Nightmare in Fantasyland by Emily Bellemonte

Rating:

4 Stars

Themes:

Non-Fiction, Memoir

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I appreciate that no book is for everyone but I think this is a book that everyone should read. Emily is brutally honest with her experiences through experiencing a narcissistic relationship itself and the continued manipulation while trying to leave in a way that will likely help others who are questioning things themselves to identify with and hopefully save someone else from giving years of their life to a facade like she did. She also tackles both cyberstalking and cyberbullying and the toxic nature of some fandoms through her own experience with a fandom turning on her so that we can see the human and real life impact of the actions some take online. In a way she puts a surviving human face to cyberbullying in a way that many others don’t get that shows the potential life long damage behaviours like this have. I was rooting for Emily throughout and am so glad she has gotten free and found a way to live her life despite everything she was put through and hope this book can provide the same to others.

Favourite Quote:

“When the fantasy finally shattered, I was left alone in the ruins surrounded by the broken pieces of what once was. There was no knight in shining armor coming to save me, no gallant figure charging in on a white horse with banners flying and my name on his lips. The fairy tales had lied; no rescue party was on its way. If I was to be saved, I would have to be my own savior”

Comments

The War of Sober by Edward Rand

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Addiction, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book not just for addicts trying to establish and maintain their sobriety but also psychologists, counsellors and the people working with them. It approaches the experience of addiction from the perspective of going to war and may help those who can’t get along with the 12 steps, contingency management or other forms of therapy traditionally used. It’s also helpful to have Edward detail his own experiences and approaches throughout so it feels less clinical and shows he does know what he’s talking about when he mentions the difficulties so it comes across less patronising than some self-help addiction books. Favourite Quote: "It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Win or lose, if we are still alive, we must decide to be different today and then make the correct choices today, because friends, ...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

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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