Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby

24 reviews

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

I finally picked up the autobiography of two-spirit lesbian Ojibwa-Cree elder, Ma-Nee Chacaby, who has lived an extraordinary life, overcoming countless traumas to live as her true self once she hit her 40s. In her 60s, Chacaby, together with Mary Louisa Plummer, took on the monumental task of putting not only her life, but the lives of her parents and grandparents, to paper. To say she’s not had an easy life would be a gross understatement. Chacaby has endured alcoholism, child abuse, racism, rape, child death, domestic abuse, deteriorating vision, homophobia and more, but she’s come out the other side of it determined to find the joy in life. Her mindset is admirable. 

Even through audio, I found myself struggling a bit with the style though. It’s very direct, no fanfare, and more a laying down of events in chronological order than a true reflection of everything. But it would be a very long book if that were the case, and I think the authors were more concerned with squeezing in every remarkable aspect of Chacaby’s 60 years. 

In the afterword, Mary Louisa Plummer draws comparisons to other told-to autobiographies of Indigenous women, pointing out that these lacked ‘emotional depth’, recounting only the facts and not engaging with any of their feelings around the events. She says that a Two Spirit Journey has tried to offer more emotional depth, and while it’s true that Chacaby does not hold back from baring the most traumatic times of her life, I personally did not find much introspection within the book. The emotions displayed felt a bit surface level. The memoirs I usually read (though I am aware of the difference between autobiographies and memoirs) dwell for pages on a singular event, a memory, the author plumbing their emotional depths. It’s just a difference in approach, and one of the reasons I’m not going to rate this otherwise remarkable book. A valuable read for the perspective Chacaby offers as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian elder!

Oh, and if you listen to the audiobook like I did, I’d recommend 1.8 or even 2 x speed - the narrator is decent but talks extremely slowly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Rape, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Violence, Child death, and Sexual violence

addiesbookshelf_'s review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Colonisation

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Rape, Child death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Genocide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Suicide

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

valancysnaith's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

woolfinbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Incest, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Colonisation, Bullying, Mental illness, Homophobia, Grief, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

trigger warning for residential schools

erictb's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Addiction, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Homophobia

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Racism, Medical trauma, Medical content, Addiction, Child abuse, Ableism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Grief, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Child death, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Drug use

bookishcori's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

This isn’t what I went in expecting, but I’m thankful to ma-nee for telling her journey. The audio narration was perfect - it felt like sitting around a campfire with an elder. 

I was also fascinated by the afterward and the writing process.

This book comes with so many content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Racism, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Addiction, Child death, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism

a8bhatia's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Racism, and Alcoholism