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ivi_reads_books's review against another edition
3.75
The author doesn't tell the reader what to do or think. She rather observes what happens and what doesn't happen. What gets said and what doesn't and thus encourages readers to self-reflect on their own behavior
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Violence, Death, Deportation, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Vomit, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Police brutality
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
4.5
Perhaps the most compelling essay for me is the one about lice where Elliott states that her family's crime was not neglect, but being impoverished. They had love and discipline and food. They just didn't have the money to treat the lice that ravaged her and her siblings for years on end.
Elliott also goes into detail about her depression, her mother's bipolar disorder, and her father's forceful institutionalization of her mother. I can only imagine what this must have felt like to finally publish, to "air out" all the family secrets, so to speak. She's brave, but she's also simply telling the truth. I really respect her for that.
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Classism, Colonisation, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization
abbie_'s review
4.25
- Loved the essay about diversity being a white word and the new buzzword in publishing. White authors feel threatened by BIPOC authors seemingly monopolising all the publishing deals (lol sure) so they do their best to shoehorn characters of colour into their work - as long as they’re writing with empathy, so the saying goes, no harm done. But Elliott argues that unless you’re writing about a particular community with love, it’ll be glaringly obvious and damaging to said community. White authors like Lionel Shriver immediately go onto the defensive, claiming censorship, criticism turned into censoring free speech.
- There’s a hard-hitting essay about Elliott’s sexual assault. During sexual violence trials, it’s the woman’s innocence that’s put on trial, not the man’s guilt. Before choosing to believe a man is *not* a rapist, people do not subject him to the barrage of questions we demand of women to prove they *are* a victim. We demand a woman put her trauma and pain on display, to watch as we pull it apart, put fingers into open wounds, make her perform her trauma again and again before, more often than not, still choosing not to believe.
- The essay about food deserts in North America was amazing, the way the US and Canada have manufactured them, enabled poorer people to become overweight and then ill. Why do people believe that the answer to what is choking us - capitalism and colonialism - is to shove more of those same things down our throats while we choke?
- Essay on photography, voyeurism, colonialism, consent, power, desire - not as strong as some of the others but I liked how she explored white photographers encroaching on communities they don’t belong to to further their and western white society’s stereotypical views of a community
- Essay on lies and fiction (made me think of something else I read recently) where women writers are often conflated with their characters. Men rarely receive this treatment, but people often treat fiction written by women as autofiction
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Violence, and Domestic abuse
paperbackportals's review
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Physical abuse, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Rape, Gaslighting, Body shaming, and Pregnancy
jcstokes95's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
alexxcp's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Racism, Colonisation, Genocide, and Mental illness
iambartacus's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Mental illness, and Rape
eve81's review
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Addiction, Child death, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Murder, Domestic abuse, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Misogyny
remimicha's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Police brutality, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Cancer, and Death
gnosila's review
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Minor: Addiction and Suicide