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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
4.5 rounded up - only because I wanted more of the narrative and how it became transformative!
Mailhot’s Heart Berries is a memoir that delivers unapologetically. We are getting every insight into her mind and how her experiences have taught her to defy generational trauma. The generational trauma that is embedded into our souls because of the system issues that have been passed down in the current patriarchal and colonial systems that persist. She dissects her trauma and learns how to break it down into digestible pieces so that she can be freely herself. Her diagnoses that once defined her are now managed by her accountability and have access to the resources that she needed.
Mailhot’s Heart Berries is a memoir that delivers unapologetically. We are getting every insight into her mind and how her experiences have taught her to defy generational trauma. The generational trauma that is embedded into our souls because of the system issues that have been passed down in the current patriarchal and colonial systems that persist. She dissects her trauma and learns how to break it down into digestible pieces so that she can be freely herself. Her diagnoses that once defined her are now managed by her accountability and have access to the resources that she needed.
I appreciated the raw and vulnerable truth telling of this memoir, but it lacked self awareness about the abusive nature of the behaviors the narrator was perpetuating.
I understand the value of catharsis in literary work, and I understand the heavy weight of generational traumas that make it so, so unbearably difficult to shift patterns, but I found it too difficult to wade through so much self destruction (and some self indulgence) without the medicine of personal growth at the end.
Brave, none the less.
The caveat is that I did not finish the work, so what I was seeking may have appeared, but I did not see signs of it 3/4 way through.
I understand the value of catharsis in literary work, and I understand the heavy weight of generational traumas that make it so, so unbearably difficult to shift patterns, but I found it too difficult to wade through so much self destruction (and some self indulgence) without the medicine of personal growth at the end.
Brave, none the less.
The caveat is that I did not finish the work, so what I was seeking may have appeared, but I did not see signs of it 3/4 way through.
challenging
emotional
reflective
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
Woo, this book was a roller coaster. Mailhot has a way with phrases. I read a library copy, which kept me from highlighting every page. Almost any word I use to describe her fearless memoir falls short: gut-wrenching comes the closest, I think. Highly recommended.
fast-paced
Ooof. In a good way! Well, mostly. This was a pretty intense read, I found. It’s just so incredibly intimate and upfront about the tender and difficult parts of Mailhot. She really writes with vulnerability and examination and teeth bared and does not shy away from unflattering portraits of herself. I found her swept up and often toxic accounts of the connection she had/has with Casey to be really actually reminiscent of a relationship that I had in a way that made it both hard to look and made me feel seen to read. But really the reflections she has about her dad are what hit the hardest in this book. To come from a home of trauma - generations of it - and to engage with that, to look at that straight on and to write on it and dive into it. Wow. I can’t imagine how difficult that is and it feels incredibly raw to read. Love and relationships and hurt are so complicated!
This whole book felt like touching Mailhot right on the nerve. Commendable and very well written.
This whole book felt like touching Mailhot right on the nerve. Commendable and very well written.