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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
A bit of a stretch to review someone’s devastating life experiences, fractured lives dominated by mental illness and horrific abuse; but this just wasn’t that well written. Repetitive, too many mentions of her interior design flourishes which frankly jarred with the subject matter and a few too many references to the author being beautiful. The lineage is interesting but to believe discovering that heritage resonates over a 150 years later in her career is a little far fetched. I don’t doubt the suffering but I just found the writing too ‘fluffy’ to serve a memoir like this. The epilogue however, carried genuine weight and maturity and was a very insightful opinion of America. If the rest of her writing had matched up to the epilogue this would have been a far more engaging memoir.
Merged review:
A bit of a stretch to review someone’s devastating life experiences, fractured lives dominated by mental illness and horrific abuse; but this just wasn’t that well written. Repetitive, too many mentions of her interior design flourishes which frankly jarred with the subject matter and a few too many references to the author being beautiful. The lineage is interesting but to believe discovering that heritage resonates over a 150 years later in her career is a little far fetched. I don’t doubt the suffering but I just found the writing too ‘fluffy’ to serve a memoir like this. The epilogue however, carried genuine weight and maturity and was a very insightful opinion of America. If the rest of her writing had matched up to the epilogue this would have been a far more engaging memoir.
Merged review:
A bit of a stretch to review someone’s devastating life experiences, fractured lives dominated by mental illness and horrific abuse; but this just wasn’t that well written. Repetitive, too many mentions of her interior design flourishes which frankly jarred with the subject matter and a few too many references to the author being beautiful. The lineage is interesting but to believe discovering that heritage resonates over a 150 years later in her career is a little far fetched. I don’t doubt the suffering but I just found the writing too ‘fluffy’ to serve a memoir like this. The epilogue however, carried genuine weight and maturity and was a very insightful opinion of America. If the rest of her writing had matched up to the epilogue this would have been a far more engaging memoir.
A crazy traumatic childhood that made a great memoir.
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book was a real life example of how life can unravel quickly and through family generations. We truly don't know what others have been through unless we ask and listen.
I don’t fully know how to feel about this book. The story of the author’s childhood and her discoveries as an adult are heart wrenching, but the writing is often tedious. She is also painfully selfish. I waited for the turn, where after going through all of this with her mother she would acknowledge how she herself has erred, but it never comes. She treats her husband terribly, relying on him for every aspect of her well-being and then proceeds to cheat on him. She acknowledges the emotional affair was wrong, but never seems to realize her expectations and reliance were unhealthy and unfair. The adoption of her daughter is also upsetting. It’s very clear she does not actually want to help a child, she wants to make herself feel better. She disregards the very idea of an open adoption without doing any due diligence, worried she’d have to deal with someone like her own mother without considering what is actually best for the child. Because of this “roadblock” she pursues international adoption, and again fails to acknowledge the potential psychological harm. She even mentions that Guatemala, where her daughter is from, stops all international adoptions in response to illegal adoptions where poor families are coerced into selling their children, but her main concern is how that will affect her own adoption process, never once considering that the child she is adopting could be a result of illegal practices.
Obviously all memoirs are self-centered, but her inability to recognize her own faults is off-putting to say the least
Obviously all memoirs are self-centered, but her inability to recognize her own faults is off-putting to say the least
I am a big fan of biographies and memoirs from people who have overcome horrific upbringings. Two of my favorite books are “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls” and “Running with Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs. Plymale’s “American Daughter” is similar to these books, and if you can stick with the story until the last third, it will be worth your time.
Plymale tells her life’s story through her interactions with her mother, a hippie with a healthy dose of psychosis, drug addiction and promiscuity. But, of course, you have to be hooked when your mother honestly tells you she does not know who your father is, and nor should you care.
This book kept my interest from the start, but it trudges along before the story takes an intriguing twist two-thirds through the book. If you decide to pick this book up, do not read any spoilers.
The only thing I did not enjoy, which I have discussed in previous book reviews, is the main character's glaring flaws, Plymale herself. She overcame a lot and hammered home that when people meet her they always ask her, how she overcame her traumatic childhood experiences. But I found she was a bit boastful and did not own up to her faults. However, this egoism was not extreme enough for me to abandon the book, which I am very thankful I did not because, with a third of the book to go, I could not believe the twist the story took.
Plymale tells her life’s story through her interactions with her mother, a hippie with a healthy dose of psychosis, drug addiction and promiscuity. But, of course, you have to be hooked when your mother honestly tells you she does not know who your father is, and nor should you care.
This book kept my interest from the start, but it trudges along before the story takes an intriguing twist two-thirds through the book. If you decide to pick this book up, do not read any spoilers.
The only thing I did not enjoy, which I have discussed in previous book reviews, is the main character's glaring flaws, Plymale herself. She overcame a lot and hammered home that when people meet her they always ask her, how she overcame her traumatic childhood experiences. But I found she was a bit boastful and did not own up to her faults. However, this egoism was not extreme enough for me to abandon the book, which I am very thankful I did not because, with a third of the book to go, I could not believe the twist the story took.
Not an easy book to read, but if you liked Tara Westover's "Educated" or Jeannette Walls' "The Glass Castle", you will like this one too.
The author has overcome a truly horrific childhood to become a successful and well-adjusted adult -- and when she finds out her estranged and mentally-ill mother is dying, it is her last chance for reconciliation and answers.
I am writing this review months later and some of the details escape me -- but I know I read this book in just a few sittings because it was so compelling.
The author has overcome a truly horrific childhood to become a successful and well-adjusted adult -- and when she finds out her estranged and mentally-ill mother is dying, it is her last chance for reconciliation and answers.
I am writing this review months later and some of the details escape me -- but I know I read this book in just a few sittings because it was so compelling.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced