Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Finding Me by Viola Davis

276 reviews

mattyvreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

One of the finest memoirs I have ever read. Gorgeously written, with vulnerability, wisdom, and wit. Davis is an incomparable storyteller and her honesty is inspiring. I devoured every word

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

emma_reards's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

I loved Viola Davis as an actress before reading her memoir, but I now have so much respect and admiration for her as a person. The trauma she endured as a child is something I couldn’t even begin to fathom, and the perseverance and tenacity she had to push through and overcome those traumas to get where she is today is truly inspiring.

This book is about Viola learning to love herself despite never feeling worthy of that love. She learns to recognize her trauma rather than suppress them, and gives herself permission to forgive and grow from it.

Viola’s childhood is heartbreaking, but her evolution as a person is inspiring. I think everyone can learn some important lessons from this book.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Animal death, Abortion, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Mental illness

ramseyreadsbooks's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Minor: Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

allisonkhenson's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

“How do I get to the mountaintop without legs”

“It was trying to save someone else while I was drowning”

“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a different past”

Hearing her narrate her story like this was so captivating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism

fblair's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Racial slurs

Minor: Abortion, Animal cruelty, and Toxic relationship

ktbreadsbooks's review

emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Probably one of the most moving and beautiful celebrity memoirs I've read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Racism, and Racial slurs

bzliz's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I love when actors narrate their own memoirs and this is no exception. Viola Davis is such a powerful woman who not only survived more than her fair share of trauma but thrived in spite of it. A lot of people probably wouldn’t enjoy this, purely because of how frank she is regarding her experience with racism and poverty but I do think people should at least try to read it.

I don’t want to play the “who had it worse?” game but it’s hard not to compare this to some other memoirs and think to myself what the hell are you whining about? You haven’t faced any real hardship. It’s impossible to not think about how minor struggles can be a person’s complete undoing, yet someone who essentially started life at rock bottom and has had to fight for decades just to get to even ground can still rise above and flourish. 

The story’s timeline is jumbled around in that way many memoirs are but I didn’t mind it as much here as I have in others. So much of her life was shaped by chaos so why should her story be told in a straight line? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion and Death of parent

sunshinegirl01's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Racism

sarcasticheart's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Davis has lived a life full of good and bad times, torture and fame, love and grief. While reading, I consistently found myself wanting more — details, anecdotes, snapshots of the past. What has been written is engaging, entertaining, and at times even inspiring but I still wished for more. Davis’ role as Annalise Keating is one of my absolute favorite television roles and I would read two more books this length about her life, her time on different sets, and the people she’s worked with who she came to love and respect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Physical abuse, Racism, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Dementia, Excrement, Grief, Bullying, Alcoholism, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault