Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong

45 reviews

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

Let me preface this with I am not an anthology fan. I find it hard to keep track of the different stories. But I knew I needed to read this one, because the stories and writers were something and people I could relate to.  Each story had a unique and important message and each one was special in it's own right. For that, I highly recommend everyone, and I mean everyone, read this book. Because although I have a disability myself, I learned something new from each and every one of these stories.

Some of my favourites include:
Guide Dogs Don't Lead Blind People. We Wander as One. by Haben Girma
Nurturing Black Disabled Joy by Keah Brown
Why my Novel is Dedicated to my Disabled Friend Maddy by A. H. Reaume

I wish that there was a collection of these types of stories from a Canadian perspective. I also appriciat that each story has content warnings, if necessary at the beginning, because let me tell you, there are many more than I can list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

allison_21's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.75

It's so important to hear stories from different perspectives, and to hear directly from groups that are so often marginalized. I found this book to be powerful not because it was trying to be inspirational (as it wasn't), but because it came from people sharing their own experiences. Parts of it left me encouraged, and parts left me outraged that events like those described happen to people, and not only that, but are fully allowed to happen within our current systems and laws. Thanks goes to the authors who shared their stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Chronic illness

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

yasminreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Incredible insight into so many different personal experiences. I bought this book with the intention of educating myself but I gained so much more. The joy, strength and spirit of each writer is palpable. Its a very well curated book where each essay is as good as the one before. Each piece of writing will include a content warning if required so if any I've listed put you off, just know that they are not applicable to the entire work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent

piperlee's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Wow. I feel like this book should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand diversity and deepen their activism and empathy. What an amazing compilation of so many powerful disabled writers, activists, artists and more. So much diversity is reflected in this book, as well, adding such beautifully rich layers to every narrative.
As someone recently disabled, I felt incredibly seen and understood through the voices of multiple contributors.
Highly, highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Grief

kokie's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This collection was mind-opening, perspective-changing, beautifully written, and must read writing! Most of the stories are rather short, but each one packs an enormous punch! I am mulling over so many of these stories, and I can't wait to talk to someone else about some of the things I noticed in the plot, but also in the writing! I borrowed this book from my library, but I will need to get my own copy ASAP to start a reread (the first of what I think will be many). Please also note that there are content warnings at the beginning of many chapters for those who might need them.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts