becoming known as an endurance athlete, but even Olympic medals couldn’t instill self-worth. She got out of a sport she hated to pursue the one she originally fell in love with, but still fell back into partying and alcohol when the strain of the sporting lifestyle took its toll. She isn’t miraculously cured by sports (quite the contrary) or anything else, for that matter. Open Heart, Open Mind is part of the journey of coming to terms with living with depression. read more

acanuckreader's review

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5.0

Clara Hughes is an inspiring woman for more reasons than her Olympic medals. I admired her as a cyclist, and as a speed skater. I loved that she was involved with Bell, Let's Talk and now I can admire her as a human being. She has led a not so easy life, and yet continued to inspire those around her, to inspire me and hopefully other women. Her battle with depression, with addiction and her own self-hatred was well detailed here and I do appreciate her honesty, and the fight in her.

Her sense of goodwill and the need to help people is illustrated here as well, and the things she has done, seen and continues to do are amazing.

I am so glad I picked this for my Olympic read.

thebrandyrivers's review

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3.0

Overall Clara's autobiography was gripping and I found myself relating to her struggles. I was surprised at how interesting and accessible her descriptions of cycling and speed skating, however I rated this 3 stars as it was underwhelming compared to other autobiographies and memoirs I have read.