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tradepaperback's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, and Dementia
becausebrenna's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Miriam fascinates me. I enjoyed her perspectives on growing up in Oxford, breaking in to acting, and anti-Zionism, but I was equally concerned? by her royalist views, ongoing lack of body positivity (or even body neutrality!) and offhand disregard for a number of encounters that could be construed as sexual assault.
The audiobook was enjoyable, as Miriam says she has a history of doing audio dramas and narration, so I was able to listen at 1.7 speed and still understand everything.
However book is quite long, and I think may have been improved with some editing. I do understand that the book covers over 80 years, but some of the tales of acting just turned into Mad Libs, swapping out the project and famous coworkers/friends, and lacked real depth or specifics.
The audiobook was enjoyable, as Miriam says she has a history of doing audio dramas and narration, so I was able to listen at 1.7 speed and still understand everything.
However book is quite long, and I think may have been improved with some editing. I do understand that the book covers over 80 years, but some of the tales of acting just turned into Mad Libs, swapping out the project and famous coworkers/friends, and lacked real depth or specifics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexual assault
Minor: Antisemitism and Death of parent
itsbumley's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Misogyny
imreadslondon's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Those who’ve seen Miriam on talk shows (or remember that amazing ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ interview and subsequent YouTube remix) will know exact what they’re getting with this memoir. Miriam spares no blushes with a really honest, endearing and hilarious account of her life and career, and pulls no punches when describing the actors, directors and others she has worked with over the years. She’s so emphatically positive and complimentary about some that you can’t help but trust her judgement about those she is less fond of too.
She hold nothing back, talking professional and personal life as well as politics and religion (although she hints that there were still some things that didn’t get past the lawyers).
CW: sexual assault
One thing I found a little difficult was Miriam’s tendency to brush off incidents of what we would today consider pretty serious sexual assault as no big deal, par for the course etc. She sometimes seems to forgive or absolve the men responsible without a lot of thought for how accepting (or quite often, rewarding) their behaviour (which is sometimes utterly horrific) can send a message that these things are acceptable, and pose difficulties for explaining why they aren’t.
She hold nothing back, talking professional and personal life as well as politics and religion (although she hints that there were still some things that didn’t get past the lawyers).
CW: sexual assault
One thing I found a little difficult was Miriam’s tendency to brush off incidents of what we would today consider pretty serious sexual assault as no big deal, par for the course etc. She sometimes seems to forgive or absolve the men responsible without a lot of thought for how accepting (or quite often, rewarding) their behaviour (which is sometimes utterly horrific) can send a message that these things are acceptable, and pose difficulties for explaining why they aren’t.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.5
I’ve always thought that Miriam comes across as quite a genuine and funny person with an interesting life that when I saw that she had a memoir, I wanted to read it.
To be completely honest, the thing I was most looking forward to reading about what her experience around the Harry Potter films. I found it quite interesting that she basically treated it like a job, and wasn’t (and isn’t) involved in the fanbase surrounding it - she’s never read the books nor watched the films!
Most of the jobs that she mentioned having, I’d never heard of, but most of them were before my time so not necessarily something I would’ve grown up with. However I still found it interesting to read her perspective on each of them - and the gossip which she does love to dish out!
A couple of things that I didn’t like about this book:
She does a lot of name dropping which did really get on my nerves after the first couple of names - I didn’t care much for those people that she mentioned and didn’t feel like she needed to mention them by name. Especially since she’s reveal a lot of personal information that I’m hoping she got permission from them or their family before publishing this book!
There’s a lot of talk about sex - in the first third of the book, she constantly mentions “sucking off” a load of different men that she came into contact with which got too repetitive that it irritated me. She even goes so far to mention and the end of the book that she loves talking about sex - which is why she spoke so much about it throughout the book.
She mentions having a transgender person as a very close friend, yet when she talked about them she constantly misgendered them and used their deadname - it felt as though she was being completely inconsiderate to how they wished to be seen by others.
Despite the negatives, I found this book to be a really interesting insight into Miriam’s life and I really did enjoy reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Cursing, and Adult/minor relationship
librarianlayla's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
3.5/4 stars.
As usual Miriam aims to shock and delight.
Whilst this book is filled with interesting and at times, outrageous, tales - it didn't quite hit the 5 star mark for me.
Miriam is a fascinating woman who has lived a truly remarkable life, she has touched so many (quite a few physically!) people with her quick wit and cheeky charm.
However early on in the book she deadnames someone who she says she considered a friend and unfortunately that left a sour note in my mouth. There is also an almost constant theme of sexual molestation by others to her that seems almost celebrated when in quite a few of the cases should be abhorrent. Especially in such incidents when she was a minor.
I do love her journey of authenticity - her passion for the truth. Whatever it may be. And it's something I can relate to immensely.
Overall a wonderful and insightful read, but not for the faint of heart.
As usual Miriam aims to shock and delight.
Whilst this book is filled with interesting and at times, outrageous, tales - it didn't quite hit the 5 star mark for me.
Miriam is a fascinating woman who has lived a truly remarkable life, she has touched so many (quite a few physically!) people with her quick wit and cheeky charm.
However early on in the book she deadnames someone who she says she considered a friend and unfortunately that left a sour note in my mouth. There is also an almost constant theme of sexual molestation by others to her that seems almost celebrated when in quite a few of the cases should be abhorrent. Especially in such incidents when she was a minor.
I do love her journey of authenticity - her passion for the truth. Whatever it may be. And it's something I can relate to immensely.
Overall a wonderful and insightful read, but not for the faint of heart.
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
viktoriawithakreadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, and Sexual assault
samantha_diluca_duckworth's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, its always interesting hearing stories from someone who has lived a long life and a large portion of that life being before my time. There were parts of this book I found hard to read but overall a great autobiography.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
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