Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Harriet Ann Jacobs

9 reviews

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Misc: far worse people in this book but god Sands is a loser in my eyes.

Jacobs is such a talented writer and her analysis of race, class and gender ages extremely well for being over a century old.  Even on the hellish conditions she lives in and others enslaved she is very aware of the advantages and unique dangers her family light skin and mixed heritage puts them in as slaves and especially her boy who without knowledge of his family or ancestry passes as white. She also keeps everyone very human because the hell of chattel slavery is man made whether it’s a woman who owns slaves helping her escape or even a slave trader helping her family keep the kids her master is trying to send away to punish her while telling her brother he owes him helping him convince black women to be sold by him on his next trip after talking about his field of work hurt his heart. People with such odd mixes and harmful politics are still really real and you can feel Jacobs bafflement and odd gratitude to those people that are also very human for her especially when she later likens pro slavery southerners to snakes and talks about just how freeing that is. It is also very obvious the book is intended for a northern audience to convince them to repeal the fugitive slave act that I think makes this classic so idea for the classroom and I wish books like these by black Americans who lived through these things were what were commonplace vs the Uncle Tom cabin or Tony sawyer. Also really happy this was apparently a bestseller in Japan when it was translated to Japanese in 2017.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Torture, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Rape

Moderate: Misogyny and Miscarriage

thomasina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Confinement, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Deportation, and Colonisation

clarkf87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

5.0

“Slavery is terrible for men, but it is far more terrible for women.”

This is an autobiography written by Harriet Ann Jacobs documenting her life as a slave in Edenton, North Carolina, and how she attained her freedom. 

Jacobs bravely wrote her story to share the truth about the abuse in slavery. For the record: Black, enslaved women were not sexually aggressive, they were RAPED. Enslaved people did not enjoy being owned by other human beings. 

Notably, this book appealed to abolitionists at the time after its publication and release shortly before the Civil War.

BLESS HARRIET JACOBS! I cannot fathom the strength and courage it took for her to write and publish this in 1861 after all the deceit and abuse she’d been through. 

Also, Mia Ellis was a perfect narrator for this. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Stalking, Slavery, Hate crime, Grief, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Rape

Minor: Sexual harassment

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

An important chronicle of the horrors enslaved people in the US endured and the lengths some of them had to go to to secure the freedom that should have been theirs all along.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Child death, Grief, Classism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Alcohol, Murder, Animal death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Pregnancy

val_lenci's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

This title brought me to tears. There were moments when I had to take a mental break due to the description of the atrocities that happened to predominately Black women during this sinful period. Strong emotions held by desperation was expressed in every chapter. Her story thankfully ended on a satisfying note. It left me feeling strong; as in no matter how battling life can get, faith can still be found. (Hope I explained this correctly.) It is extremely advised to want to mentally prepare yourself before reading this book, especially if you identify as a black woman. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Deportation, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Hate crime, Infertility, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Antisemitism, Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Dysphoria, Genocide, Incest, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Trafficking, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment

emdear's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Violence, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Death, Slavery, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

antonique_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Trafficking

paisleypetty's review

dark inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Confinement, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Torture, and Violence

scottishclaire's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual assault