Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

53 reviews

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, Rape, Cancer, Mental illness, Misogyny, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Sexual assault

silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

 

“We don’t give up on our people. We don’t stop loving them.” She looked into my face, her eyes watering at the bottoms. “Not even when we’re burning alive.”

There is something about memoirs that are written so beautifully they almost read like magical realism that just does it for me. Ashley C. Ford's voice is one of the most lyrical and emotional I have come across this year - I couldn't stop reading it.

This book is so incredibly crafted, you can feel all the love and hard work Ashley has poured into it. I especially loved following this up with Ford's interview with Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, which touched on so many aspects of the book that I was curious about while reading; it cemented this book as a real masterpiece in my mind.

Considering how short this book is, I do not want to go into a summary of the novel, but I will mention what my favourite aspect - besides the prose - was. This is, of course, a trend for me at this point, but exploring different family dynamics and familial love was the highlight of this book. It's something that never fails to grasp my attention, but the way Ford approached it made me feel like I was experiencing everything she described for myself, particularly when it came to her relationship with her mother and grandmother.

The reason that I cannot give this book the full 5 stars is that I found the beginning to be difficult to get into and I almost put the book down. I am so glad I powered through it, but it was a little bit of a challenge. I also this that certain very important events in Ford's life were glossed over due to the conciseness of this book. I think it would have been very impactful to explore these (no spoilers!) in more detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Minor: Infidelity, Fatphobia, Drug use, Body shaming, and Alcoholism

stephmcoakley's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cursing, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Stalking

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Ford's descriptions are cinematic; rarely before have I been so enthralled by the way a writer describes people and emotions. Truly, this memoir is a thoughful and complex picture of Ford's youth and family, and hearing her read it herself made it all the more personal. I felt as though I stepped into some of these scenes and lived beside her. 

I also greatly enjoyed the interview at the end between Ford and Clint Smith; it is always enlightening to hear great writers discuss their craft. (I may listen to that portion again after reading Smith's book, since he discusses his own word in-depth, too.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, and Stalking

Incarceration also comes up a lot, since the author's father is in prison for most of the book.

discarded_dust_jacket's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

Wow. Just… wow. It feels weird to “review” someone’s account of their life. This is a deeply gut-wrenching and emotional read, but it’s also full of hope and tenderness and reconciliation. 

Ford’s experiences speak powerfully about being a young woman, growing into a body you’re made to feel is wrong or dirty simply for how others react to it; about the disassociation from and turbulent relationship with that body after sexual assault; about desperately seeking the love and approval of an absent parent; and about so many other things—family, forgiveness, identity. This is such a compelling story in so many ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

dr_aimz's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Child death and Panic attacks/disorders

marigold_faye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Child death

Minor: Terminal illness, Death, Cancer, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Grief

rachelmarie220's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Pedophilia, Death, and Blood

hailhail's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer

nicoleherz's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Hits equally hard for those with strained mother-daughter or father-daughter relationships. Definitely had a good cry about ⅔ in.
Beautiful writing, reminded me of the glass castle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, and Cancer