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tzpink's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal!! What a journey!!! This book is the truth ....READ IT AND WEEP, Praise for Viola
livlosiewicz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Pros:
•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.
•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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse and Abortion
laasenpai's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
meekoh's review against another edition
4.0
Davis courageously delves into the hardships that shaped her childhood and the resulting insecurities which she continues to struggle with as an adult.
I have a lot of respect for anyone able to showcase this level of vulnerability. The years of therapy have undoubtedly improved her ability to impartially evaluate her past while still conveying the emotional toll.
I have a lot of respect for anyone able to showcase this level of vulnerability. The years of therapy have undoubtedly improved her ability to impartially evaluate her past while still conveying the emotional toll.
emilyreadsinallentown's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
lovelyday2day's review against another edition
Great memoir. Now I want to rewatch HTGAWM - have a new appreciation for her acting in it and all she brought to the role.
jasquid's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
4.0
This is the 2nd memoir I've ever read in my 20 some years alive, with the first being Born A Crime by Trevor Noah.
I found it incredibly meaningful to hear Viola Davis' story told from her own voice, so I'm glad I chose the audiobook edition. When she quotes her relatives and loved ones, it's extra impactful to hear her mimicking their tone, their speech rhythm and I felt extremely lucky to be able to get these things in particular, from an EGOT artist. Notably, her Grammy was for the audiobook recording of this very novel.
My only point deduction was because at points, I found the prose too repetitive, although still meaningful. To add emphasis, she would often say the same thing in 3 ways to add emphasis and more nuance, but personally this pattern tired for me after 4hrs of it.
Otherwise, this memoir was retty incredible. It's not limited to being an autobiography for Davis. It also exposes and dives into the difficulty and intrinsic connection between blackness and poverty. The "1, 2 punch" as Davis describes it. It explores the importance and the pain of school as a haven for less-having children and also a place for them to face discrimination and bullying. It explores and explains all the connected events that ties to the heavy shame of poverty with anecdotes from Davis' own life.
The memoir also highlights the importance of family, the importance of self-discovery and healing, and to a lesser extent, the importance of one's faith.
I found her critical examination of Julliard as a school and its western bias in the world of arts particularly great.
However, it also served as an extremely moving autobiography.
The chapterwhere her father passed away made me extremely emotional. Then, when she was at the mortuary with her mom, signing papers, noting that her 8yo crybaby self was now doing this it really struck me how wonderfully Davis took readers through the chapters and phases of her life as this growth really struck me and I felt like I understood it.
This memoir was not only an extremely moving, candid capture of Davis' life, struggles and successes, it also critically many issues in society, in the film industry, in arts educations and the importance of self-understanding and growth.
I found it incredibly meaningful to hear Viola Davis' story told from her own voice, so I'm glad I chose the audiobook edition. When she quotes her relatives and loved ones, it's extra impactful to hear her mimicking their tone, their speech rhythm and I felt extremely lucky to be able to get these things in particular, from an EGOT artist. Notably, her Grammy was for the audiobook recording of this very novel.
My only point deduction was because at points, I found the prose too repetitive, although still meaningful. To add emphasis, she would often say the same thing in 3 ways to add emphasis and more nuance, but personally this pattern tired for me after 4hrs of it.
Otherwise, this memoir was retty incredible. It's not limited to being an autobiography for Davis. It also exposes and dives into the difficulty and intrinsic connection between blackness and poverty. The "1, 2 punch" as Davis describes it. It explores the importance and the pain of school as a haven for less-having children and also a place for them to face discrimination and bullying. It explores and explains all the connected events that ties to the heavy shame of poverty with anecdotes from Davis' own life.
The memoir also highlights the importance of family, the importance of self-discovery and healing, and to a lesser extent, the importance of one's faith.
I found her critical examination of Julliard as a school and its western bias in the world of arts particularly great.
However, it also served as an extremely moving autobiography.
The chapter
This memoir was not only an extremely moving, candid capture of Davis' life, struggles and successes, it also critically many issues in society, in the film industry, in arts educations and the importance of self-understanding and growth.