Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis

51 reviews

heatherv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Incest, and Pregnancy

a_alves00's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Racism, Alcohol, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, Cancer, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infertility

ericah31's review against another edition

inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Child abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Bullying, Death of parent, Violence, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Abortion and Fire/Fire injury

briennebrienne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Abortion, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

ficklefoxreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Very sad but ultimately uplifting and beautiful portrait of Viola Davis’ life

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Abortion, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual assault, Rape, Medical content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Addiction

trashcanmoose's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Animal death, Terminal illness, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Vomit, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Excrement, Bullying, Cancer, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment

chitch21's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Racism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Addiction

coreyarch9's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Cancer, Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Rape, Abortion, and Sexism

Minor: Slavery, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Kidnapping

ladieswholunch's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury