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midwestbookster's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse and Abortion
Minor: Addiction
mollylovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault
kwthor's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
kc_sears's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
livlosiewicz's review against another edition
3.5
•What I love most about memoirs is when people pour their honest selves into the text, and allow readers like me who have lived very different lives to step in their shoes and live in their heads for a little bit. Viola Davis does this beautifully, and opens up about a lot of traumatic, but important, topics. I especially love how we get so many facets of her relationships with her family, and how she holds up that there were many times when she was terrified of her father and wanted him to leave, while also acknowledging how much she loved him and how they were able to foster an important and close relationship at the end
•Davis provides some really important insights about how her identity as a black woman impacted her acting career and the way that both racism and colorism affect her life. This was peppered throughout the story, representing the way it was simply always present in her life. I found this to be both really well-done and informative!
Cons:
•The organization of this book left a lot to be desired. Some sections of the book were repetitive, either making the same point that she already made without adding anything new, or adding exposition we already had (like re-explaining her parttime job at Trinity). It read a bit like she decided to move the text to other spots but forgot to delete it in the first spot.
•Also, the book jumped back and forth in time (by margins of a few years; it was mostly linear) in a way that I didn’t really understand. For example, telling about a breakup and then the boyfriend appears pre-breakup a few pages later. If it was necessary to tell things out of order, some roadmapping transition language would have been helpful! It was like the way you would have a conversation or tell a story out loud, but it was confusing on the page. I suspect it might have been better as an audiobook
•(I’ll note that it seems a little unfair to be criticizing the grammar of someone who had to miss school as a child because their family had no hear or running water…so I’m not blaming her, I’m blaming the editor!! Take a red pen to this baby and it would be a real masterpiece!!)
Recommendation: I recommend to fans of memoirs, especially if you’re already a fan of Viola Davis. LOTS of content warnings: this woman has been through a LOT and somehow still managed to have an amazing career despite basically every obstacle. I really enjoyed her perspectives on her life and have a lot of admiration for her journey. Avoid if poor structure in memoirs can bother you or if you want something without trauma.
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse and Abortion
ebonyyd's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
awaywiththefairies's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, and Toxic relationship
scouthannah's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Blood, and Abortion
fromthelibraryofmarissa's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abandonment
Minor: Abortion
sariereads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, and Classism