Reviews

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis

samwierman's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

4.5

mollyr11's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

wellreadtherapist's review against another edition

4.0

I want to give her a hug. It’s been so wonderful to watch her success over the years. She deserves nothing by happiness and peace.

jsoakes's review against another edition

4.0

Extremely well performed. Viola is a great narrator and I'm not surprised she won a Grammy for this. Her life story is both banal and unbelievable. I think the stories of her upbringing are more universal as her career path as an adult is unique and there are some references that don't translate super well outside the industry. However, her discussions on her "classical" education lacking opportunities for characters that looked or sounded like her, her inability to get a leading lady role based on her complexion, and her unbridled joy at traveling to West Africa and immediate kinship with the entertainers there were all heartbreaking.

breannenance's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.25

I really enjoyed this book. I read it via audiobook and it really was amazing. I love when authors read their own books. Especially memoirs. Listening to her childhood was devastating and when she lost her father I almost sobbed. 

erikasmindfulshelf's review against another edition

5.0

This was so good!! Very powerful story and beautifully written. Highly recommend the audio.
4.5 stars

eddieandujar's review against another edition

5.0

Probably the most impactful book I’ve ever read about healing childhood trauma and surviving extreme poverty and lifelong CPTSD. This book spoke to my soul and made me feel *seen.* Viola walks through all the painful and joyous moments of the psychology of recovery, how lonely one feels inside their own body, and what ultimately led her to accept love of herself and the love of a partner. 

“The point of life is to experience it.” That will sit with me for a long time.

erin_miller215's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

anglilian's review against another edition

4.0

Some things I took away:
- when you love your life doing things you don't care about, it will be hard.
- people can change and sometimes they don't. It's not your job to fix them and you're not obligated to forgive.
- when you learn to love yourself, you open yourself up to receiving the love you deserve.

I didn't know anything about Viola Davis except that I thought she was such a badass person in How to Get Away With Murder and it's crazy to see how meaningful that role was to her.

shelbynik's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0