Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

246 reviews

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

rendezvousgirl's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

4.25

Memoirs are not something I usually gravitate towards, but I really enjoyed this.

Naturally this is going to be a difficult and probably triggering read for anyone with a myriad of trauma, whether the cause is similar to the author’s or not. I really appreciated the emphasis on “healing” in community, through our relationships with other people. The last 15% or so did start to feel a bit boring, and the last chapter was a throwaway to me.

This book made me think of all the people I love and want to reach out to them. I think I’ll be recommending this to a lot of people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

rockyroadbutch's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder

khaben31's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Drug use and Pandemic/Epidemic

estellegodard's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

really well documented and organized book on the authors trauma and the way she has attempted to overcome it. I particularly enjoyed the portions of the book when she links mental illness to genetics & physical health. the author is candid about her traumatic experiences and her shortcomings which made for a very impactful reading experience. I was particularly touched by chapter 42. 
I didn’t like the sections where she transcribes her conversation with her psychologist. in the audio book, portions of the audio are directly added to the book. I appreciate the idea of including the primary source material in this instance, but to me it made it harder to follow and took me out of the listening experience that the author had established. 
overall, I learned a lot through this book about complex ptsd and the way childhood trauma can leave lasting scars on the body. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness

aurora_is_reading's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This was such an emotional rollercoaster for me. At first I was a little unsure about the way the subject matter would be treated, but Stephanie Foo is amazing at showing her vulnerability and thought process. I throughly enjoyed the discussion about pathologising mental illness and its potential advantages/disadvantages. We need more of this conversation going on! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ewilsonn's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Growing up with parents who don't love you and who actively try to kill you makes for a very harrowing life, especially if you have trouble identifying the root of your issues. I grew up in a similar situation as Stephanie Foo, and all my life people have told me "oh your mom really does love you in her own way, she's your mom!" Thank you, Stephanie, for writing a book that doesn't sugarcoat reality: they don't fucking love you, because that's not what love is. A parent that loves you would not try to kill you.

This is probably the best memoir I've ever read, definitely because I related to it so much. I have come to many of the same conclusions as Foo throughout my life, but I ended up finding some new perspectives on issues that have plagued me since childhood. Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone, whether or not you have CPTSD, because it is so thorough and honest in its delivery. I think this book has something for anyone who has suffered from mental illness, and for those that haven't, it's a great insight into the complex emotions that come from trauma and a mental health diagnosis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Abandonment

snakem's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

I don't rate memoirs because I feel it's wrong to rate someone's life story. But I will say that this is a wonderful, tragic, and relatable look into a person's story of childhood trauma, navigating the consequences, and learning about oneself. An important read for anyone with mental illnesses.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

amberleenaa_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Mental illness

entropyseeker's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

I've read a number of memoirs this past year. Memoirs and reflection pieces on depression, bi-polar disorder, domestic abuse, and being Asian in America. But What My Bones Know has hit the hardest. Even though I say that about every Asian authored memoir, this one feels more so. After my own diagnosis with cptsd a few months ago, I never really looked too much in to it, but Stephanie's story made me realize that there's still so much work to do and more to learn. Great book, read in one sitting, would read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail