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gabizago's review
4.0
I like how this memoir book is constructed, not exactly in a linear way. You get to learn about the author's past, but also learn a few bits about current life. Despite having some two weird figures of parents, she went on to have a more or less normal life and write stories and even a book about her life.
yourlittleearthling's review
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Mental illness
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
A heartbreaking memoir about a dysfunctional childhood filled with abuse and the complicated family relationships of a woman lacking a connection to her Mother and her Navajo roots. Danielle Geller gets a call that her mother has had a heart attack and is not going to recover. This sets off a journey to get to know the mother that was largely absent from the majority of her life using the diaries and photographs she left behind. I really enjoyed how the author uses her archival background to examine the physical objects of her mother's past in order to discover more about her family history. Raised by her paternal grandmother and shuttled around between various family members, including her abusive father, Danielle and her younger sister had a very traumatic childhood. This book is full of triggers and should be read with care. Danielle recounts her own and her family's history of mental illness and depression. Her father and sister were in and out of jail and suffered from alcohol and substance abuse. It took her mother's death for Danielle to reconnect with her maternal family and the reunion was a complicated one. Danielle ended up marrying a Canadian man and lives in British Columbia. Recommended for fans of dysfunctional family stories in the style of Jesse Thistle or Toni Jensen.
TW: sexual, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual molestation of a minor child
TW: sexual, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual molestation of a minor child
milaraet2016's review
3.0
The author explores family and culture through the death of her mother and the absence her mother had in her life. The pain of her life stood out as did the themes of loss.
avkesner's review
3.0
3.5 stars. I have loved learning about and reading more from Native American authors. Danielle Geller returns to Florida to retrieve a suitcase full of pictures after her mother dies of alcohol withdrawal. Interspersed with photos and images from her mother's suitcase, this is really the story of Danielle-- the struggles of her childhood, her alcoholic mother, father, and sister, and her connection to the Navajo reservation. This is a difficult story, of a young woman, who, despite her self-reflection during her mother's memorial service on the reservation, is actually a caretaker of her whole family, even her parents. This is a sad and touching novel about family.
Thanks to #DogFlowers #NetGalley for the advance copy.
Thanks to #DogFlowers #NetGalley for the advance copy.