Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Being Lolita: A Memoir by Alisson Wood

18 reviews

janinagnes's review

dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm

savvylit's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

3.5

Alisson Wood writes poignantly about an incredibly difficult experience. Using Lolita and fairytales as a lens for her own experience, Wood is able to ask readers thought-provoking questions about consent, abusive relationships, and manipulation. Why does our culture portray girls with trauma as requiring male saviors? Why do many of the stories we tell encourage women to feel incomplete without a relationship to a man? Why do awful adult men keep preying on teenage girls and how can we stop them before they even begin?

Being Lolita is a compelling and consuming memoir. The book shines in revealing what it's like to survive a predatory and emotionally abusive relationship. I feel as though I have definitely walked away with a better understanding of how our culture has dangerously blurred young women's understanding of consent and power dynamics.

I ultimately rated Being Lolita as 3.5 stars because a large part of the memoir is a critical analysis of Nabokov's Lolita. It is an incredibly well-thought-out analysis and clearly helped Wood on her journey to better understand her own experience. However, the flow between Wood's recounting of her past and the analysis didn't hold my attention as well as I'd hoped. At some point, it felt like the threads of Wood's own experience were dropped in favor of an academic approach. While there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, it seemed disjointed to me as a reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

marcia__amelie's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.25

 

a raw, agonising & vulnerable exploration of abuse, consent & exploitation. this book was an emotional journey, knowing that this was a real story. that this was somebody’s life. the writing was haunting & lyrical most of the time but there were some aspects that i found a bit too vague. it was deeply uncomfortable reading how the teacher misinterprets the twisted classic “lolita,” to justify his abuse. the last third of the book genuinely made me cry. her adult voice taking over as she realised what she experienced & had to endure was not love was devastating. the scene where she was looking at the old photographs and it dawned on her that she was just a child??? crying. the way wood breaks from nabokov’s narrative structure to rewrite her own story was uplifting & memorable. the strength and courage it must have took to lay your heart bare and tell this story is remarkable. it’s a memoir i believe people should read but please look at the trigger warnings!! this is not an easy read!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

igfromero's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

wolfiereads's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

jmcordero's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Sexism

jocekenns's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Rape

litltlehistorian's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

3.25

<spoilers> 
This book was a reflection on the child abuse of a girl in her late teens. A testament to the past and a way to move forward. Unfortunately, my critiscm of this book would be the romanticisation of some aspects (I understand this was from her perspective), as well as the surface level analysis of mental health and sexual abuse. Overall, this was still a very personal journey from the author whose story I would not discredit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Stalking, and Toxic relationship