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kelly_e's review against another edition
4.5
Author: Jesse Thistle
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: August 6 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Honest • Eye-opening • Important
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Abandoned by his parents as a child, From the Ashes is a memoir from Jesse Thistle, a Canadian Métis-Cree. After a stay in the foster care system, Jesse and his brother landed in the care of their paternal grandparents. Having endured his painful past, Jesse succumbed to addiction, petty crime and life on the streets. In a moment of clarity, Jesse knew he would die if he continued on the path he was on. A story of heartbreak and perseverance, of prejudice and racism, of Indigenous culture and education.
💭 T H O U G H T S
From the Ashes is a special book, and one of the most honest memoirs I've ever read. Filled with trauma and struggle, it's also filled with love and hope. Thistle gives incredible insight into addiction, homelessness, and indigenous culture and discrimination. It is my hope that this book will help open people's eyes, to empathize, to show compassion to those people who are afflicted with the disease of addiction, and to those who face trauma leading to undesirable circumstances. Jesse is a gifted storytellers and has filled this memoir with emotion delivering a story which will make you look at the world differently. My one wish would have been to have gained a little more knowledge and an more in depth look into Jesse's Indigenous roots.
If there is a book with a more powerful dedication, I have yet to come across it. Thistle pays tribute to the families of all those lost and missing Indigenous people, those robbed of their Indigenous identity through residential school or cultural erasure, and to those whose lives have been damaged by colonization.
A extremely raw and difficult, yet moving and inspiring story of resilience this should be essential reading for all Canadians.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• All Canadians!
• Fans of memoirs
• Readers looking to expand their understanding
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Mom used to think I was mute, but I could speak fine, I just chose not to. My words belonged to me, they were the only thing I had that were mine, and I didn't trust anyone enough to share them."
"All us criminals start out as normal people just like anyone else, but then things happen in life that tear us apart, that makes us into something capable of hurting other people. That's all any of the darkness really is—just love gone bad. We're just broken-hearted people hurt by life."
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicide
substance misuse, homelessnessannabunce's review
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Abandonment
emmaslibrary's review
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse
ladev12's review
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit