Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis

139 reviews

bethanyt123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Truly worth ten reads. Enlightening, inspiring, devastating, painful, and moving. Viola manages to open the doors to exploring the intricacies of racism in a welcoming, inviting, and honest way. I’m convinced the only way to read this is via audiobook, recorded by Viola herself. The performance is enrapturing. Thank you, Viola Davis, for opening your heart to us.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

mathenam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

This story is inspiring and heartbreaking and difficult to process. 

Memoirs seem to always have a narrative that skips around, but that’s the nature of telling a story about a real life. It still felt a little too disjointed in places.

Also the story about the man who killed the cat in front of them and chased her sister around town felt unbelievable to me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

savyelizabeth's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

anarobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Devastating. Powerful. Beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Racial slurs, Rape, and Death of parent

hellokaley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Viola describes the definition of a hero as someone born into a world where they don't fit in, they are then summoned on a call to an adventure that they are reluctant to take. This is her hero’s journey from poverty, abuse, and trauma to an Oscar-winning actress. 

This story is heavy with content warnings galore. And truthfully, after the first half of the book, I was ready for the second part of the story- the part where she is triumphant. Because that first half is hard and uncomfortable and her circumstances were unimaginable. Her story is truly phenomenal. 

I loved her approach with talking about the Hollywood industry. She not only talks about the work of character development and figuring out how to understand and portray the person on the script, but she spoke about the challenging logistics of working actors. From auditioning, rejections, pay, insurance, traveling, and often not always a place to call home, it’s not all glamorous. She also highlights the challenges that Black actors face in the industry. 

Viola’s performance in the audiobook is powerful. She is honest and raw in her words and her delivery and did a beautiful job. I have learned so much about her through her book and am happy I read it. “The purpose of life is to live it” and Viola Davis is doing just that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol

a_very_high_tower's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Beautiful writing and amazing story and insight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Violence

francina31's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

lea's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Amazing audiobook. Her childhood was unfortunately so relatable and hit me hard. I don't watch TV or movies much so I didn't know her but I'm definitely a big fan now. This was beautiful written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Slavery, Blood, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

venetiana's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Racism

Minor: Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Classism

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Every single performance I’ve seen Viola Davis in, her acting ability has taken my breath away. I’m usually reticent toward celebrity memoirs but this takes the cake for one of the best memoirs I’ve read. As Davis takes readers through her difficult and tumultuous backstory with searing candidness, we begin to understand the many layers of who she is and how she came to be the person she is today. From the racist climate of the East coast to the colorism glaringly prevalent in both film/stage and the Blck community, Davis’ voice is emotionally intelligent and critically astute. There are definitely very dark moments layered through out this story, so I would definitely recommend checking content warnings on those, but each of these moments is handled with immense care and grace. I really loved this read, it’s definitely made me want to watch “How to get away with murder”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Cancer