Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile

5 reviews

theaceofpages's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

I'll admit. I'm not particularly familiar with the author. But it's queer and it fits a prompt for a reading challenging I'm doing so I thought, "why not?" since the blurb made it sound like this would cover some interesting topics.

Overall, I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would (memoirs about a random person (to me - I'm aware she's well known)) miss more often than they hit. I really enjoyed the parts about her personal life, especially her childhood and struggles and how she tried to overcome them and become stronger. I didn't care as much about her musical connections, but I'm also not particularly interested in the music world and I think those who are will enjoy these stories more than I did. There was more of this towards the end which meant I started enjoying the memoir less than I did at the start. I wish it had continued in that vein, but I guess it makes sense for a musician to focus on their musical career so I can't really complain about the shift that much. But overall, I don't regret reading this one! The author seems like an interesting person.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Religious bigotry

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Hate crime, Addiction, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Rape, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Deportation, Grief, Racism, Lesbophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, and Medical content

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide

danimcthomas's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

What a beautiful soul - and the audio book contains some incredible singing.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt

burdasnest's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

Definitely go the audiobook route for the musical extras and just to hear Brandi read in her own voice. I can’t say I agree with her entire personal philosophy, but she is undoubtedly someone who draws you in and makes you feel warm and welcome. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Misogyny, Classism, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug use

bashsbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Broken Horses is a candid and honest window in to Brandi Carlile's upbring, inspirations, opinions, and musical journey. It is intimate and personal and frank, and that makes it such an enjoyable book. It feels like a conversation.

I have to highly recommend audiobook, which contains exclusive covers and acoustic versions of some of Carlile's most popular songs at the end of every chapter. Also, at the end, there is a nearly two hour section of the music within back-to-back. This alone makes it superior to the other versions.

My gripes with this book ar very minor - it sometimes feels disjointed, especially at chapter breaks, but Carlile herself admits she isn't a writer. All in all, it's a decent memoir.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical content, Drug abuse, Drug use, Classism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Animal death, Lesbophobia, and Death

Minor: Racism, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia

-Graphic descriptions of a child with a life-threatening illness.