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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Some great moments of writing, but just overall did not click for me. The author talks a bit in the afterward about how she wanted to convey almost like a before & after a specific memory, which was not executed the best, in my opinion. Her life events unfold in an otherwise non-linear fashion with the memory not quite becoming clear until the end of the memoir itself, so the intended effect was quite lost on me. Furthermore, this end portion also really leans into her mother being representative of something in the biblical realm, and though this section is very well-written and fleshed-out, I would have appreciated it more if this thought had been moreso a thread connecting previous moments in the work too. I do appreciate the honesty and the dedication to authenticity by not embellishing her actions and behaviors, but, all in all, the way the work was structured made reading it less enjoyable and less comprehensible for me.
I was blown away by this book. Mailhot manages to write about trauma and mental illness in a way that is not traumatizing/depressing, nor treacly-hopeful about what she's overcome. She uses non-linearity and draws on her First Nations background to create a unique voice, and this book stands out from the hundreds of memoirs being thrown at readers.
Written how you might speak in your brain and jump from memory to memory.
Jumbled stream of consciousness that was also a love letter to a toxic relationship? Idk judging a memoir seems a bit unfair but this just didn’t connect for me
What I will say to describe this book is everything that's already been said - it's raw, but beautiful. The writing style is quite unique in terms of being a poetic memoir and it's really interesting in the questions at the end, the author describes that writing can still be poetic and artful, even when it's discussing abuse and mental health.
The quote that really stuck with me is "I remember that motherhood is mostly bearing shame to dress my children, to feed them, and to spare them the things I wasn't spared". Terese talks opening about her struggles as a mother, with mental health and the difference in her treatment as an indigenous woman.
While the writing style is beautiful, it can come off as a little choppy and unfinished, although I think that was fairly intentional in terms of leaving questions unanswered.
The quote that really stuck with me is "I remember that motherhood is mostly bearing shame to dress my children, to feed them, and to spare them the things I wasn't spared". Terese talks opening about her struggles as a mother, with mental health and the difference in her treatment as an indigenous woman.
While the writing style is beautiful, it can come off as a little choppy and unfinished, although I think that was fairly intentional in terms of leaving questions unanswered.
2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: heart, diamond, club, or spade on cover
Raw memoir from a native woman who lived a very painful childhood and adolescence only to reach adulthood with multiple breakdowns. Diagnosed with ptsd and a survivor of child abuse, this is her story as she works through loss of a child, motherhood and resolution to live up To her name, Little mountain.
Sherman Alexie wrote about this book "This book is not only memoir. It is poetry. It is meditation. It is mystical - a blue-collar mysticism. The mysticism of callused hands and blistered feet. It is the mysticism of resilience. Or something larger than resilience."
I write Alexie's words because I have trouble finding my own. I have known pain and anguish in my own life, and the depth of raw pain in Heart Berries is palpable. I am awed by this book and the power of Mailhot's words.
I write Alexie's words because I have trouble finding my own. I have known pain and anguish in my own life, and the depth of raw pain in Heart Berries is palpable. I am awed by this book and the power of Mailhot's words.