Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller

11 reviews

siriface's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Racism and Suicide attempt

hollyd19's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

With sharp, honest writing Geller pieces together a mosaic of her life in the aftermath of her mother's death from alcohol withdrawal. Using her training as an archivist, Geller takes the fragmented records found in an old suitcase kept by her mother's on-again, off-again lover to formulate an account of her mom's history and revise her own memories of her youth.

Raised by alcoholic, often abusive parents and bounced between caregivers, Geller's youth was ragged and disjointed. Abandoned early on by her enigmatic mother, Geller was raised largely by her paternal grandmother -- possibly the only sober adult in her life until college. Knowing anecdotally about her mother's Navajo heritage but with no established connections herself, Geller is confronted with this added grief of lost community when a memorial service brings her back to the reservation where her mother was raised. 

The writing in this memoir reflects the contradictions and tensions Geller felt as a person trying to grow up in a wildly dysfunctional household, attempting to break the cycles but with virtually no support to do so. Her role within her family -- immediate and extended -- is one of mature caregiver, even to those who traditionally should be providing her guidance. Geller's resilience is remarkable, but the memoir does not feel like a victory story, rather an endurance. Her circumstances are devastating, but somehow she maintains enough softness toward the people she loves to continue to be their touchstone even when it seems to be destroying her. This is a memoir of love but also extraordinary tragedy -- both acute and drawn-out. 

I marveled at Geller's ability to write both poetically and phlegmatically, as if her numbness seeped through her pen. Critically, there was no sense of apathy, but rather a sense of unease and resignation. The end of the book was exceptionally poignant: Geller doesn't "triumph" over her circumstances. But she chooses her life and herself, and does so in small, faithful ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pregnancy

rorikae's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

'Dog Flowers' by Danielle Geller is a memoir that centers on Geller's memories of her mother interwoven with artifacts from her mother's life. The memoir is populated with photographs, letters, and other pieces that Geller found in her mother's belongings. As an archivist, Geller uses these pieces to supplement her own recollections of her mother as she delves into her memories as well as the aftermath of her mother's death. 
I really enjoyed the play of written essays with archival materials from Geller's mother. The addition of these pieces elevated the text and made it unique in a way that stands out from other memoirs that only utilize words. I do wish that these pieces had been interwoven more frequently into the text. They are inserted in groups, which works as a great supplement to the essays but I would have loved to see more direct commentary from Geller on specific pieces, especially those that include her. 
This is a hard memoir to read as Geller had a traumatic childhood and her family deals with a great deal of addiction, loss, and mental health issues. Geller does a great job of interweaving the different struggles that her family has gone through with her own quest to learn and understand more about her past. I hope that this will inspire more works that utilize archival pieces paired with memoir. I really enjoyed the audiobook but I will say that I recommend having the ebook or a physical copy on hand as well as the descriptions of the pieces are not quite a match for actually seeing them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death and Suicidal thoughts

buttermellow's review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

sophnbooks's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s hard to ever find the words to “review” a memoir. However, this is a challenging story of a Navajo woman grieving her mother after she passes and it’s very well organized. The author, Danielle Geller, even includes photographs and documents that correspond with the passages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual content, Grief, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Mental illness

strickortreat's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Grief

sjanke2's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

 This book felt like a meeting point of In the Night of Memory and Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land. As a reader, I connected with Geller's former professions of walking streets during a political campaign (grueling) and being an information professional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

caseythereader's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

 📚 This use of the archive of Geller's life is incredible. It's such a unique structure for a memoir.
📚 Additionally, the photographs and other items help to remind the reader that this isn't just a parade of anonymous events, it's the life of a family.
📚 Reading a description of something awful her father did and then looking him in the eye on the next page...I can't even find words for it.
📚 There's so much in here about generational trauma and cycles of addiction and abuse, and yet, there is a feeling of healing and growth by the end of the book, even though things aren't "fixed" or "solved." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

spaghettireads's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

keatynbergsten's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

This book was really well written and I sped through it quickly in 2 days.  While tough to read at times I always wanted to know what was going to happen next in the Danielle Geller and her family’s lives.  A beautiful and heartbreaking story of how family can hurt and love each other.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness