Scan barcode
nickel_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
"Preschool dropout" is not a phrase you typically hear, in fact, much of Trent's story wouldn't be considered typical. With themes of mental illness, substance use, violence, and poverty, Between Two Trailers is as powerful memoir about growing up with parents rarely equipped to provide what you need both physically and emotionally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, and Violence
courtney_scott1025's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
Found this book because I also grew up in Indiana. This was a debut book for J. Dana Trent, and I loved her take on home and belonging. We had very different upbringings, but dealt with similar issues of abandonment and neglect. I was able to relate a lot and it kept me interested in her story. I feel she kind of excused her parents at the end, and I don't know why, but as someone working through trauma with her parents, for her to say "They did the best with what they had". Judging from the outside, they absolutely did not, and I hope that people reading this book see that too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Violence, and Self harm
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Convergent books for the eARC!
Once or twice the stories got repetitive in the beginning. Chapters were a little too long for my taste.
This is very dark and depressing, you just want to hug the author for all the shit her parents put her through and how they treated her. Trent is a better person than me because I wouldn’t have been as forgiving if these were my parents.
I appreciated the author’s honesty and vulnerability in sharing her struggles! The writing was atmospheric and reminded me of my midwestern childhood in Michigan. I don’t love rating memoirs because this is someone’s personal story so my rating reflects the writing style not the content.
TW/CW: drug use, mental illness (schizophrenia, depression, and personality disorder), neglect, child abuse, violence, animal cruelty, animal death, anxiety, suicide attempts, suicide, toxic parents, eating disorder, addiction, alcoholism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Suicide, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
More...