Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

40 reviews

julieyael's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This is a very deep and profound view of what addiction is, and life as an addict, as well as the everyday struggle against this addiction. 
It’s well written in a quite light and funny style, which makes it more bearable for the reader but also doesn’t diminish the hardships the author went through. 
Be prepared for a tough read, but a good one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Cursing, Excrement, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Death

jennameyers's review against another edition

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

4.0

I really enjoyed listening to this book! Matthew Perry narrated it and I always love hearing memoirs from the authors voice. Overall, I thought this book shed so much light on the troubles of addiction and how growth is not always linear. My only reason for giving it 4 stars and not 5 was that some parts felt a little redundant and some of the timelines would get confusing (but that’s more something a good editor could have fixed). 
Overall, this was a great read and I loved to hear the stories of his life!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

pambo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Chronic illness

juliawyatt2000's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, and Mental illness

ericanoll11's review against another edition

emotional funny sad fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, and Vomit

kck7866's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A must read for anyone who loves an addict and /or is one themselves. I devoured this book. It is heartbreaking and beautiful and funny and deeply unsettling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, and Alcoholism

karismith3's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This is a behind-the-scenes look into the life of Matthew Perry. It’s a sad tale of the plight of someone with an addictive personality. I listened to the audiobook and he reads it which made it feel even more real. For any Friends fans or people who loved him, this is a good read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Drug use, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Addiction

kristyhill's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

esoreilla's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Drug use, and Alcoholism

billievee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

 As you can imagine, this is a bit heartbreaking to get through now. So much of this book feels like grim foreshadowing for what was to come.

Chandler was always my favorite Friends character, but it's a little harder to like Matthew in this. I've heard him called the real-life Bojack Horseman and it's easy to see why: they're both former TV stars with crippling addictions who can't help but constantly get in their own way. His childhood trauma and ongoing struggles with drugs and alcohol are sad to read about, but I mostly felt for all the people who ended up as collateral damage in his life. At least he openly acknowledges his mistakes. If nothing else, I see this as a cautionary tale for how terribly out of control opiate and alcohol addictions can become, demons that all the money in the world may not be able to save you from.

RIP Matthew. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, and Chronic illness