Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

4 reviews

dreareads_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

There is so much about this book to love. I love the way Sabrina is so open and honest about their life, identity, and existence. Each essay provides us with a glimpse to their story, a story that is intertwined with a love for sea creatures and science that only Sabrina can blend together. By portraying their life through sea creatures, Sabrina opened the door for strangers to walk in and see a world that is both familiar and strange. Of all the essays I must say that my favorites were definitely "If You Flush A Goldfish" and "We Swarm". Two essays that felt both deeply personal and universal at the same time.

The only reason I do not give this book 5 stars is because there were a couple of essays where the chosen sea creatures and scientific discussions did not easily blend with the story that Sabrina was presenting at the time. 

Regardless, I cannot help but love a book where I learn a lot and feel even more. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Sexual content, Blood, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Racism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

ambert's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

 I'll be honest, when I first saw this book as one of the nominees for Goodread's book of the year I thought that it was a book that would follow sea creatures as they interact in the ocean. Almost like a food chain, going deeper into the sea as time goes on.
I have never been happier to be wrong about a book's topic.
This is an incredibly poignant memoir for those who don't quite know who they are, but know they are getting there. Each essay is an examination of an amazing sea creature and their unique social or morphological attributes, intertwined with experiences from the author's life. 
My favorite of the essays has to be 'My Mother and the Starving Octopus', where Imbler connects an extraordinary Mother Octopus who stands vigil over her eggs for an astonishing 53 months, and how her mother's body image affects how Imbler sees herself. VERY relatable. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Body shaming, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, War, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, and Animal death

Minor: Bullying, Alcohol, and Drug use

One of the chapters (octopus) deals with body image, both theirs and their mother's. It also covers eating disorders, wanting an eating disorder to become skinny, fatshaming themselves, etc. Another chapter (sandstriker) deals with sexual assault, alcoholism, and has the most sexual content out of any other chapter. Many chapters talk about the unfortunate fact of marine biology research being: The best way to learn about an animal is to take a carcass of one for a specimen. This results in many researchers having to kill the animal they are studying so that they can dissect it or preserve it for later studying. Another chapter (sturgeon) details the jopurney her grandmother took to escape japanese-controlled China in the 1940s, and the realities of war. Later chapters deal with their transition and how they still struggle with body dysmorphia, and many chapters speak about the racism they face today.

jessereadsthings's review against another edition

emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Fatphobia

robinks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I did not want this book to end. For a nonfiction book, it read so easily. Imbler seamlessly weaves stories from their own life with how fascinating sea creatures live, the parallels so clear and beautifully constructed. The first chapter If You Flush a Goldfish drew me in immediately, and I was especially hooked after the chapter Hybrid, as a mixed-race person. Imbler captures nuance, complexity, and what is yet unknown so well, and I will continue to recommend this book to everyone.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Animal death, Misogyny, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Rape, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Sexual content, Death, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Vomit, and Religious bigotry