Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

5 reviews

librarymouse's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

The pacing of this book made it engaging despite the gravity of the information being discussed. Farrow is straightforward with his explanation of his own history with the issue of sexual assault, growing up in the shadow of what Woody Allen, their father, did to his sister Dylan, and the media shit storm that ensued. Intwining his own story, growing as a person and apologizing to his sister for the role he played in the covering up of her own trauma, kept this story grounded and away from the sensationalized scandalous text it could have become. In 2024, it is especially interesting and upsetting to see the intentional disruption of American news news to destroy information and skew political outcomes as done by Israel's government-backed Black Cube.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Sexism, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Stalking, Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

sonjaswanson's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

I am not a fan of non-fiction, and I loved this book. Didn’t feel like a non-fiction book at all. It was a wild ride that left my jaw on the floor.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Vomit, and Pedophilia

plethora's review against another edition

challenging informative tense medium-paced

3.0

It is clear throughout this book that Ronan Farrow respects and has great admiration for survivors, and the profession of journalism alike. I credit him for his work bringing these stories to light, and for his perseverance through the events described in this book. It is a monstrous feat in itself to unravel the web of conspiracy spun between these institutions in the first place, let alone to then make it make sense for the reader. A world that allows this

sexual commodification of its female workforce

after all, is hard to make sense of. 

There are innumerable players involved in these events, and I found it difficult to keep track of everyone's roles. I'm sure this is at least in part by design, if not by the author than by the institutions themselves. I would have benefitted from an organizational chart in many cases. The fragmented telling of this story, while more digestible in its format (and perhaps an indication of the varied articles, segments, and posts that started it all), felt like a choice rather than a necessity. There were times I wished these pieces were brought together differently for a more cohesive work. In terms of the structure, there were times timeline was favoured over subject matter, though this was inconsistent. It was a story in 59 parts. Sorry, 5 parts, 59 chapters, and subdivided further from there. Digestible, mentally helpful, a bit unearned. 

All in all, this is an important read. Farrow wasn't afraid to drive the point home in many passages in a way that felt like some small justice in itself during such reeling events. The spark of resistance brought some comfort. He called it like it was in a way that is reminiscent of Chanel Miller. Calling a spade a spade, calling people on their bullshit, staring the message between the lines in the eyes, and yelling it back at them. Engraving it on the record. 

It feels good knowing there's someone like Ronan Farrow helping to bear the weight of this crushing patriarchy for us all. 

Shoutout

McHugh. Best dad ever.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Misogyny, Sexism, Bullying, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol and Grief

izpiz64's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Misogyny

Moderate: Mental illness and Grief

kendallreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness