Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

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

64 reviews

jenmaysiereads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

crybabybea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Amazing. I'm learning this year that I really enjoy nonfiction written by journalists, and Stephanie Foo is no exception. Her writing is accessible and engaging, seamlessly blending personal anecdotes, interviews, facts, and studies to support her main thesis. Foo's intelligence and self-reflection shine through her writing. Her clever humor and insightful conclusions were inspiring. The book feels like a journey alongside her, offering lessons in healing from trauma. 

This is a must-read if you struggle with C-PTSD, or even if you just struggle with trauma or a different mental illness that affects your daily life. Even if you're familiar with C-PTSD, there's much to learn. The book's sad, hard-to-get-through moments are balanced with heartening and meditative insights, showing that healing is non-linear but ultimately intensely rewarding. 

Foo's perspective as an Asian-American adds depth to her memoir, offering compassion for her family's experiences and the broader Asian-American community. She explores her family's past, connecting her trauma with collective experiences, and acknowledges the complexities beyond stereotypes. 

I especially liked the penultimate part, which focused on her sessions with Dr. Jacob Ham. She unlocked a lot of self-discovery by having an open, loving, accepting relationship with her therapist. It was so heartfelt and inspiring to see that relationship blossom and ultimately help Stephanie recover and learn to accept love and kindness rather than self-flagellating and sinking into shame spirals. He emphasized the importance of reconnection and repair and revealed to Stephanie (and to me as a reader) that regulating your emotions and triggers is just the first step in a super complicated dance involving complex relationships and the damage and repair that happens in human connection.

The final couple of pages had me a complete sobbing mess. I really appreciated Stephanie's choice to end the book with a self-reflection about accepting her C-PTSD for what it is; not something that makes her broken and unlovable, but something that makes her who she is.

I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by the author so it feels intimate and personal. She also included the original audio recordings of her sessions with Dr. Ham, which was a really neat addition that made the audio experience feel more transformative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

There is no actual car accident but there is an incident of abuse in which the author experiences her father driving maniacally and threatening to kill everyone in the car.

sabrinatayag's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

whatsmacksaid's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Holy shit, this was incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Eating disorder and Self harm

codemasterpi's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dreamer626's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

nat_e_13's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Life changing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

hades_hotline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

this book broke me apart and pieced me back together. it is so raw and so full of anguish and yet at the same time it’s hopeful in the most beautiful way.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm and War

emilykabbott's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

frog4earth's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad

*I do not rate memoirs!* I am someone with diagnosed C-PTSD, and in the years since my diagnosis, I have never felt more heard than I did reading Stephanie Foo’s memoir. Not only did I feel heard and understood, but I finally felt like someone was ACTUALLY giving me the first steps to healing. I’ve already tired of the same old words and the same old methods — “you should meditate” “you should try yoga” “you should try A, B and C.” And while I know these methods work well for a lot of people — most notably those with non-complex PTSD — they don’t, and have never, worked for me. This revelation felt damning at first — like I would be forever cursed to living a life of all the things that come with this diagnosis. But this memoir has changed so much for me, and to Stephanie Foo, I am grateful. Thank you for sharing your journey, and for being a pioneer in opening the realities around C-PTSD & how to truly live with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Violence

Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault