Baby Darlin' by Alycia Vreeland

Rating:

4 Stars

Themes:

Non-Fiction, Illustrated Memoir, Alcoholism, Addiction

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book isn’t always the easiest read but I’m glad I read it nonetheless. Alycia doesn’t have the easiest of upringings and doesn’t shy away from sharing them. Baby Darlin’ is a strong individual despite everything life throws at her, even in her adult years. It was sad but from a professional standpoint good to see how the toxic cycles can be continued despite the best efforts of an individual to break it and just how easy it is to fall for a toxic person and lose yourself.

Favourite Quote:

"This is not my bundle to carry. I refuse to hold on to this any longer. Telling my story over and over dissolves the power bit by bit. I heal the shame that binds me to my false self."

Comments

The War of Sober by Edward Rand

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Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

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