Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Finding Me by Viola Davis

137 reviews

abbyschafer's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Viola Davis’ Finding Me is unlike any celebrity memoir I have ever read. Her life journey is an incredible, harrowing tale of being Black and poor in America. Finding Me reads as the next generation of Maya Angelou’s Why the Caged Bird Sings. 

Audio book review: Read by Viola Davis herself, the audio book brings another layer of empathy and emotion into the story and helps the stories of her childhood connect to the Viola Davis we know from film and television before she makes the connection herself in the writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Infertility, Abortion, and Death of parent

maria1085's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Wow! What an amazing book! I listened to this on audio and hearing Viola Davis talk about her life was so powerful. She went through so much growing up. Poverty, an alcoholic/abusive father, food insecurity, sexual abuse. And after all that she still became the woman she is today. She was a fighter, and strong, and determined to get herself out. Her relationship with her father was probably the most difficult to hear about. The thing he did to her mother were unspeakable but by the end it turned into a redemption story and the love she has for him was unconditional. I really found her to be an amazing storyteller, I love her as an actress and definitely want to see more with her in it. I HIGHLY recommend this book, especially the audio. I don’t normally rate memoirs but if I did this would absolutely get 5 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

_evyn_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0

Viola is a true artist. She's so vulnerable and open about her life in this book. She talks about her complex relationships with the acting industry, her family, partners, and most importantly, herself. I love the way she explains her struggles because there are moments I can relate to and moments I could not have truly understood until her depiction and imagery and rawness. You can feel sympathy the world over for another's problems and trauma but if you don't  REALLY understand what they're going through and how they're affected, you won't have empathy. Without empathy, you tend to listen to stories only for what you can relate to instead of what is actually being said. With empathy, you still have a bias about the more important aspects of the history, but it doesn't stop you from hearing and (hopefully) understanding the whole truth. I felt with her every time she had to step back and question a barrier in her life. She made me think about the choices I've made and what my future could look like (not in relation to her life, but the questions she asks herself or that others ask her, prompted me to try to answer them for myself). 
Would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape

anastasia_raf's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

I don't think you can "rate" a person's life, so I'm just rating the pacing, the writing and the overall composition of the book.
I kept reading and reading and often wondered how did she kept on going? I know What kept her going, but still...how was that enough? A lot of her experiences brought me to tears, terrified me, and made me think of how lucky I am and how much protection, opportunity and "luck" White privilege provides.
Viola Davis is an incredible actor and so very talented in so many fields.
There were a lot of quotes from this memoir that stuck with me.
Here's one of them: "stop making love to something that's killing you."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hannah_and_her_stories's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Abortion

readandfindout's review

emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abortion

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0

This is not a typical celebrity memoir. It's a story about survival and finding a voice.

Listen to the audiobook! It is outstanding, and hearing the story told in Viola Davis' own, expressive voice adds a lot to the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Excrement, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Slavery, and Grief

melindajune92's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

sannesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

sasshq's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism