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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason by Gina Frangello
1 review
indreni's review
medium-paced
4.0
There are so many important things to think about, and love, in this book. It's incredibly thought-provoking.
While the feminist ideas and statements are strong and provocative, less clear to me was the link between these thoughts and the author's affair/marital dissolution.
Things I didn't like about this book:
1) I understand the author's desire to name her privileges in the face of so many societal injustices and discrimination, but it was hard and tedious for me to read the extended chapter about her children's privileges and how great/successful they are.
2) Toward the end, a bit of unfairness to the ex-husband. I understand how important talking about his anger issues was, but there was a point where I did feel it turned into adding a bit of insult to injury, given the painful way the marriage ended and the nature of the author's long-standing affair with a friend.
3) Unfairness toward her lover's wife in the same section as #2. I don't think insinuating this other women's alleged dysfunction and slamming the way she chose to live her (disabled, chronically-ill life) was kind, or necessary to the story.
Otherwise, I was riveted by the story and the points the author made, even if at times I wasn't totally convinced of all of them. I'm glad she wrote this book overall.
While the feminist ideas and statements are strong and provocative, less clear to me was the link between these thoughts and the author's affair/marital dissolution.
Things I didn't like about this book:
1) I understand the author's desire to name her privileges in the face of so many societal injustices and discrimination, but it was hard and tedious for me to read the extended chapter about her children's privileges and how great/successful they are.
2) Toward the end, a bit of unfairness to the ex-husband. I understand how important talking about his anger issues was, but there was a point where I did feel it turned into adding a bit of insult to injury, given the painful way the marriage ended and the nature of the author's long-standing affair with a friend.
3) Unfairness toward her lover's wife in the same section as #2. I don't think insinuating this other women's alleged dysfunction and slamming the way she chose to live her (disabled, chronically-ill life) was kind, or necessary to the story.
Otherwise, I was riveted by the story and the points the author made, even if at times I wasn't totally convinced of all of them. I'm glad she wrote this book overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
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