Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis

69 reviews

trashcanmoose's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.5

This is a heavy, powerful and inspirational read. To me, Viola Davis puts a perspective on life, showing that no matter how terrible things are at some point in your life, there is a possibility for things to get better. You just have to want things to get better. She shows that if you work for and ask for the things you need and want in life, sometimes it works out, even if everything has gone to rock bottom.

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watson_my_shelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense
This is a very, very deep dive into Viola's story of growing up very poor. Viola overcame many obstacles to get where she is today. She had a dream to be an actress, and she fought so hard to make it come true. This was hard to read at times, but is so good.

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read/listened to. Viola Davis is an incredible person. Her strength and all the things she went through is unimaginable. This was a hard book to listen to at times, Viola does not shy away from taking you through memories of her childhood. Her dad’s abuse towards her mom, sibling abuse from her older brother, poverty so intense most of the time they didn’t have electricity, food or a working toilet. How she overcame so many obstacles and horrible things that happened to her growing up to then go on to graduate from Juilliard, then go on to act with Denzel Washington and then Meryl Streep until her big break out in How to Get Away with Murder is truly incredible. She is an amazing individual and a true inspiration.

This book is one that I know will stick with me. 

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coreyarch9's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

"Every January, we had our Martin Luther King celebration, a variety show [...] it was our rebellion. We were told it would ruin our instrument. Well, our soul was our instrument, too."

I love Annalise MF Keating, but I didn't know too much about Viola Davis. In Finding Me, Viola talks less about her career as an actress and more about the systemic poverty and racism and the coinciding internalized struggles that she had to overcome to be the woman we know today. And she doesn't hold anything back.

She talks a lot about what society deems beautiful, worthy, or correct. During her time at Juiliard, students were discouraged from hosting an MLK Day program or anything that might highlight their differences from their white counterparts. She talks about the typecast roles that she would be cast in or invited to audition for. She talks about what it was like to be called beautiful for the first time. She talks about therapy. 

In the end, she talks about finding herself, writing, "I am no longer ashamed of me."

I will never know firsthand what it's like to experience the abject poverty and racism that Viola grew up with. And that's why it's so important to read about. When she talked about being called beautiful for the first time, I started to wonder, when was the last time I told somebody they were pretty? When was the last time I told a woman of color that she was beautiful? When was the last time I supported a black-owned café instead of just picking up a latte at my local Tim Hortons? When did I last show kindness to a stranger?

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ajf1774's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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seullywillikers's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I've always admired Ms. Davis as an actor, and this memoir is the catalyst for falling in love with her as a person. Raw, honest, brutal, and beautiful, listening to Ms. Davis tell her story without flinching, pulling punches, or apology, has been an incredible experience. Her compassion and empathy are without compare, and her focus on seeing the humanity in all people is a testament to her strength and inner goddess.

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nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the most powerful biographies I’ve ever listened to.

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

QUOTE 
"It is a widely held belief that dark-skinned women just don't do it for a lot of Black men. It's a mentality rooted in both racism and misogyny, that you have no value as a woman if you do not turn them on, if you are not desirable to them. It's ingrained thinking, dictated by oppression." 

THINGS I ENJOYED
  • Viola Davis' narration in the audiobook: she is a powerhouse!
  • What a life story!
  • Great insights into the world of acting (theatre, cinema and tv), including the difficulties in “making it” and the prejudice within it
  • The way Viola’s dedication to her art is palpable is incredible and inspiring
  • It’s a very raw book and it definitely appeals to your emotions

THINGS I DIDN'T ENJOY
  • There are sections where the book jumps back and forward in time, without references, and it gets a bit confusing/hard to follow

RECOMMENDED TO
  • If you’re into memoirs, you’ll probably like this one!
  • Viola Davis fans and appreciators of the art of acting will probably like this one particularly (the second half especially)
  • This is a strong one and I found myself selecting almost every item from the TW list, so be aware of that going in!

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jdamae11's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

Really appreciated how Viola didn’t pull any punches in this. Very honest, raw, at times brutally so. Viola does not shy away from talking about the actual reality of growing up in poverty in the US, especially as a Black family living in poverty. As a low income first-Gen student I can’t describe how much her college experiences resonated, from having to work a billion jobs to be able to eat and make it through school to STILL experiencing impostor phenomenon decades later as an already accomplished actor. And she shares a lot about how much she knew how to mask that so that no one ever knew her reality. WHEW. So grateful for how much she kept it 100% real in regard to sharing that experience. I also appreciated how she kept it real around her experiences of colorism, featurism, and misogynoir especially in the entertainment industry. I’m not usually a fan of memoirs (no shade I just usually need escapist fiction), but this was so vulnerable and inspires a lot of reflection. This book basically told me to get my a$$ back in therapy stat LOL. Viola has been through A LOT & her willingness to tell the story is very appreciated. If you can listen to her narrate it, highly recommend!

This book is way heavier than initially expected, I think the reader can tell when they’re about to enter some intense territory but just a warning on depictions of physical and verbal abuse and sexual violence.

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laurenouellette's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5


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