Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls by Kai Cheng Thom

15 reviews

celinegaghadar's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

A genre jump for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect but this book of prose, structured as 30 short “letters to lost souls” quite literally made me ugly cry in the car and chuckle out loud at times too. The author writes so beautifully about love, forgiveness, healing and anger. I especially loved how she explored fear in these letters. The author writes from her own experience and it’s so vulnerable you can’t help but crack open a little. I especially liked “to the compulsive caregivers” and “to Jesus Christ”. Really enjoyed the audiobook read by the author and I’m looking forward to getting a hard copy so I can revisit the prompts at the end of every letter. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

beccacondon's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Dysphoria

joensign's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

emotional reflective

3.75

Some poems were quite strong, others I had a hard time with. The style was a bit repetitive for the bulk of the poems, but I did like the prompts after each poem - that was interesting and had some that I think I'll revisit and do. I think I'm just a little too jaded to really appreciate this. Maybe I will try it again when I am feeling more optimistic but I had a hard time getting into parts of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Murder, and Physical abuse

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.75

A collection of letters wrapped in compassion, Kai Cheng Thom—a trans Asian Canadian woman—writes from the heart to embrace every human as sacred beings. In spite of the pain she has dealt with in her life, in spite of all the hateful people in this world, she writes with hope and sincerity. She writes to trans women, sex workers and their patrons, herself, among others to remind them (and the readers) of the love and beauty that exist in this world. Especially in a world that’s weighed down by hurt and grief, Thom’s words are more needed than ever for us to take a moment to reflect.

I also appreciated that, between each letter, she invited the reader to practice an act of self-love and self-reflection. For example: “Write a letter of forgiveness to someone. That someone can be yourself.”

I read this collection and listened to the audiobook simultaneously, and I found that hearing Thom reading each letter herself left a greater impression on me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Racism

thehomiemona's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Physical abuse

kimapede's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia, Murder, Death, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Stalking

kelleykamanda's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

A beautiful love letter to trans folks and their bodies. 💗

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Child abuse

tenthousandactualbees's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Death, and Homophobia

meganpbell's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

What do you do when the world threatens your belief that all beings are worthy of love? In this powerful collection of poems, prayers, and spells, a Chinese Canadian transwoman writes to reclaim her love of being human, through  tender and intense letters addressed to such diverse recipients as J. K. Rowling, johns, and Jesus Christ, to fellow trans femmes, to the church of social justice, to compulsive caregivers, and many more, each with a suggested action, my favorite being: “Think of someone you’d like to punish….send them a book of poetry instead.” Read this brief book to fall back in love with being human—it begins by falling in love with the powerful, spiritually wise, and redemptive words of Kai Cheng Thom.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Gun violence, and Homophobia