Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

40 reviews

theboricuabookworm's review against another edition

Gripping and raw. The lyrical way Mailhot writes about pain and trauma and grief will leave you gasping.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Classism, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

I'm struggling to rate this one because I don't feel like I have adequate words to do so?

I struggled with the format--or lack thereof really--and the audiobook narrator. I actually got like 35% through and then had to restart it waaaaay slower because I was finding myself missing things and not paying attention. I definitely think I would've done better with it reading it physically, there are just way too many poetic moments and literary devices at work for me to track on audio. I'm grateful for the Q&A style afterwords because it did clear up some of what the author was attempting to do. Like I now have a greater appreciation for the work she put into making her writing seem simple and punchy when while reading it, it mostly just felt jarring and hard to follow or stay invested in. 

The topics covered are obviously intense. Big trigger warnings for a lot. Covering them is absolutely vital to her story, though, and her journey towards reconciliation and healing.

Overall, I can tell it was brilliant, it just wasn't totally for me in this format. And that's okay and doesn't detract from the skill it took to write it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Abortion, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Abandonment, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

carnimdream's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Chronic illness

akmatz's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

3.25

I don't know if this style is for me. The prose is incredible, and the story, anger, and honesty are important. But the brutal honesty and lack of a sense of Terese as a person almost reads to me as dehumanizing. The substance of the book is difficult, but the voice is uncomfortable.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Incest

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Eating disorder

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Medical content, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

fink1129's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

mayaism_01's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

This was gut punch, after gut punch, after gut punch. I feel like I’ve been shattered into a million little pieces and I will never recover from this. I don’t think I’ve ever been possessed with so much anger while reading a book. I loved this so much. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit, Eating disorder, and Abortion

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.

---

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

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5

Intense and poetic — will be re reading at some point. Trigger warning for sure 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion, Vomit, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Racism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Self harm

jasbeingjas's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

I really struggled to read this book. Especially in the beginning. There’s a lot of pain, and quite a few trigger warnings that I wish I had checked or seen before starting. Is the writing beautiful, yes, but I mostly felt sad consuming it. Maybe this just wasn’t the right time for me to pick this book up. Content warnings for suicidal thoughts, child abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, emotional abuse, relationship abuse, rape, sexual assault. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse