Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

7 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

This collection of essays by Alicia Elliott did not let me catch my breath for one moment. I feel like I highlighted so much throughout the book, probably every other page, if not every page 😭

Alicia comments on and asks questions about so much: colonization, capitalism, racism, misogyny, desire, selfies, “reality” tv, truth versus opinion, familial dynamics, indigenous practices, and so much more. 

I desperately want a print copy of this now, as it was such an important read. Capitalism and colonization has brought so much horror to the world, and the solutions will not be found with them. I look forward to reading more from Alicia Elliott and I am so grateful that I read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Genocide, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Transphobia, Sexism, Addiction, Mental illness, and Racism

buttermellow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

196books's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Mental illness

shewantsthediction's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars for me. I expected to like this a lot more from the way everyone gushes about it, but the writing style was extremely random. She'd bring up a topic, go on a tangent about something else, then randomly return to said topic, over and over again for the whole book. Sometimes she'd drop topics completely, which made for a jarring listening experience. I also didn't realize this was supposed to be a book of essays until the first one ended and I found out it wasn't memoir. She said several things I disagree with when it comes to trauma, but all of the indigenous stuff was obviously spot on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Racism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, and Hate crime

biancafrancisco's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Through a very personal narrative - using herself, her family and her nation as examples - the author touches upon more themes than I can mention, connecting bridges between a myriad of crucial societal issues, always leading back to the macro vision of the effect of capitalism, colonialism and the action of the state on people, while simultaneously making us keep checking our prejudices.

The book teaches you a lot about the issues indigenous communities and individuals struggle with (most that were imposed on them by colonizers), and how not only they are still dealing with and trying to heal from the very real and tangibly present damage this legacy of colonialism and genocide has transfered through generations, but are simultaneously dealing with modern versions of the same violence nowadays. 

I was surprised to see, that through the connections she makes between several systemic structures, there was much for me to relate to as well. I'm an immensely priviledged white european, but I'm still a woman, I'm still a daughter, I'm still bound by the constraints of capitalism and the patriarchy as well as witness to intergenerational trauma, to mention a few, and, in the end, you can't accurately assess any structural issue without it intertwining with the others.

All in all, I recommend it to literally everyone, as I think there's learning opportunities in this book for all of us. I'm extremely glad I picked it up. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia

hrwohl518's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Genocide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

This collection of essays shows how Native identity intersects with various other hardships that the Canadian/American governments have bestowed upon non-white and lower class people: mental illness, child services, lack of acknowledgement of the genocides of Native and Black people.

I really enjoyed this collection! I think Alicia's writing style is really accessible and almost conversational; she walks us through various aspects of her upbringing and how it relates to a broader commentary on being Native in modern North America. My favorite aspects where when she highlighted how many Native women have been killed and left, as if people still have this "hunting Indians" complex they want to fulfill. Unfortunately, I hadn't heard of these unjustified murders—to no surprise to anyone.

Her essay on sexual assault touched me so, so deeply and I could write an essay on how it made me feel. I hope she knows how much that essay meant to me as someone who's been SA'd (trigger warning, btw).

There were some essays that were just fine but I overall enjoyed it and learned a lot, so I'm giving Alicia her flowers. She reframed how I look at a few things (see: essay on photographs). Read more Indigenous authors! This is a great place to start.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Alcoholism, and Addiction