Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

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

65 reviews

gabhopesreads's review against another edition

5.0

This is the best memoir I've ever read. It's so well-written, phenomenal on audio and one of my favorites this year so far. I loved the narration, plus the included audios of her therapy sessions. I loved how she went into details about history, hers and forgotten history, erased history. I loved how it felt like I was put under a microscope and dissected, but in actuality she was explaining her C-PTSD. At the end, the message of hope mirrored my own that I was lucky enough to find years ago. I wish I'd read this sooner, when I'd been drowning in my diagnosis. But the thing with C-PTSD is it's always there, so this will be helpful to read at any point in my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

<strong>Blew me away</strong>

This was a very painful book to read in that there were some parallels to my life that I needed to re-examine.

A therapist once called my childhood traumatic, but I thought she was exaggerating. My family loved me, unlike the author’s parents. My family failed me often, but I thought that was normal. Now I know why the therapist said what she did - it was abnormal in this American life context, and it shouldn’t have been normal because that’s what immigrant life is about. While mine was extremely tame compared to what she went through, I recognize through her work where I need to be kinder to myself and my past. Wow. That’s what this book did for me. 

That she’s an Asian immigrant saying all this made a huge difference for me too. Often, it felt like every therapist only got a little bit of what I was trying to say because they were White. Then I tried to find someone of color and met a couple Black women who got me a little better. Then I found an immigrant, she was also closer, but none of them could understand my specific Asian immigrant background. This woman who wrote this book, whom I’ve never met, she gets it! What a relief it was to read.

Will be reaching for this book many times over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

elleynnreads's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

It took me a long time to read this, not bc the pace is slow. But how heavy the content is. I’ve cried, related to and laughed with her thoughts and remarks. I loved it. 

Life is tough but it is not made to be easy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

alayamorning's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Minor: Chronic illness, Genocide, and Infidelity

allthingsnerdy's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

This is one of those books that I think everyone should read, because even though it's about one person's experience with having complex PTSD, it's so much more than that. It really made me reflect on my relationships with my friends and family, how I treat people, and how I treat myself.  I definitely want to reread it because it was filled with so much information and thought, it seems like one of those books that you have to read multiple times to get everything out of it. It's definitely a tough read at times, but very worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

elisem04's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism and Suicide attempt

heatherilene's review

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

maxthefish's review

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

5.0

I cannot word my love for this book in a proper way. It made me cry and it was intense but I couldn’t stop reading. Even working 10 hour shifts and being in school at the same time I finished it in four days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

megano_oregano's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

keelyellenmarie's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and War

Author includes details of her own abuse that could be triggering, as well as details of her mental illness that are intense. However, the overall arc of the book is hopeful and focuses on the author’s growth and healing from intense trauma.