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kaynova's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
there's a lot of books that should be only consumed by the audio version and this one, particularly, is one of them. jenifer lewis is the mother of black hollywood, she is the epitome of black excellence that i grew up on with reruns of sitcoms and movies that mainly only the black community knows, but to hear her talk about her story, reminded me she is more than this figure, she's human and should be treated as such.
she talks vividly about her broadway days, the beginning years of her acting career, along with her love life and her personal life. she talks about her mental health, which at 2017 was still taboo especially in the black community, and how it affected her everyday life, including her career. to hear her fully embrace that she has bipolar disorder and maniac episodes after hearing how hard the journey was made me cry (sometimes i'll be in the middle of work and start sobbing, thinking how difficult it must have been to identify what's wrong with you after hearing your entire life that one thing that's wrong doesn't happen to normal, healthy people). she is blunt, lively, and direct with her approach on every harsh topic, even the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
she names names, but she's also careful with her words in a very jenifer lewis way lol. she pulls you in with her storytelling, reliving these moments with the reader, and sometimes i just had to pause whatever i was doing, so i can fully imagine the scenes. i even imagined her musical numbers (gotta love her).
she brings her own story to life and though i know it was hard to retell some of the most emotional parts of her, i'm glad she did; i feel that i'm seeing a black mother in a new light.
she talks vividly about her broadway days, the beginning years of her acting career, along with her love life and her personal life. she talks about her mental health, which at 2017 was still taboo especially in the black community, and how it affected her everyday life, including her career. to hear her fully embrace that she has bipolar disorder and maniac episodes after hearing how hard the journey was made me cry (sometimes i'll be in the middle of work and start sobbing, thinking how difficult it must have been to identify what's wrong with you after hearing your entire life that one thing that's wrong doesn't happen to normal, healthy people). she is blunt, lively, and direct with her approach on every harsh topic, even the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
she names names, but she's also careful with her words in a very jenifer lewis way lol. she pulls you in with her storytelling, reliving these moments with the reader, and sometimes i just had to pause whatever i was doing, so i can fully imagine the scenes. i even imagined her musical numbers (gotta love her).
she brings her own story to life and though i know it was hard to retell some of the most emotional parts of her, i'm glad she did; i feel that i'm seeing a black mother in a new light.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction and Death of parent
veereads11's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Racism, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Death of parent, Rape, Child abuse, and Death
bee87's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
It’s hard to write a review on a story of someone’s life. Jenifer was honest and raw about her mental illness, bad choices and recovery from sex addiction. I can only commend her on that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Child abuse, Grief, Child death, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Death of parent
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Sexual content, Abortion, and Death of parent
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