Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll by Priscilla Presley

12 reviews

ellie_rowo's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

alyssamakesart's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Addiction

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Body shaming, and Pedophilia

Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

ritaconstantino's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

3.0

This was a difficult read. Priscilla was groomed and abused since she was 14 years old and the sad part is that, at least until the time she wrote the book, she hadn't yet accepted the gravity of what had happened to her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

hdhreads's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.75

This was an intimate and honest insight into Priscilla’s life with ‘the King’. Having met Elvis at just 14, Priscilla spent her formative years with him and he shaped her into his ‘ideal woman’. Right from the start, she experienced the highs and lows of living with Elvis, from his generousness and fun, to his temper tantrums and drug taking.

I found Priscilla’s memoir deeply troubling, but like a train wreck, I couldn’t look away. There’s the obvious age gap and the fact that their relationship started when she was still a child. Then there’s his controlling nature - wanting her to be his vision of an ideal woman, restricting her choices and even preventing her from getting a job so that she is always available when he wants her to come to him. His frequent affairs, the drugs he gives her to take without saying what they are etc etc, the list goes on. In this day and age, he would be disgraced for a fraction of this. 

Despite all of this, Priscilla still holds so much affection for the man. The benefit of listening on audio is that you really hear that - her gentle chuckles on recounting something he said, and the love in her voice when telling a tale no matter how outrageous it is. That is what makes it so particularly shocking. It’s like listening to someone with Stockholm syndrome. 

So all in all, I found the book fascinating, but perhaps not for the author’s intended reason.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

melishajo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Pedophilia

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Dying to see the Coppola biopic! The story of her relationship with Elvis is that of a dark fairytale. I am now repulsed by him. Also Elvis high key stole music from black artists 4👧🏻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

05_haggler_prouder's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Pricilla's perspective is fundamentally flawed. She was groomed at 14 into a coercive controlling domestically violent relationship. She simultaneously details the various types of horrors she faced and witnessed, while expressing her continued love and admiration towards Elvis whom she describes as a friend, lover, father and god. 

I feel like she's sincere about the praise, but she's also terrified of the retribution she might face from the fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, Rape, Addiction, and Infidelity

roxfoxreads89's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

3.5

I knew very little about Elvis as he was considerably “before my time.” 

However, I’m continually shocked at how many famous men are child predators. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

randimcphee's review

challenging emotional fast-paced

3.75

The writing itself isn’t anything mind blowing, but the story is absolutely fascinating. Reading a first hand experience of Elvis’ life, troubles, addictions, and attitude had me questioning a lot about what I thought I knew about him. This story is their love story, but also how he transformed from a sweet, generous, Southern boy with too much money, to a controlling, manipulative, borderline monster.

I think the lowest point of this book is that the author, his only wife, Priscilla, never seems to understand just how deeply terrible Elvis’ actions were. It was just so heartbreaking and scary, and I found throughout the book that I wasn’t rooting for the love story.

Even after their divorce, she said they were friendly, held hands, kissed, and acted like a family when they were together. It seems like she was never truly able to get out of his grip, even after everything and divorcing him. It was an interesting story, but also felt like whiplash. A good story, but disappointing to know the truth and see Priscilla be taken advantage of way too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexism, Pedophilia, Drug use, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault

theveronicareview's review

emotional informative sad medium-paced

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I believe we all come into this world aware of Elvis. His work and persona are so deeply embedded in our collective consciousness that, whether a fan or not, some aspect of our lives is bound to be touched by his impact on our culture and society. 

Likewise, so many of us have our own perception of who Elvis was: cool, suave, annoying, proud - whatever it is, the majority of us are likely wrong. So few people knew the real Elvis and, arguably, one of the people who knew him best was his only wife, Priscilla. 

I am not the type of person to rate/judge a memoir, but Elvis and Me was one of the most fascinating books I've read.

Constantly toeing the line between condemning & condoning the actions of Elvis, her parents, & herself, Priscilla recounts how she was courted by the singer at just 14 years of age. She spent late nights at Elvis' house in Germany, she was allowed to travel to another country to be with him, & she finished school in another country from her parents just so she could remain near the singer. Elvis taught Priscilla how to dress & how to act. She was given drugs so she could keep up with his demanding lifestyle. Priscilla went from being her parents' child to Elvis' child bride (though they actually married when she was 21), & it would be years before she'd realize she could be her own person, separate from Elvis. 

Reading this memoir with modern eyes, it's baffling how their relationship was accepted. In her memoir, Priscilla does note that her parents were hesitant & insinuated that Elvis knew it was inappropriate, but that didn't make this read easier to digest. Obviously, it's now difficult for me to think of Elvis, the person, & not be repulsed. Reading other reviews of Priscilla's memoir, it's clear her words injured some who love/loved Elvis & who want his legacy to remain intact. Others are baffled by Priscilla's romanticization of their time together - some to the point of nausea and others with the desire to know more. 

What appalled me more is that I went the majority of my life thinking they were the same age and that their relationship was respectable. It may be impossible to know or perceive how all the world's idols behave behind closed doors (although Elvis left that door opened just a crack, I'd say), but I think Priscilla's memoir is just another example of why we should always admire celebrities and their work with an objective eye. We don't truly know any one of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Infidelity, Drug abuse, and Misogyny