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annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
5.0
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2) Being published in 2005 and set largely in the 60s and 70s there is some outdated language.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.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny
sophn13's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism and Medical content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide
emilymc27's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
charlee92's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism and Bullying
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Death, and Blood
orlagal's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
dbella191's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
lucy12345's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, and Death of parent
butterfliesonmybookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy
charitylee92's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
secondhandstargazing's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Medical trauma