Reviews tagging 'Rape'

American Daughter: A Memoir by Stephanie Thornton Plymale

4 reviews

shelbitedeschi's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Gaslighting, Torture, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence

swiss_miss_73's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Child abuse

beccaandthegingercat's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

Moderate: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism

happiestwhenreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

The description said this memoir is for fans of Educated and The Glass Castle and I’d have to say I wholeheartedly agree! Stephanie had a terrible upbringing – homelessness, foster care, sexually abused – the list is long and heartbreaking. Her mother suffered from mental illness and addiction, leaving Stephanie and her siblings to fend for themselves.

Stephanie is a great writer. Her prose immediately sucked me in and I knew I was in it for the long haul. Her journey with her mother was interesting – at the beginning of the book, they were nearly estranged, but as the book progressed, Stephanie’s mother becomes ill and she knows she wants to understand her mother as much as she can while she is able to get some answers. Through these revelations, Stephanie gains insight into her mother’s life and slowly begins to forgive her and have compassion for her. It really was a beautiful transformation that really reminds the reader that what others see on the outside is only a piece of the puzzle. Without excusing her mother’s behavior, Stephanie was able to heal her pain when she had more insight into her mother’s past.

What I absolutely hated about this book was Plymale’s exploration of her own marital issues with her husband. I appreciate that her husband was her saving grace, but the focus of the book should have stayed on her mother. This is a memoir, not an autobiography, so there was no need for Stephanie to stray into her personal problems in her marriage. To be honest, while I had a lot of compassion for Stephanie’s upbringing, the way she spoke to and about her husband darkened my opinion of her. I’m not saying there wasn’t value in her explorations of her unhappiness, but maybe it should have been in a different book. The two parts really didn’t compliment each other and I was way more invested in the mother/daughter relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction and Cancer

Minor: Car accident