Reviews tagging 'Death'

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

15 reviews

kelsey_kels's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Self harm, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Bullying

biab00's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Eating disorder, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Abortion

devan's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

1.5

I think I am being generous with a 1.5. People have said this book is poetic. It feels more like stream of consciousness - verbal vomit. I know mental health can be a tough topic but it felt more like “woe is me, I can’t stop saying yes to this unhealthy relationship and I feel bad no good about it”. 

Memoirs are tough to review but it brings up a question about who they are written for. If someone needs to tell their story, who am I to stop you but stories like this being praised feel a bit like rewarding & praising toxic relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

spicycheesecake's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

Such a beautiful book. The writing is amazing, and the story being told is so captivating. I was immediately pulled in from the first page, and felt emotional the whole ride through.

There are many things I could not relate with, but I understood everything, and I felt like I was there -- spectating, watching, experiencing.

I've learned about myself and my own relationships just from seeing the perspectives in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Drug use, Death of parent, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, Violence, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, and Cursing

Moderate: Abortion

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Rape, Incest, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Animal death, Cancer, Murder, Self harm, Death, and Drug use

Residential schools, illnesses, rehab, divorce, foster home, teen marriage, child services, neglect, postpartum depression.

catapocalypse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is brief, but a big experience. Mailhot crafts prose that feels effortless, sometimes almost offhand, while also feeling like poetry. I was too engrossed to take time to write down the many beautiful entries I wish I had, so I think this will be one of the few memoirs that I may need to physically collect for myself.

Mailhot does not flinch at all from a number of difficult topics, so be mindful of content warnings if needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Racism

mxae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

A hard read. Glad to have read it once, but complicated, especially for those who have also experienced trauma. Leaves a kind of madness with the reader, which is a beautiful skill. The afterword is also excellent and a way to own the reading of the book. Its own kind of genius.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Abortion

stevie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Incest, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Grief, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Racism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Colonisation

mscalls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5

It’s always hard to review a memoir, considering how personal it is. For me, at least, it is never the content of what the author chooses to share that is under review. It generally tends to drift towards execution of whatever story it is that they want to share. In the case of Heart Berries, I can tell how much care Mailhot put into sharing such vulnerable aspects of her life, having dealt with so much pain. Considering this, it was such a delight reading her acknowledgments and seeing the absolute joy and support she has for and from her loved ones.

Mailhot thoughtfully writes about various events that occurred during her lifetime, musings of being an Indigenous woman, and white society; all of which were told in a nonlinear fashion. On the note of white society, I found her description of self-esteem being a white invention really profound, especially with her conclusion that it seemed like “identity capitalism.” Mailhot’s comments on what forgiveness meant in her culture and white culture also left an impression on me; how the latter sees it as “letting go,” while the former rejects the idea of framing pain like a problem with a solution.

When it comes to structure, admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of the nonlinear approach at first, but I realized how well it worked in this situation, considering the ways memory and trauma work. These rarely unfold in chronological order and, at least to me, it started to make sense to have the book structured the way it was. The lyricism of Mailhot’s writing ebbed and flowed. The times lyricism didn’t come through, it felt very rough around the edges, but it almost felt intentional. After all, thoughts are never that clean. The narrative wasn’t always easy to follow (and the overall structure being nonlinear doesn’t help), but in a way, I think that challenge is needed and thoughtfully questions what a memoir should be and how they are structured.

Overall, I found this to be a powerful memoir with raw emotions, leaving much for the reader to contemplate in such a short span of pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization