Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

25 reviews

jdanby's review against another edition

funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Celebrity memoirs aren’t usually my thing, but Greenlights drew me in because 1) it wasn’t ghost written, and 2) I’ve watched an interview between him and Ryan Holiday and it seemed like he was down to Earth and had a good sense of who he was.

The book is an interesting book that’s part memoir and part self-reflections - which makes sense because he’s journaled since 15. Some would say this borders into the self-help space, but I really see his prescriptions as him formulating and announcing his own personal world view.

I listened to it in its audiobook form and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in reading it. McConaughey is masterful story teller and it’s a wonderful performance.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual content

melist6's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

peacefrog's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

I don’t like to rate biographies as they are someone’s life story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From the beginning to the end. Oddly enough I have never been a fan of Matthew McConaughey, yet I was captured by his story telling! 

Part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much was that it wasn’t a brag fest of who’s who. It was modest, fact based, and fun. I could envision Matthew travelling across the states with his dog, the European road trip, and the Vegas trip. I loved how he laughed at himself at all the funny parts.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

kelsie_reads_books's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

1.0

I was able to be on board with the book up until he described pursuing his now-wife. I was so disgusted by his smug and arrogant retelling of the way he aggressively ignored her boundaries, her “no”s,  and her requests to go home throughout their first 24 hours together that the rest of the book felt deeply gross. He literally tricks her into coming home with him, forces her to stay the night, tries to get into her room multiple times throughout the night, congratulates himself on still kissing her despite her attempts to avoid it, and brags about it all in his book. 

They’ve been married for 15+ years, so clearly it worked out for them, but his pride in how outright predatory and inappropriate his behavior was only serves to normalize some of the worst types of male entitlement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Drug use

reads2cope's review against another edition

1.0

Wow I regret reading this. Read as an audiobook on a roadtrip at the request of the driver, but still. By the end, both of us agreed that if he'd dedicated the book to Jordan Peterson at the beginning rather than thanking him in the acknowledgements at the end, we could have saved our ears from a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

elizlizabeth's review against another edition

challenging funny medium-paced

2.0

It was entertaining and made me laugh a lot, except not because of the book but at it. The disconnect between what he's advising and the stories he tells is so big that it has to be a joke. He's a good actor so I won't dispute that but the whole thing is a libertarian manifesto told by someone who I would very much never like to meet in person. The writing is decent but mostly mumbo jumbo I didn't care for.
Also RIP to earphone users because this man will do whatever to that mic to get a dramatic effect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Misogyny, and Confinement

mebclowd09's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

this is the type of memoir i thoroughly enjoy: very informative. i knew matthew was cool, but i didn't realize how cool lol. he did a lot of stuff i wish i was more laid back to experience.
also was a GREAT choice for him to narrate it.

really sad his dad didn't live to see his many successes. he died before dazed & confused was released.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent

cayleybp's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use and Death of parent

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Rating: 5/5 stars

Thanks to my friend Hannah for buddy reading this one with me! It was a wild ride and definitely a phenomenal memoir, which Matthew performed SO WELL on audio. There is so much that I never knew about this man and his life/childhood, and even though I think I probably disagree with a lot of his political and other opinions, I REALLY enjoyed hearing his perspective. I honestly could have listened to this all day.

Highly recommend if you want a super entertaining memoir with a sprinkling of life advice. 

CW: Abuse (physical, sexual, abuse of children); drug use; death of parent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use

anna_maria_wirth's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Cursing