Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair

11 reviews

itsgnat's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual violence

anjasshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Rape, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

acresofclams's review

hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Dementia, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

Title: Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up
Author: Selma Blair
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: May 17, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Vulnerable • Straightforward • Fitful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention.

Although Selma went on to become a celebrated Hollywood actress and model, she could never quite shake the periods of darkness that overtook her, the certainty that there was a great mystery at the heart of her life. She often felt like her arms might be on fire, a sensation not unlike electric shocks, and she secretly drank to escape.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I've been on a celebrity memoir kick lately, and Selma Blair's was up next on the docket. Going in, I knew very little about the author aside from having seen her in a few movies (most notably Legally Blond - a favourite of mine). And I must say Mean Baby didn't wow me like some celebrity memoirs have.

Selma narrates her story in a non-linear manner, touching on her childhood - particularly her strained relationship with her parents, - her alcoholism and depression, her MS diagnosis, and life with her son. The first half has a fair amount of name dropping and superficial meandering, when in fact there could have been a lot more reflection and emotion. The strength of this memoir lies in her opening up about her MS diagnosis and living with a chronic illness. Yet even here there could have been a lot more depth.

I can't pinpoint exactly what this memoir was missing, but I know it was lacking something. It didn't pack the emotional punch I'd been anticipating, despite some extremely difficult and heartbreaking circumstances. It's Selma's right to remain very surface level in telling her story - but as a reader I wanted so much more depth.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• celebrity memoir fanatics
• readers wishing to learn a bit about MS

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Someone once told me that grief is love you can no longer express."

"I learned how it feels when someone else’s thoughts touch a part of you that you haven’t felt before."

"Books also taught me how to notice things, how a moment can be a whole story." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Eating disorder, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Rape, and Body shaming

Minor: Cursing, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Cancer, Animal death, Medical content, and Vomit

millywebster's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Medical content, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Addiction, and Rape

Minor: Pregnancy

siobhanward's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

 I'll admit I don't know a lot about Selma Blair other than she's become an advocate for those with MS and that she played Vivian in Legally Blonde. That said, not knowing a ton about her didn't stop me from enjoying this book. I'm glad she admitted to being kind of a jerk at times - I know we all go through those phases but I feel like Blair was especially out of touch? What kind of adult literally needs to be bitten back in order to learn that biting people isn't funny?? I think most people figure that one out as toddlers.

I loved how open and honest Blair was about a lot of topics, but she did skirt around how much money she grew up with. I don't know anyone who could afford private school growing up, much less being kicked out of private school and finding a way to re-enter. I would have loved a bit more insight into how Blair felt that having that kind of upbringing impacted her as an adult, and her career.

I learned a lot about Selma Blair throughout this book and loved how she wrote it. I feel like it jumped around a bit and sometimes it was hard to figure out what was happening when, but that didn't spoil my enjoyment too much. It's a fun and interesting read, whether or not you know Blair's work well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

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

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