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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
This was a fast read. I kept reading to find out what horrible thing Sonnenberg's mother would do next. The strange thing about this book how enmeshed their relationship was. At times you feel for the mother, even after some awful behavior. It is sad that even children of abusive, and crazy parents still want to love them. I suppose that was only mother she knew. It is amazing that she was able to create a sane life for herself. Also, to see what family she had to sacrifice in order to do that.
It's not accurate for the 4 stars in my rating to mean I really liked the book. I didn't like it. But I think it is really good. A well written, somewhat fictionalized account of a trainwreck of a childhood with a crazy, flamboyant, addicted mother. This is a library book discussion selection, to be discussed tomorrow. I would not have picked it out to read on my own. But I am sort of glad I did so. And the discussion tomorrow should be as excellent as usual.
I really wanted to like this book but three-quarters of the way through the book I couldn't wait to get to the end. I found the writing to be very rough/uneven and the way she jumped from story to story left me confused at times. I was consistently thinking "was that the end of that story?". She definitely had a crazy childhood and her mother was definitely inappropriate on many levels. I guess that I've known enough people like the author and her mother that not much of what she wrote about shocked me. I guess I just had higher expectations for this book and it was definitely a letdown.
I read a ton of reviews of this book in various newspapers/magazines, most of which were extraordinarily positive. The author is a good storyteller and uses language well. I have a few criticisms, though. In places the narrative was too choppy, as if film jump-cuts were the effect the author was going for. Additionally, her process of change and redemption was too brief and unbelievable after the chronicled years of abuse.
Reading this made me realize how fortunate I was to have basic, average, mainstream parents. This book is a classic example of bad parenting, spoiled children (starting with the parents), and what money can buy.
I like reading memoirs but I don't know what I think about this one. Something about this one was disturbing to me. The mother had no boundaries and subjected Susanna drug abuse, sex, lies, and more. If everything Susanna Sonnenberg wrote is true, then it is amazing she was able to overcome her childhood and own misadventures to become a loving wife and mother. A true inspiration to those who feel like they cannot change or overcome adversities in their life.
I gave this two stars because it was not a pleasant story, though well-written.
I like reading memoirs but I don't know what I think about this one. Something about this one was disturbing to me. The mother had no boundaries and subjected Susanna drug abuse, sex, lies, and more. If everything Susanna Sonnenberg wrote is true, then it is amazing she was able to overcome her childhood and own misadventures to become a loving wife and mother. A true inspiration to those who feel like they cannot change or overcome adversities in their life.
I gave this two stars because it was not a pleasant story, though well-written.
This is a memoir that is based on fact, but not wholly factual. Still, it's quite a ride.
“Her Last Death” is such a memoir I haven’t read before.
It made me laugh, cry, and reflect on my own life, my mother’s, and my fiancé’s and his mother’s.
It broke me in ways that readers who haven’t experienced child neglect and abuse may not be equipped to understand.
I usually avoid reviews prior to reading something and I would advise anyone reading this to do the same.
No spoilers here, but there are a ton of Trigger Warnings that this book should have, if it was reprinted during the 2020s.
Drug use, rape, abuse of a minor, physical violence, sexual portrayals of children, postpartum depression, suicidal ideation, emotional manipulation, child relations with an adult teacher (Lolita is involved, to give you a clue). It’s all there.
Susanna’s life is laid bare, from her time with her mother through the day she makes the choice to not be at her death bed.
It’s a powerful memoir. I would recommend it to anyone who went through a similar impossible upbringing.
5/5, no question for me. Her childhood sections and the extreme emphasis on sex can be difficult to read, and I’m so proud of her as a person for overcoming it all.
You are worth loving yourself. Those going through events like this - the moment you realize your worth is the most magical to live through.
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Thank you for reading. If you’d like more reviews like this, they are mostly posted here due to time constraints.
Follow us at TheLibraryFromScratch. We own over 1,000 books and my goal is to read as many as possible and document reviews of each.
Happy Holidays, know you are seen and loved.
It made me laugh, cry, and reflect on my own life, my mother’s, and my fiancé’s and his mother’s.
It broke me in ways that readers who haven’t experienced child neglect and abuse may not be equipped to understand.
I usually avoid reviews prior to reading something and I would advise anyone reading this to do the same.
No spoilers here, but there are a ton of Trigger Warnings that this book should have, if it was reprinted during the 2020s.
Drug use, rape, abuse of a minor, physical violence, sexual portrayals of children, postpartum depression, suicidal ideation, emotional manipulation, child relations with an adult teacher (Lolita is involved, to give you a clue). It’s all there.
Susanna’s life is laid bare, from her time with her mother through the day she makes the choice to not be at her death bed.
It’s a powerful memoir. I would recommend it to anyone who went through a similar impossible upbringing.
5/5, no question for me. Her childhood sections and the extreme emphasis on sex can be difficult to read, and I’m so proud of her as a person for overcoming it all.
You are worth loving yourself. Those going through events like this - the moment you realize your worth is the most magical to live through.
——————————————————————————————
Thank you for reading. If you’d like more reviews like this, they are mostly posted here due to time constraints.
Follow us at TheLibraryFromScratch. We own over 1,000 books and my goal is to read as many as possible and document reviews of each.
Happy Holidays, know you are seen and loved.
Wow --- similar to The Glass Castle, this autobiography makes you really question whether or not people should be screened before becoming parents. It's amazing that she turns out as a decent adult given how screwy her mother is in this story.
I did not like much about this book which is a woman lamenting her childhood and her lying, druggie, sexed mother. The writer, while at times descriptive, came off as pretentious to me. And she seemed to become everything that she criticized about her mother. If I had been reading a print version, I would have abandoned it much sooner. I'm not sure why I picked it up at the library, having never heard of the book or the author previously. And I am generally not a fan of memoirs, though I keep trying.