Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough

3 reviews

1oddkatreads's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Really beautifully written by an author you just want to wrap in a massive hug until they break down and let it all out. The author's experiences and the worldview that has developed around them are painful and bleak. I think there was a glimpse of hopefulness sort of woven in there, but it's safely concealed beneath heavy, protective layers of stoic endurance, perseverance, and carefully managed expectations. I loved learning Lauren's story and the engaging way she told it. I wish her heart peace.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Rape, Self harm, Abortion, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Blood, Outing, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Misogyny

elwh's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

An excellent read about someone who’s lived so many lives. Shocking, funny, beautiful, and sad, often at the same time. It’s a good read, and worth it, but it’s hard. It took me a long while to get through because of that. The essays categorize sections of Hough’s life nicely, if a bit messily, which can make it hard to follow at points. But I liked the deep tangents-within-tangents, and the way things were connected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Cursing

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Hate crime, Sexism, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Abortion, and Pandemic/Epidemic

quassibly's review

challenging emotional fast-paced

5.0

Lauren Hough and I share almost nothing in background or experience, but her circular thought process with it's frequent digressions that seem unrelated until she brings it all back around to connect in a way that feels entirely organic.

Separately, her essays each impart in insight into the world at large, seen through the lens of Hough's experiences -- being told that she can only be good if she conforms to a standard, being hurt by people who tell her it's for her own good, and finding herself powerless in a world where poverty is the ultimate shame.  Taken together, they tell the story of a woman who fighting to figure out how to create her own standards with only her anger and her wit to arm her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence