Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

25 reviews

narbine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Transphobia, Alcohol, Classism, Gaslighting, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Child death, Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Infidelity, Misogyny, Excrement, Gaslighting, Racism, and Dysphoria

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

this was such a devastating memoir. i loved how the voice throughout most of the story aged as the story progressed. the beginning has such a child-like voice which adds to how you feel for the author and what she went through. this was a hard but rewarding read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Medical content, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexism, Bullying, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Racism, and Sexual assault

luckyonesoph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent and Fatphobia

freeman_kl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail

yamilemb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

this is my second time reading this book. jeannette walls is such a fantastic writer. even though the walls kids grew up in an environment of constant adventure and spontaneity, i just absolutely despise rex and rose mary walls. the neglect and abuse they put their children through is something i simply can't take lightheartedly. erma and stanley walls can go to hell. rose mary too for being apologetic towards them and enabling them to abuse their children. it really is an inspiring story but i just can't see past many instances of neglect to consider this a lovely story of a dysfunctional family. the parents are neglectful and abusive. period. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Grief, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault

k04j1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Classism, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, and Emotional abuse

shieldbearer's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I know my own history affects how i feel about this book, but it's such a good read. Highly recommended. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Excrement

mandi4886's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Violence

sophicat's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Excrement, Alcohol, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Addiction, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Rape, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Pregnancy and Gun violence

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

One of my oldest TBR books and I'm so incredibly glad I finally picked this up. 

Walls has an incredibly rich talent for story-telling and displays immense vulnerability in sharing her family's story. 
Reading this 10 years after I first learned about it, I have more empathy for the parents and a better ability to understand the nuances and grey zones of parent-child relationships, the circumstances that lead to unstable, unsafe, and neglectful households, and the sheer luck it takes to dig yourself out of systemic poverty the way the Walls children did. 

That said, her parents are terrible parents in a lot of ways. You can tell they love their children and want to install certain values like independent thinking, self-reliance, and others. But this often comes at the cost of healthcare, safety, job and financial security, and others risks. While her parents clearly have some mental health issues and substance use disorders to varying degrees (though she doesn't speculate on this) a lot of the circumstances the Walls found themselves in were entirely preventable and manageable. And that infuriates me. 

I loved reading about the siblings' dynamics and their resourcefulness and determination to make the best of things - and get the hell out of Welch when they no longer could. I'd especially love to read Lori's story one day - she seems to have a unique experience within the family and I think it could resonate with a lot of people (or maybe it's just oldest children relatability for me).

I have two main critiques that could bring my rating down 0.5 stars (but won't because I loved the experience of reading this memoir to much).
1) The pacing was slightly off in the second half. Jeannette Walls devotes so much time to her early childhood, that we often skip significant portions of her teen years and young adulthood. She only discusses the highlights as compared to the substantial exploration of her childhood and set-up of their family dynamics. 
2) Being published in 2005 and set largely in the 60s and 70s there is some outdated language. This includes the R-word and racial slurs. 

Overall this is a wonderful and emotional memoir - I can understand why and how it's become a classic in the genre. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny