Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. by Samantha Irby

14 reviews

colinlievens's review

funny lighthearted reflective relaxing

3.0

Couldn’t decide if I found Irby to be insufferable or hilarious. Sometimes I felt she was trying too hard to make me laugh and other times I did genuinely laugh out loud. 

If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d borrowed the book from my boyfriend and she’s one of his absolute favourite writers, I’m not sure I would have bothered finishing this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Infertility, Classism, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Terminal illness

I feel like with these content warnings I made this book sound horrific. Irby brushes over topics lightly and with self deprecating humour. She’s not shy about her sex life or her shitty childhood or both her parents being dead, but seeing as all the essays are essentially unrelated then you can just skip past any that might feel a little too close to the bone for you.

zosiablue's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Whenever I'm low, which I've been lately, my therapist begs me to read something other than gore and horror and murder. So, here I am in an unfamiliar genre, funny & chill autobiographical essays! Samantha Irby is delightful and light and did a good job of resetting my brain a little. I can't really rate this because it felt too light for me, even though she hits on some heavy topics (poverty, parent death). But even though this isn't really for me (it's me, not Samantha), mostly this just reads like your good friend telling fun stories at a bar and I'm gonna keep going through the rest of her books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Infertility

Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Classism, and Alcoholism

sglance9's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Animal death

uranaishi's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Excrement, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Racism, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Blood

zoiejanelle's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

fucking hilarious. i especially appreciated her essays on animals and working in animal welfare. sam has such a unique voice and her personification of Hellen Keller the cat and various other hypothetical inanimate objects had me gasping for air (with laughter). a great, quick, reflective and humorous read about relationships, identity, family, and adulthood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt

demo's review

dark funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Racism, and Body shaming

Moderate: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Animal death, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, and Infertility

Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, and Pedophilia

Lots of talk about dieting and restriction - proceed with caution

bitterseason's review

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Violence, Vomit, Racism, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

chelsaat's review

funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

 Samantha Irby and I are not the same person. We have had vastly different life experiences. And yet, some of the essays here feel like they’re pulled straight from my brain. Exhibits:

A: “What have you not found but would like to have in a relationship? Someone who will leave me the hell alone for extended periods of time without getting all weird about it. I have a lot of audiobooks to listen to on the toilet.”

B: “Weight Watchers is for quitters who are in denial about how good ribs taste.”

C: “...You know what? Sometimes it really is okay to just have a fucking job. Not a passion, not a career, but a steadfast source of bi-weekly income deposited directly into a checking account from which food, and medicine, and apps one totally forgot about having downloaded will be paid for.”

D: “Never again will I be with someone who is unwilling to accept me as I am, or who has any desire to mold me into something that makes me uncomfortable.”

This is only a small sampling. But needless to say I connected hard with Irby’s sense of humor, her self deprecation, her life lessons. This book made me laugh and made me cry.

The essays could get a little repetitive in parts, and sometimes the writing felt a little too first-drafty, if that makes sense. But that didn’t take away my enjoyment too much. Love Sam Irby and despite what she says, I would very much like to meet her in real life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Fatphobia, Animal death, and Mental illness

spinesinaline's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

3.75

Irby covers a lot in these funny and very open essays: her demon cat, dating experiences, anxiety, and disability. Some parts had me laughing out loud. The digital format I read wasn’t ideal as as the text was crammed together but still very enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Excrement, Medical content, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide attempt

n0m_de_grr's review

emotional funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Vomit