Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

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

274 reviews

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

flowchelle's review

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

4.5

Didn’t know how much I would personally grow from listening to this book! Stephanie’s vulnerability really makes this more than a story and more like a podcast by including all she has learned through her journey! I related a lot to the portions that pertain to generational trauma and having ancestors who had to really fight to be where they ended up and learning that those are inherited made a lot of sense. An incredible difference between the description of her childhood and the last sessions with her therapist! I enjoyed hearing those ‘live’ and how they worked through her trauma. The book never slowed down and was never boring to me. I liked how the flow worked and was happy that it ended on a positive note of hope!

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Content Warnings

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

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

sarahelizabeth856's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

mavsllorin's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Heavy read at first, but as the memoir progresses, I feel hope. This book taught me that healing is not linear but the journey is worth it. I would never have picked up this book if not for my book club, but I'm grateful I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

kate_wreads's review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, and Abandonment

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

jourdanicus's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

I had to talk to my therapist about this one... In a good way? 😂

I never know how to review memoirs. And this wasn't totally a memoir... It's like, part memoir, part non-fiction about C-PTSD more generally.

I really appreciated the work and research Stephanie Foo did to connect her personal trauma with cultural and generational trauma, not only within her Malaysian Chinese family but Asian Americans in general. I also have a tendency to draw connections between my personal experiences and broader cultural patterns, so that resonated with me.

I would definitely recommend this book to trauma survivors, but only if you've done enough healing to be able to handle the triggers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness and Grief

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Toxic relationship

alexisofgreenbedsheets's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

this book is perfect. it jump started me back into reading. hearing the author narrate this book was haunting and beautiful. it's an exceptionally written memoir that also engages with a mostly unknown and devastating disorder. it's a vulnerable and stunning text that I think more people should read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent and Classism

hollydyer328's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Wow, what an inspiring story! This covers not only the childhood trauma Stephanie Foo experienced, but her journey to understand her Complex-PTSD and find healing through research, reckoning, and of course therapy. A surprisingly small portion of the book covers the actual trauma but really focuses on her healing process and re-framing her thoughts, as well as understanding the communal, societal and systemic forces that influenced the inter-generational trauma in her immigrant family. I loved that she embedded recordings from her therapy sessions into the audiobook; it allows for observation and analysis in a unique way, and it made me feel like I was in therapy with her.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts