Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

25 reviews

kayceeraereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense

3.75

Let's get this out of the way: this book is heavy.  The content is very heavy, and you need to check the trigger warnings before jumping in.

I had to set this down several times and sit with it.  Not because I didn't like it, but because some of the feelings were a lot.

"Pain is faster than light, and I wish people would not fault me for things I can’t forget or explain."

This memoir is written beautifully.  Mailhot does an amazing job weaving together thoughts and feelings in the form of letters and essays.  It's fragmented and non-linear, so if you like concise prose, this one is not for you.  You're reading her work almost as if you are remembering a memory with her and going through all of the rollercoaster of emotions that she dealt with regularly.  It almost reads like poetry.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Child abuse

mscalls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

1.75

---

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

hannahollihan's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, and Racism

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

3.5

This memoir is raw, unapologetic and unflinching. No matter now many times you read memoirs that depict the trauma of Indigenous peoples, each one is new and unique and showcases a different aspect. The prose that accompanied this story were perfectly paired. These stories need to be told, and heard.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Toxic relationship

esmithumland's review against another edition

I knew nothing about this book except for the title, and I was surprised at how painful it was to listen to. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

memorable's review

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Unfortunately, I didn’t fully understand everything in this book; however, it is a strong memoir that presents a lot of resilience.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Pedophilia

mikki_9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Incest, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

nmp's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

biblizo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

mariakureads's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.0

This was a hard book to rate.
It truly felt like Mailhot bared it all as she wrote about her relationships, mental illness, abuse, dysfunctional family and what feels like all the emotion in between which what made this harder.

She shared so much of herself that I was never left wondering how she felt as wrapped in her telling is her emotional state and it's unflinching in its honesty and truth. Here is a memoir that depicts all for the murky grey that people can be. This was angry and had every right to be and in that anger, there was a glimmer of something burning brighter.

By the end of this audiobook, I found myself having to rewind and go back as some sections the narrator lost me but the writing hooked me. I can't tell if the way the book was read is the same as the writing style so I might want to re-read this in another format just for myself but seriously what a book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Racism