Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. by Samantha Irby

14 reviews

bexi's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Excrement, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Addiction, Racial slurs, Medical content, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, and Homophobia

edgwareviabank's review

emotional funny medium-paced

4.5

If your self-talk, like mine, is mostly self-deprecating jokes and swearing, you'll like Samantha Irby's "We Are Never Meeting In Real Life" a lot.

I first saw this book while casually browsing bookstore shelves, when going to bookstores in person was still a thing. I put it on my list because the blurb at the back promised a frank, authentic voice, and humour applied to all sort of life situations, including the absurd and sad.

Even though jokes abound (there are plenty I want to read out loud to others, though even I, childless by choice, know better than to share the hilarious "a bomb, probably" with my happily pregnant friends), the hardship that has accompanied Samantha Irby throughout her life is plain to see. "happy birthday", about the loss of her father, is, at heart, a heavy tale of estrangement, and a very well written one at that. Her honesty about chronic pain and financial struggles provides plenty of moments for the averagely privileged reader to stop and recognise that much of the things that look straightforward in life we are, in fact, taking for granted.

Many of the essays follow, more or less closely, the progression of Samantha Irby's relationship with her wife of a few years. Here, the humour concentrates on the life change marriage brought about for her (very roughly: from single woman in a Chicago apartment to stepmother in smalltown Michigan); despite all the making fun of children and family meals and shared holidays, there's a very endearing current of love running throughout, down to the very last sentence in the final acknowledgments. I closed the book with a plan to start catching up on Samantha Irby's online work, and hoping these two women live a whole lifetime of lifting each other up. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

thehaylflayl's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Suicide

annieswanny's review

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty