Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

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

241 reviews

salemrose's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Probably the best book I've ever read about trauma and healing (and I have read a lot of them lol). I don't relate to a lot of the trauma that Foo experienced but the way it affects her and the way she dealt with it and tried to cope were so deeply relatable and personal to me. I saw myself reflected in so much of what she said and I genuinely learned a lot about myself in the process of reading this. It is a testament to her skill as a writer and storyteller that I could take so much away from a retelling of experiences so different from my own. If you've experienced complex trauma in your life there is definitely healing to be found in this book. However, the warning at the beginning of the book is no joke — her descriptions of her abuse were extremely viceral and often not easy to read. But knowing what she went through makes seeing where she ends up so inspiring and hopeful. This is a deeply important and foundational addition to the literature currently available on C-PTSD. It's personal, moving, and emotional, but also incredibly well researched and informative. Highly, highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

andalucia's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

fspikener's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

rocio07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Child abuse

emilyjeanw7's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Child abuse

iloponis's review against another edition

5.0

i need to buy a physical copy of this book so that i can keep it with me at all times and write in the margins and highlight the passages and just love on it. this book saw me and ripped me open 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

cgreenstein's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.75

This was incredibly powerful and hopeful and honest. I listened to it as an audiobook, which meant I got to hear excerpts from the actual therapy session recordings in the final third of the book, and I thought that was something that really enhanced the book-- you could hear her old self and contrast that with the current self who is now writing about the old self. At any rate, this book is evidence that the author is incredibly strong and incredibly compassionate, and I can see why the buzz around this book was so fervent. It's deserved.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

sarahbeaman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

finishing this book felt like letting out a lifelong exhale. what a gorgeous, reflective and well-researched memoir about growing up and growing through complex ptsd, and about how love and family always find those who are brave enough to reach for them (despite despite despite).

i saw so much of myself in this book while also learning so much about the unique complexities of c-ptsd for people of colour or anyone from a marginalised group. one that will stay with me, i hope, for a long long time.

quotes that stuck out to me:

“Being healed isn't about fecling nothing. Being healed is about feeling the appropriate emotions at the appropriate times and still being able to come back to yourself.”

"Love is not a finite resource, something you have to mete out carefully like a package of Oreos. Instead, providing love begets more love, which begets more and more love.“

”I decide I'll get to washing up when I get to it. I'll get to everything when I get to it. The world will keep turning. The tacos are delicious, and I take my time eating them. And then I'm marveling: Oh, wow. Maybe this life I’ve got is going to be spectacular, after all.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Mental illness, Child abuse, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

rai's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

jazzybelle17's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Genocide