Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

26 reviews

kriskelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

this book reminded me of why i love memoirs so much :’)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death

danimcthomas's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abandonment, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Incarceration

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Cancer, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Stalking, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

kenzieburns's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

A lilting, hauntingly beautiful memoir that will have you itching to call your mom, hug your dad, and schedule extra therapy sessions all at once. Ford takes us through her childhood and early adult years as she navigates a challenging relationship with her emotional mother and dreams of her father's love for her from behind bars. 

Memoir is probably my favorite genre of non-fiction, likey because of the focus placed on sharing experiences through anecdotal stories and shirt reflections on such. I loved the honesty that Ford brought to this book; she tells it as it is and was, without shame and without remorse, but also offers careful reflections on everything. There were times in her story that I wanted to scream at her mother for treating young Ashley so poorly, but was always reeled back in with Ford's detailed notes on how she picked out her mother's love even in the dark moments. The part of Ford's story that most resonates with me is her flight from her childhood home, and the duality of how leaving affects her. I deeply relate to the split feeling of not doing enough by your family/loved ones, but also knowing that to fully grow into yourself, you need to leave them. It was honestly so validating to read about Ford's internal struggle and see how it reflected some of my own feelings, and I really commend her for so bravely putting her deepest secrets and "shortcomings" down in writing.

A truly beautiful and poignant study of familial relationships, sense of self, and how we all respond to the self-proclaimed "bad" inside of us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, Rape, Cancer, Mental illness, Misogyny, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Sexual assault

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cursing, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Stalking

nataliab's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

wasn’t a super cohesive narrative thread throughout, but i thought the chapters about the visit with her dad ++ when her grandma is dying in the hospital were standouts. 
“a whole world in a dying body”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment and Mental illness

livtomisser's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed listening to this book, I think reading it would have made it confusing because it is made up of a lot, a lot of stories. The writing was very poetic and at times pretty intense so if raw descriptions of abuse and rape are too much, maybe don’t read this one! The only thing that was not my favorite of this book was that it was supposed to be about the authors relationship with her dad, but he wasn’t really a reaffirming theme in the book and also I sometimes got confused about time periods because sometimes she switches back and forth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Cursing, and Rape

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

3.0

while ford speaks about very real matter sin her life with such transparency and intimacy-- memoirs are just not for me. that being said, she writes about the events and feelings that she has throughout her journey of becoming the person she is today in a way where you can really feel it with her. you feel her confusion regarding understanding the abuse and love she received from her mother, her longing to just be felt as a daughter by her father, and her endless search for love and an understanding of herself and the world. not gonna lie, there were parts where i just cried because i related to them heavily. for me, what would have made this book just a bit better was if she leaned more into those feelings, since those were often the strongest parts in the narrative. alternatively, it would have been interesting had she played with the writing style a bit more (there were certainly moments where she did, but i think just a littllleeee more experimental could have really nailed in the emotional aspect of it all). i also think that while the book title is about belonging, there were only few moments in which those themes really came to life for me. really, i give this book a 3.5/5 stars, it wasn't bad!! but memoir writing in this way has just never really done it for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual harassment

queerghstbuster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Rape, and Sexism

Minor: Bullying and Racism