Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Brave Face: A Memoir by Shaun David Hutchinson

15 reviews

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

I like what this book is, but I don't think it's the book Hutchinson set out to write. In his end notes, Hutchinson shares his frustration that "it gets better" narratives so rarely detail how it gets better. He says he wanted to write a memoir that told that part of the story.

Instead, Brave Face is 97% the times leading up to Hutchinson's

suicide attempt</em>, 2% the immediate aftermath, and 1% a woefully rushed accounting of everything that happened between that event and Hutchinson's decision to write the memoir. That's not saying much about how it got better - the exact question Hutchinson claims he set out to address.

Still, the book's very good at being what it is: a heartbreaking portrait of the terrible toll of internalized and societal homophobia and mental health stigma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Medical content, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Vomit, Cancer, Bullying, and Excrement

Moderate: Toxic masculinity, Questionable consent, Slut shaming

c100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, and Sexual assault

nosmallthing's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Medical content, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, and Drug use

savgulick's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse

lunaticloverpoet's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad fast-paced

4.0

ouchie, too close to home.

made me think about my life in ways i was not expecting, put words to emotions that i couldn't quite place, and showed me what my life could've been like had i gone down a different path

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Medical content, Outing, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

gabs93's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

erco's review

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

5.0

Listening to this audiobook was something else. 
As somebody who in history cut myself and try multiple times to take my life and a huge reason for that was my sexuality and the people around me.  This book takes me back in my history a look in a different way.

 Is a fast audiobook but I can imagine some people will give this whole new perspective about mental health and it is not easy how it looks. I can relate to the author so much in this book. The not existing hope that you will never live a normal live or rather be in a shitty relationship, but hey unless you got a partner better than being single... 

It gets better and I know you can see it get better, but for many of us who grow up in not-so-welcome places, books like this give you hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood

clarekistler16's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Mental illness

davidbythebay's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I'm crying. This was incredibly moving. An unflinching and unapologetic memoir of growing up gay, facing depression, and coming of age, this is an amazing look at the author's life. It should be mandatory reading if only for the discussions of mental health, but also for those about sexual identity and orientation. Absolutely fabulous. This is the third SDH book I've read this year and I've loved them all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

faheylover's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

Literally the best book I've read so far this year. I 100% will be reading more from him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual harassment