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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it most definitely pulled at my heart strings. Mailhot's choice to write it similar to a letter was very strong and created this very solemn tone. It was the perfect length and shows a lot of character development from the narrator. This is a personal and touching memoir that accounts for some of the hardest experiences someone can live through. Some parts of the book lost me a little but overall I would recommend EVERYONE read this book.
This was beautiful read. I'm not an indigenous woman so I cannot speak to those parts of the book, but the parts about being in a romantic relationship(s) as a mentally ill person resonated deeply with me. This is by no means a LIGHT read, but was thought provoking and easy to get through. I almost felt like I was looking into the private moments of the life of a friend. It astounds much how much she could do in such a short piece.
Whoa does this woman have a way with words. I would have been highlighting with reckless abandon except for the fact I read this on Kindle, and tapping sentences to save them just doesn't have the same effect.
That said, this was ... not a difficult read, really, just one that you had to really pay attention to in order to understand what Mailhot was trying to say. She talks to "you" (her eventual husband, Casey) a lot, the timeline jumps all over the place, and she talks a lot about the ghosts that haunt her, and it's easy to get lost. She's had a hard life, but also struggles with thinking that she is too much, that her suffering is not worth what she feels it is, that other people don't value her because she's so irredeemably broken. I don't think that's a self-esteem issue -- because she's clearly a talented writer -- so much as that her life has crushed and pulverized her such that she feels worthless. That's so hard to read.
3.5 stars
TW: depression, suicidal ideation, sexual assault, pregnancy
That said, this was ... not a difficult read, really, just one that you had to really pay attention to in order to understand what Mailhot was trying to say. She talks to "you" (her eventual husband, Casey) a lot, the timeline jumps all over the place, and she talks a lot about the ghosts that haunt her, and it's easy to get lost. She's had a hard life, but also struggles with thinking that she is too much, that her suffering is not worth what she feels it is, that other people don't value her because she's so irredeemably broken. I don't think that's a self-esteem issue -- because she's clearly a talented writer -- so much as that her life has crushed and pulverized her such that she feels worthless. That's so hard to read.
3.5 stars
TW: depression, suicidal ideation, sexual assault, pregnancy
Raw, courageous and insightful. Mailhot's unflinching look at herself, her struggles, her victories is poignant. Make no mistake - the book is a very difficult read, the emotions on the page will grip you and make you walk with Mailhot through her torment, her questioning, and her memories. The words are at times lyrical, at others biting. The writing goes from stream of consciousness to prose. Overall it works and this small but powerful memoir is worth not only reading, but rereading.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
I appreciated Mailhot being vulnerable in this memoir with their emotional, mental, and physical health and revealing past and current issues. I found myself realizing that where I struggled was with some of what I perceived as non-linear story telling, which is my own issue needing to read more of this type of writing to become more accustomed to it.