Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis

139 reviews

_evyn_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0

Viola is a true artist. She's so vulnerable and open about her life in this book. She talks about her complex relationships with the acting industry, her family, partners, and most importantly, herself. I love the way she explains her struggles because there are moments I can relate to and moments I could not have truly understood until her depiction and imagery and rawness. You can feel sympathy the world over for another's problems and trauma but if you don't  REALLY understand what they're going through and how they're affected, you won't have empathy. Without empathy, you tend to listen to stories only for what you can relate to instead of what is actually being said. With empathy, you still have a bias about the more important aspects of the history, but it doesn't stop you from hearing and (hopefully) understanding the whole truth. I felt with her every time she had to step back and question a barrier in her life. She made me think about the choices I've made and what my future could look like (not in relation to her life, but the questions she asks herself or that others ask her, prompted me to try to answer them for myself). 
Would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape

anastasia_raf's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

I don't think you can "rate" a person's life, so I'm just rating the pacing, the writing and the overall composition of the book.
I kept reading and reading and often wondered how did she kept on going? I know What kept her going, but still...how was that enough? A lot of her experiences brought me to tears, terrified me, and made me think of how lucky I am and how much protection, opportunity and "luck" White privilege provides.
Viola Davis is an incredible actor and so very talented in so many fields.
There were a lot of quotes from this memoir that stuck with me.
Here's one of them: "stop making love to something that's killing you."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

hannah_and_her_stories's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Cancer, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death, Animal death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, Medical trauma, and Addiction

Moderate: Abortion, Vomit, Terminal illness, Animal death, Misogyny, and Incest

lvfl's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I might increase the rating after I sit with it for a while. The only reason it isn’t a full 5 is that the editing could have been better. There were some areas of repetition, but that’s really the only critique. If half/quarter ratings weren’t available, it would be a 5. 

I have admired Viola Davis since Doubt. I knew she had grown up in poverty but I didn’t know the extent of poverty, abuse, and racism she faced. Readers should check out the content warnings. Some of it was hard to read. 

Definitely recommend the audiobook!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Misogyny

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Animal death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Death, Infertility, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion

cs1887's review against another edition

5.0

I know why it won the grammy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Infertility, Hate crime, Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Grief, and Bullying

miayukino's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Death of parent, Abortion, Terminal illness, Grief, Cancer, Classism, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Medical content, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Cursing

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0

This is not a typical celebrity memoir. It's a story about survival and finding a voice.

Listen to the audiobook! It is outstanding, and hearing the story told in Viola Davis' own, expressive voice adds a lot to the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Incest, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Classism, Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, and Abortion

Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Slavery, Cancer, Infidelity, and Bullying

sannesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, War, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Addiction, Infertility, Cancer, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Colonisation, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Rape, Racism, Hate crime, Animal death, and Abortion

sasshq's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Child abuse