Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

14 reviews

jem_carstairs's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Awful as it is that it took until 2022 for a book like this to exist, I’m so glad it does now. Fern Brady writes such an accurate representation of autism in women, a phenomenon that has been ignored for such a long time, using both personal stories AND data. 

More people need to read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Ableism, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Bullying, Biphobia, and Drug use

lennie_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Ableism

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Biphobia, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, and Excrement

readingpicnic's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective

5.0

Very real and unfiltered account of being a late diagnosed autistic woman, with lots of humor throughout. Fern also points out lots of common autistic traits throughout to the reader, to which I realized that so many things I do are shared experiences in the autistic community that I thought were just applicable to me…very validating to read though. The commentary on autistic women becoming strippers and/or sex workers was so interesting and something I’ve never heard before, but it makes sense with how she laid it out coupled with her own experiences. I loved the audiobook narration.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Ableism, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

lbelow's review against another edition

5.0

Powerful and powerfully relatable memoir. Prior to reading, I was pretty sure I'm not autistic, but so many experiences in this book make me wonder. Maybe that was why I glommed onto this book so hard. Then again, it could just be the engaging and open way Fern Brady writes. This book discusses some heavy topics but, maybe because of the light, casual tone, it didn't feel like a dark book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Body shaming, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Gaslighting, Violence, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Alcohol, Self harm, Ableism, and Child abuse

mads_jpg's review

challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Really interesting memoir about life as an autistic woman, I'm a big fan of Fern Brady's comedy and knew about her diagnosis, but was surprised to see this was the main focus of the book. Really well written and very funny, tempted to listen to the audiobook too since I spent most of this book trying to read it in her voice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Classism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Sexual content, Addiction, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, and Misogyny

smillas_tales's review against another edition

dark funny reflective fast-paced

As an afab autistic person diagnosed in their twenties, this was an incredible book! I don’t share many traits with Brady, but I still related to some of her views of the world, and it was so reaffirming.

My only issue with this novel is Brady’s fatphobia. I’m sure no ill harm is meant, but the frequent comments regarding size and looks, and how these are used to emphasize the negative character of individual stood out to me and took away from my reading experience.

I’ll have a full review up at some point, when I get the time and energy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Ableism

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Biphobia, Abandonment, Infidelity, Police brutality, Misogyny, Classism, and Suicidal thoughts

bb8isbbgr8t's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Gaslighting, Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Ableism

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Suicide, Gore, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Biphobia, Homophobia, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

lovemusicreplay's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

Note: I listened to the audiobook and not the book itself, which in my opinion really brought out the tone of the book. I would recommend that if you can, that you listen to it as an audiobook. Whilst I don't know how the tone reads on paper, I think I got way more out of the audiobook than I wouldn't have had in a book.

I listened this after I heard Paris Hilton's memoir that she released recently, and I can't recommend these 2 books enough as an understanding of growing up neurodivergent without being diagnosed. Both Fern and Paris experienced being mistreated an misunderstood by institutions such as schools and wellness facilities at a time where awareness of how both autism and ADHD for women in particular was not there that much.

Now, before I start talking about both books for too long and the review becomes irrelevant - Fern's audiobook was incredibly informative with a first hand experience of being autistic and what the impact of late autism diagnosis can have on the person and their family and friends. It flips a lot of the stereotypes of what autistic people should look and act like in my head, and challenged my assumptions. It also challenged me when it came to Fern navigating life as a young person and adult. Usually, I would react to some of the stories with disgust, questioning why someone would make that choice. I still feel nuanced about it, but when Fern explains why she went down a certain path in combination with the lack of support she had, I understand it better. 

Her story is wild, it'll rock your world at times, but it's worth a read, and offers me as someone neurotypical the opportunity to see how people with autism may see the world. I feel like I understand friends who are autistic somewhat better as a result, and she is a true boss. Thanks Fern 😊 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Biphobia, and Alcohol

More explanation on the sexual content warning:

includes brief mention of sex scenes, and Fern's experience working as a stripper during university

buttermellow's review

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Ableism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Bullying, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Biphobia