Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Finding Me by Viola Davis

45 reviews

hazedaze's review against another edition

The beginning of Viola’s life is filled with so much violence and misery that it’s quite difficult to hear; it should be flagged for literally every content warning. I think I need to come back when I have the mental and emotional fortitude to hear about her honest experience. The first quarter of the book is absolutely brutal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest

a_alves00's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

runningjenw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

The audio version is stunning. The acting is phenomenal. What a life Viola Davis has lead. I highly recommend this read or listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Misogyny

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read/listened to. Viola Davis is an incredible person. Her strength and all the things she went through is unimaginable. This was a hard book to listen to at times, Viola does not shy away from taking you through memories of her childhood. Her dad’s abuse towards her mom, sibling abuse from her older brother, poverty so intense most of the time they didn’t have electricity, food or a working toilet. How she overcame so many obstacles and horrible things that happened to her growing up to then go on to graduate from Juilliard, then go on to act with Denzel Washington and then Meryl Streep until her big break out in How to Get Away with Murder is truly incredible. She is an amazing individual and a true inspiration.

This book is one that I know will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lucyduller's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

If you’re fed up of discussions about the royal family and the books coming out recently, please please pick up this one. It is simply fantastic. 

*Please check trigger warnings before reading this book*

This is hands down the best audiobook I’ve listened to. I can imagine it was a fantastic book to read, but having it performed to you by an Emmy, Tony and Oscar winning actress, was an unmatchable experience. Viola Davis has such a fantastic voice, and the way she told her story was so moving. 

In this book she recounts her life, from growing up in poverty, battling food insecurity and in a household filled with domestic violence of her mother from her father and the sexual abuse she received from her brother. She describes the reality of sexual abuse that she faced as a child, and as an adult and how she was able to overcome some of the behaviours she had accepted. 

I was entranced for the whole 9 hours. I usually listen to audiobooks at 1.2x speed, as a lot of the readers are quite slow. But this book I listened to at normal speed and I savoured every minute of it. 

Viola Davis recounts her experiences becoming an actress and how her upbringing informed how she went about achieving her dreams, going to Julliard and becoming an award-winning actress. She details the battles she faced in finding roles that were deemed suitable for a dark-skinned black woman, often those being best friend characters or addict mothers. 

 

Most poignant was her discussions about her relationship with herself, the way from the age of 8 years old she thought she was worth nothing. She resented being black and this she carried with her into her adulthood. But after years of therapy and life experience, she learnt how to embrace herself, at 8 years old and at 57. 

It was incredibly moving and one of the best books I’ve read, instant 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Abortion

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Blood

kiomarys2000's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

yomireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Viola Davis is a master at the craft of storytelling, evidenced not just in her brilliant talent honed to a razor's edge through dedication in her career as an actress, but in the way this memoir enraptured me from start to finish. This story is one steeped in life's trauma, but more importantly, reflects the break-back work of taking the adversity and shit thrown your way, and persevering. A brutally honest read of how even for all the agonizingly hard work Viola put into her talent as an actress, the reality is that luck was a deciding factor in her career.

I was moved by her resilience in the face of abuse to forgive, her faith when she felt abandoned, her candid approach to therapy, and so so much more. I'm better for having read this book, and I scarcely feel this way about books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Abortion, and Classism

Minor: Incest

herceia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Incredible, inspiring, beautiful, unbelievable, amazing, brutal, heart wrenching, and so much more. A perfectly brutal memoir

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use and Pedophilia

mecmccann's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

This book was everything I needed and more. When she said “The purpose of life is to live it” agghhhhhh I needed that 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

mariasilva's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail