Reviews tagging 'Death'

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as Told to Me) Story by Bess Kalb

11 reviews

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This was a captivating biography-memoir told in a really clever way. Kalb tells the story of the women in her family by using her late grandmother's voice, addressing Kalb herself in second person and including transcripts of phone conversations and voicemails. I tend to enjoy books which explore history through individual lives and and there was a really interesting chapter about Kalb's great grandmother fleeing Russia and making a life in the US. Overall Kalb created a really beautiful tribute to her grandmother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death

thatsssorachael's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death

kristapeters's review

inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

4.25

This is a fun read, and it made me wish I had some matriarchs in my life. Ms. Kalb was spot on when she called this a "matrilineal love story." Just warm and a really interesting take on a memoir.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Grief, Bullying, and Mental illness

Minor: War, Antisemitism, and Terminal illness

exlibrissum's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Terminal illness

chaoticnostalgia's review

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Death, and Grief

Minor: Terminal illness and Chronic illness

sammies_shelf's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

silvern's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

4.0

“not an objective account of my grandmother’s story, but rather a representation of a life, an echo, an impression, shaped and blurred through two generations and many retellings.”
I think my impression that this book was a memoir was misleading. When I started reading this and discovered that the whole book was written from the perspective of Bobby, the grandmother, I was thrown off-kilter. I wasn’t expecting it, so initially it was really weird, and a little confusing. I will say though: Bobby is a Character. Her voice comes through strongly, her personhood well established. She certainly feels very real. Her unsolicited advice occasionally, familiarly, walks the fine line between offensive and from a place of love. She reminds me, sometimes, of my grandma. I particularly enjoyed the way pictures, phone calls, voicemails, etc. were employed to tell this story - it felt seamless. All in all, this was an easy read, and an interesting one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

readingrandbow's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

lexa's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.75

I laughed. I cried. Delightful audiobook. Like having a lunch date with the grandma you never had. 

Only thing keeping it from 5 stars is that the storytelling format was confusing at times; hard to tell who was “speaking”. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Body shaming and Chronic illness