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nataliebootlah's review
5.0
The majority of Carrière’s life was incredibly hard to read. It certainly did not shy away from childhood neglect, self harm, addiction, paranoia, psychiatric malpractice, self indulgence, and so much more.
This wasn’t a read most people I know would enjoy. I’m still digesting it. One of my book club friends said that writing this memoir seemed therapeutic for Carrière, but traumatic for readers. That I agree with. Definitely check the trigger warnings before reading.
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Pedophilia
emm_glynn's review
4.75
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Dementia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship
kbweis's review
Moderate: Incest, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
thespinystacks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Self harm, and Child abuse
Minor: Vomit
ftwftw's review
5.0
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Addiction and Child abuse
edelia's review
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Self harm, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Child abuse
gillianredstone's review
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, Incest, Suicide, Addiction, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
literary_bug's review
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Incest, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Injury/Injury detail
theocbookgirl's review
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Addiction, Self harm, Drug abuse, Incest, Grief, and Toxic relationship
notlikethebeer's review
5.0
Everything/Nothing/Someone is unyielding and unforgiving: not of it's characters, but of the reader. Carriere is brutally honest about her experiences, and this book is not going to be for everyone. There will be some for whom this hits too close to home. There are descriptions (sometimes 'graphic', whatever that might mean) of self-harm, abuse, 'body horror', and mental illness. It is a really, really tough read, and there should be no judgement about feeling that this is not for you. Equally, I think there will be a group of people who should read this, for whatever reason, who will see Carriere's honesty as a reason to shy away. Particularly, the depictions of the American medical complex are devastating. I can't remember the exact wording, but one section refers to her increasing list of diagnoses - diagnoses which happen to have the same symptoms as the side effects of the medication she is on, yet result in further medications themselves. Carriere also explores and examines the devastation that medical professionals can have, even when their intentions might be as good as possible.
Something really striking about this book is that Carriere writes with so much love and respect. Her experiences, particularly with her parents, are often not positive, and that is clear. Yet throughout it all she writes in a way that is fair and avoids being overly inflammatory. She touches on her mother's "recovered" memories, and talks a little about the wider contexts of the time, but does not take away from the trauma her mother uncovered. Similarly, when Carriere goes to meet with her father, it is not just to talk, but also to listen.
Just as I find it difficult to write any account of the content of memoirs, I also find them difficult to critique. There were parts of the narrative that I wish had been further explored. Although the beginning talks a lot about Carriere's use of self-harm, and alludes to this continuing, it features less heavily later on. A major event towards the end is precipitated by a crisis in her mental health, but it is never really explained whether this crisis eventually stabilises. Carriere's life was - in my reading - profoundly affected by the decisions of prescribers and therapists, and I wonder how she feels about these now. I personally would have liked to know more about all of these - but it's also not my memoir. It's not me baring my soul to the world. And that's something I think we need to remember more, when critiquing or discussing memoir or other such personal writings, that we are not entitled to the full story, just because someone chooses to share part of it.
Everything/Nothing/Someone does not have a pretty ending, by which I mean that it doesn't tie everything up with a bow. This is real life. I think this might be one of the greatest books I have ever read.
Thank you, Alice.
(With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review).
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Mental illness, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt