Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

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

65 reviews

frenchpants's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

katiemorris1210's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Pandemic/Epidemic

felishacb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

catandherbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

I know what a lot of people say about rating memoirs, that you can't define a person's life and story with stars and numbers but as I was reading this I felt something. Not The Dread but something like dread, a heaviness on my heart and an ache on my stomach. I just want to (make sure I) remember that. 

Thank you Stephanie for writing this book. I wish you nothing but the best life has to offer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

madisongturner's review against another edition

3.75

I think this is a great alternative to some popular books on how PTSD can affect our bodies. It feels incredibly personal, but I'm thankful for the author letting us into their life through such an intimate retelling. I related to a lot as someone with chronic illness and trauma, but specifically this really helped me understand those I love who have C-PTSD. 

Definitely make sure you read content warnings before reading! While I know this is realistic because it is a retelling of the author's experiences, it can be a bit shocking to listen-especially if you resonate with some of the experiences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

ryliereadss's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

As someone with PTSD, I was really curious going into this book. Foo does a very good job of explaining the difference between PTSD and complex PTSD. She was very vulnerable when talking about the abuse she suffered as a child and some not very flattering moments she experienced as an adult. I could definitely see someone reading this book and starting their own journey discovering and dealing with their complex PTSD. Her voice is so strong and self aware. I also liked that she recognized her privilege when trying to find treatment for her C-PTSD. Reading about her relationship with her parents was heartbreaking. The ending made me happy though. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you're curious about how trauma can affect our brains because she does a good job explaining that and she cites her sources.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

livreads4fun's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

huldasif's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I learned a lot from this book, even with my degree in psychology and my own past trauma and recovery. It was very well written and researched, but also heavy and emotionally draining. It's divided up into five parts and I found that I needed to take good breaks between those parts, and sometimes more often too, for my own well-being, so it took me a long time to finish. I cried with the author and I laughed with the author and I got really angry too. All of the emotions! However, I really appreciated this work and it's not just an extraordinarily well written memoir, it's also something you can use for reference, because she doesn't just say something and demand that you believe her, she cites research and gives all of these sources so you can then look it up yourself. I really appreciated the effort and good, hard work that went into this book. So well done!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

danajoy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

An incredible memoir. Very moving.

 "It's ok to have some things you never get over"

This is confronting, especially in the first third when Stefanie outlines the abuse she sustained as a child that led to her development of C-PTSD.
What I really appreciate about this memoir was how open she is about her journey, especially with therapy.
 
I would recommend this to people who have read or attempted I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy. Both are centred around sustained child abuse but What My Bones Know looks at science and ways to heal and grow. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

karmapen's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness