Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair

33 reviews

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.25

 - I didn't know much about Selma Blair before starting this book, other than having seen her in a few movies and knowing about her MS diagnosis. Her memoir takes readers inside what has so far been a fairly private life, and I'll remember it forever.
- This book is a hard read. Blair has been through a lot in her life. I also read the audiobook, read by Blair herself, and she breaks into tears at many points in the story.
- However, MEAN BABY also delivers on the celebrity front. Blair name drops with abandon, and takes us with her to fancy award show parties, photo shoots, and to hang out with the likes of Carrie Fisher and Karl Lagerfeld. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

abuck_2426's review

emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Death of parent

leighannebfd3b's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

emilycm's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

oh, wow. this memoir is deeply riddled with authenticity in selma's experience, and it gets you hooked if you let it. i knew very little about her outside of her acting, but she certainly has a grip on the writing. i read a lot of reviews saying that "the tissue of this isn't connected," and that parts jump to other parts, which whole heartedly i did not find issue with. i think since there is a lot of trauma explicated within, it feels as if pieces are jagged and don't fit, but selma's beauty as a writer is that she can thread all these lessons and moments of her life together to create a really solid memoir. this is especially gripping, i think, not because of the trauma that some might find excessive or hard to hear about as selma presents it, but the way in which she reflects on it all. the way you can feel her presence in the moment right now, still thinking through things as she puts them down on the page, and that feels to me, entirely human and what i gravitate towards reading and connect with.

this is one of the few, but best, celebrity memoirs i've read. and in reading it, i know it's going to stick with me. it's someone else's life story, just as every memoir may be, but there was something so innate in this one that i can't help but feel the heaviness and realness of the words as the book now sits on a shelf across from me. i think i'll be recommending this to lots of people in the years to come, and referring to some particular sections at points in my life i do not yet know how they will come.

selma's continuous, authentic threading of her experience with MS was also a very integral, moving part of this memoir. i felt moved by her voice in every sentence and moment of the journey, how she talked about her body, it was a very vivid and powerful account.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Rape, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

adventuresofabibliophile's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Drug use, Body shaming, Animal death, and Eating disorder

Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

megang519's review

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

The memoir I didn't know I needed until I cracked it open! Beautifully written, vulnerable, and enlightening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Sexual violence, Drug use, Self harm, Body shaming, Rape, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

tiredtori's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Addiction, Physical abuse, Ableism, and Alcoholism

pagelikebooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Originally posted on Library Journal on 5/20/22.

Thanks LJ for the advanced copy!

"Actress Blair (Cruel Intentions; Legally Blonde) candidly recounts the events of her life with refreshing honesty. She tells of her struggle with alcohol addiction, the love and loss she has endured, and reflects on her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Never far from the foreground is Blair’s relationship with her mother. She approaches this complicated relationship with love, admiration, and the 20/20 vision only hindsight can bring. The stories Blair recalls are hilarious and heart-wrenching in equal measure. In one moment, she discusses biting Seth MacFarlane on the hand, and in the next, she brings readers to tears while talking about her experiences with grief. Blair writes in blunt, witty prose, making this book hard to put down. Fans of her film work will love the behind-the-scenes look at some of her various Hollywood roles.

VERDICT This memoir is witty, funny, heartbreaking, and beautifully written. This book will be loved by fans of Blair’s work and of her MS advocacy."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Death of parent

nonfictionfeminist's review

emotional slow-paced

3.0

This book ultimately left me feeling kind of frustrated. I enjoy Selma as an actress, and love that she is a voice for MS. However, the important sections of this book (the kind of emotional abuse by her mother and her dealings with MS and alcoholism) weren't really expanded upon, and the less important bits (odd anecdotes about boyfriends and friends and directors) took up so many pages without really saying anything. I also feel like she really struggled to admit how privileged her upbringing was. When your mom spends a thousand dollars on a Burberry coat for you, that's an enormous privilege.
This book also ends up being so anecdotal that it would perhaps be better advertised as an autobiography rather than a memoir, which implies a stronger focus on a particular topic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Rape, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment