Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Finding Me by Viola Davis

74 reviews

mecmccann's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

This book was everything I needed and more. When she said “The purpose of life is to live it” agghhhhhh I needed that 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexism, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Mental illness

koala982's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.0

- I already liked Viola Davis going into this book, and now I like her even more! The story she tells about her life (her childhood, how she got to where she is, her life now) is spectacular, and the way she frames and processes everything is too. Also her personality really comes through --she seems like a genuine and grounded person.
- What I didn't like about the book was the structure and the writing. The overall structure (going from chapter to chapter) is fine, but the structure of the chapters themselves was sort of weird. I wasn't always sure when  something was happening, the transitions between very different topics was often sudden, and really big things (

like a family with kidnapped children living in their apartment

) would be briefly mentioned and not picked up until much later. The phrasing of things was odd sometimes too (how many times can you use the phrase "the one-two punch of ___"). I feel like the book could've used a closer read from an editor. It could also be the case that it would be more natural/less off-putting listened to than read.
- I love her use of punctuation!!!
- I also appreciated the information she provided about how the theater/film/tv industry works. It helped explain why the media we consume looks the way it does and also showed me how hard being an actor can be/often is.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

One of the most powerful biographies I’ve ever listened to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Rape, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Pedophilia, Incest, Infertility, and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Medical content

micalyia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Racism, Abortion, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book is exactly what I want from a memoir. I want to know about the nitty gritty of celebrities lives, not the jobs they’re known for or the name-dropping of who’s good/bad in Hollywood. 

 

I found this even more interesting to know more about the racism and bullying that black people experience - as it’s not something I have experience in being a white person. 

 

Before reading this I honestly knew nothing about Viola, other than the fact that she’d stared in HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, THE HELP, WIDOWS, etc. So it was really fascinating for me to found out about her childhood (the amount of trauma she experienced I did not expect) and her long journey in acting to get to the place that she is today. 

 

Honestly, this book has given me a new found respect for this woman for publishing such a raw insight into her life. I really wish I’d listened to the audiobook for this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Addiction, Racism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

kcelena's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring relaxing sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

aloy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Cancer, Addiction, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Blood, Alcoholism, Racism, Physical abuse, Infertility, and Domestic abuse

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

WOW. I fully expected this book, especially the audiobook, to be completely and totally amazing, and it absolutely was. I had no idea what a rough childhood full of poverty and abuse Viola Davis endured. I cried, I laughed, I was hooked from the very first line (if you've read it, you know 😂🤌).

Update after first reread:
This is just as much a five star read the second time around 🙌 I don't often buy audiobooks or reread them, but this one felt like the perfect way to wrap up a challenge I'm doing on IG. I had forgotten about some of the details of just how rough her childhood was (that cat part like wut 😳)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Grief, Death of parent, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Abortion

Moderate: Toxic relationship

stoleyourfoodinthelibrary's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Death of parent, Bullying, Grief, Child abuse, Body shaming, Racism, Violence, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Toxic relationship and Vomit

blueeyedshook's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring sad medium-paced

3.75

There is a reason this woman can act with such depth of soul. She has lived through such darkness. I have wanted her to write a book since her Oscar acceptance speech so this was one of my most anticipated books of the year! 
I knew quite a bit about Davis from interviews and articles but of course this was a whole deeper level. And it was HARD. Such pain and darkness that she has lived through that the beginning was hard to get through simply because of her difficulty and the gravity with which she wrote it. But out of pain, has come beauty. I think the pain was focused on quite a bit more than the beauty though. Although, my hope is that this leaves room for her to write another book in the future. 
The book leads right up to her winning the Oscar for Fences, but really passes over the successful years around that with a light hand. We do get a glimpse of meeting her husband and how he is (their relationship seems precious). And introduced very lightly to when she adopts her daughter. 
I appreciated that she focused on her experiences. (it definitely wasn’t a Hollywood tell all or even tell some about any of the people in her movies or shows with her. Barely a tidbit about how Denzel Washington challenged her when he directed.) This was a book about Viola. And of course it focused on how poor she was, her love for her family (even in their own pain), and the experiences she faced in school, work and life with the color of her skin. Not only being black but being dark skinned black. Being a white woman, I have never experienced anything like she has, and I find it utterly ludicrous that she was considered not only different but ugly because her skin is so dark (even among other people of color). Makes my heart hurt. So much of this book just broke my heart for her and for all the little girls out there who have experiences prejudices and atrocities.
What a glorious thing that she can attest that all of that difficulty she faced and the trouble she had finding self-love was faced and began healing in her roll on How to Get Away With Murder. Watching that show made me feel like she was really coming through in the character, and she confirmed that to be true. Such breakthrough, not only for her but for all woman who look like her as well. 
My favorite part, though, was the way she talked about her parents. How even through the pain, she loved her father and how he grew and healed as well. And the way she talked about her sisters, ugh. Heart wide open.
(My less than favorite part was how her favorite word must be the f word with mf taking a close second. But I digress.)
A beautiful, heart wrenching, aching memoir that I hope is not her last. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abortion, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship