Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley

6 reviews

oliviabakke's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Drug use

ritaconstantino's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

3.0

This was a difficult read. Priscilla was groomed and abused since she was 14 years old and the sad part is that, at least until the time she wrote the book, she hadn't yet accepted the gravity of what had happened to her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

hdhreads's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.75

This was an intimate and honest insight into Priscilla’s life with ‘the King’. Having met Elvis at just 14, Priscilla spent her formative years with him and he shaped her into his ‘ideal woman’. Right from the start, she experienced the highs and lows of living with Elvis, from his generousness and fun, to his temper tantrums and drug taking.

I found Priscilla’s memoir deeply troubling, but like a train wreck, I couldn’t look away. There’s the obvious age gap and the fact that their relationship started when she was still a child. Then there’s his controlling nature - wanting her to be his vision of an ideal woman, restricting her choices and even preventing her from getting a job so that she is always available when he wants her to come to him. His frequent affairs, the drugs he gives her to take without saying what they are etc etc, the list goes on. In this day and age, he would be disgraced for a fraction of this. 

Despite all of this, Priscilla still holds so much affection for the man. The benefit of listening on audio is that you really hear that - her gentle chuckles on recounting something he said, and the love in her voice when telling a tale no matter how outrageous it is. That is what makes it so particularly shocking. It’s like listening to someone with Stockholm syndrome. 

So all in all, I found the book fascinating, but perhaps not for the author’s intended reason.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

issyd23's review against another edition

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

4.0

Dying to see the Coppola biopic! The story of her relationship with Elvis is that of a dark fairytale. I am now repulsed by him. Also Elvis high key stole music from black artists 4👧🏻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

skelleybean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Physical abuse, and Body shaming

sarahreadsalotofbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

I knew Elvis was a mess but I didn’t realize he was an abusive groomer.

He began grooming Priscilla when she was 14 telling her how to behave, what to wear, how to wear her makeup.  By the time she was 16 they were sexually involved and he had convinced her to take sexual photos. He was emotionally and mentally abusive, as well as physically abusive at times.

Throughout all of this he was also grooming her parents, eventually getting them to consent to allow her to leave them to go live with him for the remainder of her high school years. 

Priscilla comes across as someone with Stockholm syndrome finding his behavior humorous as she narrated this at times. She describes the time he raped her as “forcefully made love to her”. 

As despicable a person as he was, this was a well-written, informative book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Cursing, Mental illness, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Infidelity, and Sexual content