Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu

6 reviews

bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.75

Wow wow wow. This is so good and so much. Parental abandonment is brutal—to follow that up with the death of your remaining parent and a fraught relationship with your step-mother is almost unimaginable. 

The seismology metaphor woven through the book and the grappling with privilege, oppression, and the messy relationship between the two—all of it is just so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Violence

thebowandthebook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

2.5

The writing was lovely. Disagreed with most of the mindsets and struggled with the content examines. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Rape, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Genocide, Cancer, Alcohol, and Classism

pineapplesunshine's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Beautifully written memoir, a fellow biracial third culture kid can relate to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Self harm, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cancer, Alcohol, and Death

signediza's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, and Religious bigotry

jayisreading's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Aftershocks is an intimate, beautifully written memoir that explores belonging and identity with incredible nuance and grace. I wouldn’t quite call this an experimental approach to memoirs (e.g., In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado), but it doesn’t follow conventions when it comes to memoirs. Owusu opts out of temporality and, instead, takes the reader through her own temporality that you could argue is defined by a seismometer. I really liked how she divided her memoir up into events related to earthquakes (hence, the title). This presentation of her life, culture, and history through vignette-like pieces takes the reader into a liminal space that Owusu often feels she exists in.

Owusu brings such unique perspective to the table as a biracial woman (Ghanaian Armenian) who had a less grounded childhood as a result of her father’s job with the United Nations. In addition, she brings to attention what it’s like dealing with madness, grief, and trauma; deeply contemplating on their connections with each other and to her life. She traces these through her fraught relationships with her mother and stepmother, the death of her father, the various countries she lived in and, of course, her identity.

Owusu invites you into her world in Aftershocks, but in such a way that doesn’t allow you to stare, because these pieces she shares with the readers are precarious. In addition, and I don’t know if this was her intention, but I thought Owusu demonstrated how intersectionality works phenomenally, especially across time and space. There’s a lot to praise— All I can say is to check this memoir out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Racism, Death, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

Minor: Genocide and Eating disorder

meganelise's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Genocide