Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Finding Me by Viola Davis

89 reviews

yreluctant's review against another edition

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

5.0


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shantellelandry's review

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emotional inspiring slow-paced

5.0

WOW. An incredible story

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danielavasquez's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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bethanyt123's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
Truly worth ten reads. Enlightening, inspiring, devastating, painful, and moving. Viola manages to open the doors to exploring the intricacies of racism in a welcoming, inviting, and honest way. I’m convinced the only way to read this is via audiobook, recorded by Viola herself. The performance is enrapturing. Thank you, Viola Davis, for opening your heart to us.

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murph_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

I wish everyone could read this and understand how beautifully tormenting it is to heal your inner child.  It’s something so many people refuse to believe they need to do, when it’s the root of so many vicious cycles in life. Hug them, believe them, reassure them, they will learn to feel safe.

Viola speaks about so many incredibly difficult moments with the kind of grace one only gains by surrendering to loving people for exactly who they are. Her love for her family is her driving force. 

Would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook! It feels like having coffee with a lifelong friend with an incredible story. 

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cmorrisclark's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative

4.0

WHEW. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions. The abuse and trauma that Davis and her mother and siblings experienced is horrific and very difficult to read about. There were parts of the book I had to take in small doses.

I felt very proud of Davis for telling her story and being brave enough to claim her story. It's clear she has done so much work to get to where she is, professionally and emotionally. 

I feel like the book could have benefitted from a little more guidance in the editing stage-- at times it felt very "stream of conscious" with the narrative jumping from idea to idea, even in the same paragraph at times. I think the editors could have helped guide some of the bigger picture narratives at well, which sometimes felt unfinished or anemic.

Overall, this was a fascinating read. Viola Davis is an incredible woman, and it was really fun to cheer her on in the latter half of the book. The first half of the book, which detailed her trauma, is a difficult read, but of course her story is part of what makes Davis the woman she is today.

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lea's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Amazing audiobook. Her childhood was unfortunately so relatable and hit me hard. I don't watch TV or movies much so I didn't know her but I'm definitely a big fan now. This was beautiful written.

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cheekmeat's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0


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nurly_whirly's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0


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gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Every single performance I’ve seen Viola Davis in, her acting ability has taken my breath away. I’m usually reticent toward celebrity memoirs but this takes the cake for one of the best memoirs I’ve read. As Davis takes readers through her difficult and tumultuous backstory with searing candidness, we begin to understand the many layers of who she is and how she came to be the person she is today. From the racist climate of the East coast to the colorism glaringly prevalent in both film/stage and the Blck community, Davis’ voice is emotionally intelligent and critically astute. There are definitely very dark moments layered through out this story, so I would definitely recommend checking content warnings on those, but each of these moments is handled with immense care and grace. I really loved this read, it’s definitely made me want to watch “How to get away with murder”.

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