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Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'
Quero morrer, mas também quero comer tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee
47 reviews
leif's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Alcohol, and Classism
Therapy sessions are included so lots of sensitive topics are discussed but it all seemed really sensitively handled to me.alexisgarcia's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
i really loved the first 50-75 pages of this. it was so relatable and comforting to see someone struggle with similar things. however, i felt like in the late middle and end it got very muddled and repetitive. i felt like the original point of the book was lost in the last 30ish pages. they were not unenjoyable, they just didn't seem to pertain to the point of the book which lowered my initial 5 star rating
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Mental illness, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.
Written from the author’s perspective, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki (IWTDBIWTET) is a collection of nonfictional dialogues and personal essays that centres around mental health, loving oneself and therapy. It touches upon her therapy sessions with her psychiatrist over 12 weeks (which can only show what we have despite her ten-year journey with therapy and mental health) and includes the author’s self-reflections toward those sessions.
Written from the author’s perspective, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki (IWTDBIWTET) is a collection of nonfictional dialogues and personal essays that centres around mental health, loving oneself and therapy. It touches upon her therapy sessions with her psychiatrist over 12 weeks (which can only show what we have despite her ten-year journey with therapy and mental health) and includes the author’s self-reflections toward those sessions.
“This is a record of a very ordinary, incomplete person who meets another ordinary, incomplete person, the latter of whom happens to be a therapist” (Page 156).
While I greatly appreciated the down-to-earth, straightforward approach the author took, the final few essays really accentuated the point of how IWTDBIWTET is ultimately directionless. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there’s no point to this book (having good mental health and loving oneself is a continuous journey, after all) and I’m not saying that I expected a happy ending or answers (re: the continuous journey). Rather, there comes a point where despite relating to and understanding where the author and psychiatrist are coming from, the book becomes evidently structureless, mirroring the sessions the author had. Moreover, I think the book would’ve been stronger had the postscript chapter not been included. At least then, the content seems to come to a circle with a final line that relates back to the title.
“To right every wrong you come across in the world would be an impossible endeavor for any one person. You’re just one person, and you’re putting too much of the weight of the world on yourself” (Pages 11-12).
Nevertheless, I think this is an alright place to start for those that have little experience with therapy or have only begun their healthy mental health journey. You won’t find the overly-positive vibe that self-help books have or the accusatory, scary voice that makes you feel like you’re not “normal” (whatever “normal” is). Instead, IWTDBIWTET has a hopeful, and reflective tone as the author looks back and reflects. Though, of course, when there are ups, there will be downs too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Alcoholism
wholeottabooks's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
Synopsis: A Korean woman working in publishing seeks out professional help for mental health concerns about self criticism, depression, isolation, and more. She records her sessions with her therapist and transcribes them into a compilation which is the bulk of this book.
My thoughts: I’ll start by saying this… it feels really wrong to rate a memoir. I was really looking forward to this book. As a MSW student training to be a clinician, this book really peaked my interest. A woman being extremely vulnerable with her inner most thoughts? Sign me up! I went in with the expectations of a lot of the author’s self reflection, depth, and some sort of processing or analysis. This book is exactly as I wrote in the synopsis and not much more... a transcribed copy of segments of her time with a therapist. Although the author was self reflective, there was little to no processing of anything she was absorbing or learning from her sessions. The transcripts just bounced from concern to concern and then ended off with a set of brief essays that were irrelevant to the first half of the book. I’m extremely disappointed in this book and know and hope that others will find it valuable. But as someone already in the mental health field I didn’t find anything new or worthwhile. As someone going into the field of MH, I found it extremely violating that the author would publish these transcripts without her therapists consent. Yes, she asked for permission to record the sessions but the therapist agreed because she mentioned that she uses them because she struggles with remembering what was said. Therefore, in my opinion, the therapist gave consent to what her true intentions were (or what her new intentions were if that wasn’t her initial intention). This irked me and it hurt hearing the therapists reaction to learning about the published transcripts of their sessions. Overall, there are better texts that depict the struggles of mental illness and I would not recommend this one.
My thoughts: I’ll start by saying this… it feels really wrong to rate a memoir. I was really looking forward to this book. As a MSW student training to be a clinician, this book really peaked my interest. A woman being extremely vulnerable with her inner most thoughts? Sign me up! I went in with the expectations of a lot of the author’s self reflection, depth, and some sort of processing or analysis. This book is exactly as I wrote in the synopsis and not much more... a transcribed copy of segments of her time with a therapist. Although the author was self reflective, there was little to no processing of anything she was absorbing or learning from her sessions. The transcripts just bounced from concern to concern and then ended off with a set of brief essays that were irrelevant to the first half of the book. I’m extremely disappointed in this book and know and hope that others will find it valuable. But as someone already in the mental health field I didn’t find anything new or worthwhile. As someone going into the field of MH, I found it extremely violating that the author would publish these transcripts without her therapists consent. Yes, she asked for permission to record the sessions but the therapist agreed because she mentioned that she uses them because she struggles with remembering what was said. Therefore, in my opinion, the therapist gave consent to what her true intentions were (or what her new intentions were if that wasn’t her initial intention). This irked me and it hurt hearing the therapists reaction to learning about the published transcripts of their sessions. Overall, there are better texts that depict the struggles of mental illness and I would not recommend this one.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
anafuentes's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.0
I was really intrigued by this book initially because I related to what the author was going through. However, I didn’t find a lot of depth. The transcriptions with the therapist were interesting at first but I began to lose interest without more analysis and introspection regarding these sessions.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse
shushkeepitdown's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
This book feels like a call out at me because I also related to some of her problems but at the same time when I continued reading I kept thinking at random points 'wow this person is kind of a dick' and I think that's the point to some extent. Due to her problems she faced now she looks at the world in a very black and white way. I love that she decided to get help to improve her thinking and her issues, most usually won't and that's why I think this book is ok. It isn't too triggering but it talks about heavy topics so be careful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia
sketchydelusion's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Dysphoria
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