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nansiie's review against another edition
4.0
Pro tip : don't read the whole book in one go you might start questioning your own relationship with your mother .
thank you xoxo
thank you xoxo
cecicastro's review against another edition
3.5
rated each essay individually on my physical copy of the book.
sani's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
“The closer the mother and the daughter are, they say, the more violent the daughter’s work to free herself.”
this healed something very specific in me. cries in mommy issues, knowing that it'll either get better or worse.
this healed something very specific in me. cries in mommy issues, knowing that it'll either get better or worse.
booksamongstfriends's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Phew! This book had me feeling a little bit all over the place. I empathized, I read, and I received. While not every story is one I can personally relate to, there is so much being said in many of these essays that I deeply understand. The stories ache with pain, longing, miscommunication, and hurt. And at the core, there's love. When I finally put the book down, I found myself reflecting on my own relationship with my mother—one that was and still is being strengthened over time. It's often filled with misunderstandings, forgiveness, and most importantly, opportunities for grace and growth.
I saw reviews mentioning that individual contributors have their own novels, which I might need to check out. Some people didn’t like the order in which the stories were presented, but I honestly didn’t mind. I didn’t go into this book expecting a happy or sad ending—I expected to get something real. And real is understanding that some people have the societal version of a mother and some don’t. That mothers have desires, that your mom had a love before your father, that a mother doesn’t always protect you, that she can’t always protect you. That mothers don’t always mother out loud. That mothers can be sick, that mothers can be a resource, that mothers can be your abuser. And that’s because mothers are people, and people can be all things.
If you choose to read this, I think it’s best to appreciate someone sharing their story. While some essays may seem more open than others, at least there’s an opening at all. All the stories are really different and unique in voice. Two that really stood out to me were "Fifteen" and "My Mother’s (Gate)keeper."
“I think that I understand my mother so much better now I know that even as she hurts people she is hurting exponentially more” “To live with the pain of my strained relationship with my mother is one thing. To immortalize it in words is a whole other level”
I saw reviews mentioning that individual contributors have their own novels, which I might need to check out. Some people didn’t like the order in which the stories were presented, but I honestly didn’t mind. I didn’t go into this book expecting a happy or sad ending—I expected to get something real. And real is understanding that some people have the societal version of a mother and some don’t. That mothers have desires, that your mom had a love before your father, that a mother doesn’t always protect you, that she can’t always protect you. That mothers don’t always mother out loud. That mothers can be sick, that mothers can be a resource, that mothers can be your abuser. And that’s because mothers are people, and people can be all things.
If you choose to read this, I think it’s best to appreciate someone sharing their story. While some essays may seem more open than others, at least there’s an opening at all. All the stories are really different and unique in voice. Two that really stood out to me were "Fifteen" and "My Mother’s (Gate)keeper."
“I think that I understand my mother so much better now I know that even as she hurts people she is hurting exponentially more” “To live with the pain of my strained relationship with my mother is one thing. To immortalize it in words is a whole other level”
acdubz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent
caseyaonso's review against another edition
4.0
reading this on a 7 am flight was a great idea i was super normal the whole time this is my review
linnlivesinbooks's review against another edition
3.0
A book with stories from 14 different authors about the things they don’t talk to their mothers about. Some stories were so good, and relevant to me. Whilst others were interesting but not so easy to relate to. Really insightful and important, how different relations with mothers can be, and how big a part the father plays in the relation between mother and child. Favorite stories were “My Mother’s (Gate) Keeper By Cathi Hanauer”, “Thesmophoria By Melissa Febos” (the writing and connection to greek mythology in this one was AMAZING), “Nothing Left Unsaid By Julianna Baggott”,
Quotes:
“Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them. To know what it was like to have one place where we belonged”
“I love you past the sun and the moon and the stars,” she’d always say to me when I was little. But I just want her to love me here. Now. On Earth.”
“There is a gaping hole perhaps for all of us, where our mother does not match up with “mother” as we believe it’s meant to mean and all it’s meant to give us”
Quotes:
“Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them. To know what it was like to have one place where we belonged”
“I love you past the sun and the moon and the stars,” she’d always say to me when I was little. But I just want her to love me here. Now. On Earth.”
“There is a gaping hole perhaps for all of us, where our mother does not match up with “mother” as we believe it’s meant to mean and all it’s meant to give us”