Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

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

13 reviews

discodetective's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Cursing, and Pandemic/Epidemic

smilagros's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

I don’t rate memoirs because it is someone’s life and it feels wrong to rate someone’s life. I listened to it on audio and I wish I had the physical copy to annotate at the same time. She was brutally honest about her childhood abuse and about her relationships. Listening to her therapy sessions was extremely insightful. Hearing the connection between physical health and mental health made me want to scream from the rooftops because I have been saying this for years. It’s really nice to hear/read that the shift is happening. I listened to this as a person looking for answers to help with her health. But as social worker, I felt that these are the kind of books I wish we would read in school. Actual testimonies of people’s lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

faithaforman's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Powerful and moving, the author's delving into her own trauma responses were eye-opening. Her exploration of self and path to self-love and self-acceptance gave me hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Racism, Police brutality, and Classism

rubellaface's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Quick caveat: I do not have C-PTSD. I am a second-generation Filipino American who grew up to have high-functioning anxiety & depression due to tiger parenting, growing up Asian American, and being forced to become an alpha daughter. 

Reading this book triggered me and had me questioning my reality and how I’ve often laughed-off or disassociated my personal trauma in order to succeed in life (and therefore be perceived as being okay). Her coping mechanisms were/are my coping mechanisms, and funnily enough, I didn’t even realize they were coping mechanisms. So as Stephanie went down the rabbit hole of finding out what her bones know and how to fix it, I was right beside her– transfixed and checking my own bones for fissures and trauma from similar situations in my family life. 

Cause Stephanie Foo does not pull her punches when recounting her childhood. Every abusive situation is described in a way that is almost clinical and ripe for analyzing. Her book is basically an emotional autopsy of her trauma, and the way she uses her journalism background to thoroughly vet every single c-ptsd-related therapy is both thrilling and heartbreaking. As a reader, you want Stephanie to find a therapy that works for her and that can “cure” her, and I just wanted to hug her each time a practice or therapist failed her. 

Needless to say, I was emotionally invested in Stephanie’s book. I cried towards the end as she found stable ground and the tools to fight for her peace of mind. And I cried again at the similarities in how we approached our weddings and wedding guests. Her healing journey echoed and reaffirmed my own, and I will recommend this book to all my AAPI friends who I know have gone through sh*t and are trying their best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Very triggering. Sometimes in a good way.

jshapiro12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

baileycowen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Abandonment

ruthmartinartist's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

clarabooksit's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

I’m not good at reviewing books that wow me, but this blew me away. I love a book that both moves me and educates me, and this did both in spades.

Foo narrates her journey toward self-discovery and well-being with incredible candor and immersive storytelling. Her writing feels effortless and inclusive: it’s not just her story but an invitation to the reader to join her on her journey.

I loved it. Highly, highly recommend. A favorite of the year, for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Death and War

hinatakaname's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent