Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

549 reviews

sraphael3810's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emilymyers's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

dr_ew's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

2.25

The lack of nuance in the final part made me retroactively dislike a lot of the book. I assume it’s mostly a me problem.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug use

amyb00's review

emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

First I would double down on her content warning. I would suggest if you have secondary trauma you would skip the first section of the book. It will take far more then a therapy hour to complete and it's relentless. We know that book ends well but the section does not end in healing. Survivors often feel the need to give every detail to justify the needs, this is an example of that. I would agree with other reviews that it did almost get to the point of emotional overload. Except as it is a book and i could put it down it was my choice.
Never having an Asian American client yet knowing that that abuse is disproportionally low in the population this book was helpful. Like all memoirs it wasn't written for me it was written for her healing and to draw attention to the problem and it did just that.
I do wish it had more research but it wasn't written by a psychologist a BA or otherwise what it did have was solid and validating. The generational trauma obvious yet the disproportionate issue has always been a question so that in-self is good information.
It's not a text book, it is a little over graphic, it's not ground breaking. But it will be validating for a client, she got healing from writing, the research she has is solid, it's well written and easy to read. That's what a good memoir is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

geminisoul's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I don't know that I have ever related to a book more than I did this one. There were times when the author seemed to be describing exactly how I feel or react to something. While this was a tough read for me and made me cry more then a few times it also gave me so much hope and insight. If I could rate it more then 5 stars I would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

crystalisreading's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Transformative book,  for both the author,  and any reader open to what she is telling us. Highly likely to be triggering to anyone with cptsd. I had to set it down and take a break multiple  times. But I also learned so much,  about myself and about others.  the audio version is well-done too. Foo works in radio and podcasts, and you can tell.  Hugest recommendation! just please check content warnings first.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of #WhatMyBonesKnow by Stephanie Foo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War

nosmallthing's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

emhill33's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

fretfulforrest's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

I was really looking forward to this book because I want to learn more about how C-PTSD works and how to cope with it. I only rated this book 3 stars because I skipped and skimmed through at least the first half. Many pages detailed stories of the author's childhood abuse and I did not have the capacity to read through that without taking on the feelings of pain and despair. 

In the later chapters Foo shows us what it was like to finally find someone who listens. To search the world for knowledge and information and land in a stranger's office that would soon become a conduit for healing and change in her life, mind, and body. 

The presented research and findings in this book were informative, but that information was not new to me. What was most valuable to me were the details of recorded therapy sessions and learning to reconnect. With other people and with ourselves. Instead of avoiding through dissociation or exclusive self-regulation. This book offers examples of how our own feelings of shame and desperate cravings for love can be transformed into healing through curiosity and exploration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

thatmellokid's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment