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The Terrible
The Terrible: A Storyteller's Memoir | Yrsa Daley-Ward
9 posts | 8 read | 14 to read
From the celebrated poet behind bone, a lyrical memoirpart prose, part verseabout coming-of-age, uncovering the cruelty and beauty of the wider world, and redemption through self-discovery and the bonds of family You may not run away from the thing that you are because it comes and comes and comes as sure as you breathe. This is the story of Yrsa Daley-Ward, and all the things that happenedeven the terrible things. And God, there were terrible things. Its about her childhood in the northwest of England with her beautiful, careworn mother Marcia; the man formerly known as Dad (half fun, half frightening); and her little brother Roo, who sees things written in the stars. Its also about the surreal magic of adolescence, about growing up and discovering the power and fear of sexuality, about pitch-gray days of pills and powder and connection. Its about damage and pain, but also joy. Told with raw intensity and shocking honesty, The Terrible is a memoir of going under, losing yourself, and finding your voice.
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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Pickpick

Reviewing memoirs is always interesting. Stories should be told how the author wants them to be.

Yrsa Daley-Ward is an English model and poet of Jamaican and African descent, this is her story of growing up in the 90-00's

The writing is very lyrical and reminded me of spoken word poetry with the cadence that is used, I would recommend the audio because of this.

Itchyfeetreader This is a beautiful cover 9mo
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BekaReid
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I first stumbled across Yrsa Daley-Ward on Instagram and then found out she had written a memoir, The Terrible. The book is written with a combination of first and third person, poetry and prose, and streams-of-consciousness, this book is raw and honest, and beautiful in my opinion.

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GreenGrl87
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This ones actually not from The Terrible, just some of her notes she shared on IG that I hope are published some day soon. I love her 💕

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mrozzz
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In a style that floats between traditional prose & modified verse AND first/second/third person, Yrsa tells a heart-wrenching story of her mother‘s troubles following a young pregnancy with her brother then Yrsa‘s own life as she‘s exiled to her grandparents‘ house because her mother had a boyfriend who couldn‘t be trusted with Yrsa‘s growing body. There she was subjected to following strict religious rules while parsing her burgeoning sexuality.

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Naominats
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You may not run away from the thing that you are because it comes and comes and comes as sure as you breathe.

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BeansPage
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And... GO! 😳🤪😱😵

Literary_Siren I just couldn‘t hang. I hated all the characters and the authors writing style. 6y
Indexasaurus Maybe an #unpopularopinion, but I had to read Weetzie Bat for a college course and I HATED it. Also, Along Came a Spider. 6y
Indexasaurus Oh, and The Corrections. I hated every single character. (edited) 6y
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Aloisi_tribe Anna Karenina. It took me a whole year and I hated every chapter of it. 6y
readingjedi The most recent one that I recall that made me want to remove my own eyeballs so I didn't have to read another word was this one. I really don't get why the author is so popular 🤷🏼‍♀️ 6y
Tashreads Ag, I hated this book. It read like Jurassic Park fan fiction on a loop. Bad writing, bad dialogue, all the usual tropes. Just, no 🤨 6y
AsYouWish I really did not care for this book and I was not able to finish it. 6y
hermyknee @readingjedi I‘m right there with you, but I read the first one and part of the second book in her other series. 6y
Sleepswithbooks My college algebra book. It made me cry and get drunk. 6y
Jazzper2 It was this weird horror book - I think it had “Sandman” in the title. It freaked me out and I threw it out. This was about 30 years ago. 6y
LibrarianRyan Uggggggg. Look on Litsy far back and you can see the horrible posts as I read. 6y
LibrarianRyan Also But at the same time I kinda want to read the sequel. Crazy right? 6y
KathyWheeler I absolutely hated Sex and the City — the book, not the series. 6y
Maewyn The latest I read that was bad. It read like bad fan fiction and there were scenes pulled from another book. The relationship was insta-traction and the characters were shallow. 6y
Booksblanketsandahotbeverage The one and only book I threw across the room and didn't finish. 6y
VeganCleopatra Ya know how people say they can't choose just one favorite book? I feel that way about hated books, there are too many options. 6y
SconsinBookyBadger I have friends who enjoyed the book, but I hated every moment spent on it 6y
zzz Unpopular opinion here but I hated this book from beginning to end 6y
Heatherfeather @Stacypatrice best response ever 6y
McGonagall Omg. I agree so much with @JacqMac The only section I semi-enjoyed reading was the “eat” section 6y
ThePurpleSponge I read every word of this book after finding out that it's the most popular book second only to the bible, and hated it all the way through! It could have been miles shorter. 6y
RainyDayReading Unpopular opinion time...but 🙄 6y
LiteraryLona I hated The Goldfinch. It won a Pulitzer, so I don‘t know what that says about me 😂 6y
SomedayAlmost 50 Shades of Poorly Written. (And Outlander was sexier.) 6y
76 likes35 comments
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Broke_Girl_Reads
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Just listened to a fantastic interview with Yrsa Daley-Ward! I‘ve read her poetry here and there on social media, but I‘ll now definitely be picking up her new memoir. #queerbooks #nonfiction

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spinesvines
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My bookish week continues! So thrilled to meet one of my favorite poets last night! I‘m obsessed with her words. She can write two sentences or only a few words and blow me away. I read a few pages of BONE every day. I‘m so excited about her new memoir ‘The Terrible‘. Do yourself a huge favor and get to know Yrsa Daley-Ward!! She‘s incredible!! #spinesvines #books #wine #bone #theterrible #yrsadaleyward #diversespines #bookworm

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mrozzz
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The #BookHaul 😃 Tried to get more paperbacks to stretch the gift certificates. 💳

Really looking forward to the tagged book since I have a feeling it will read like Myriam Gurba (whom I loved).

I‘ve been looking EVERYWHERE for Barren Island, so I had to have it. The essay anthology edited by Roxane Gay is a must read.

I picked up a signed copy of Florida (even though I‘m going to see her on Tuesday). The others have been on my TBR forever.

britt_brooke Excellent! 6y
RebelReader Awesome haul! 6y
readordierachel Nice! I'm excited about The Terrible. Look forward to your thoughts! 6y
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Crazeedi Good looking haul, the librarian of auschwitz is on my TBR 6y
RadicalReader @mrozzz one simply is not prepared for an outing unless they bring back up and a back up to the back up books with them 6y
mrozzz Yes! @ReadOrDieRachel Have you read Gurba by chance? I don‘t know why but I just feel like their styles will overlap. 6y
mrozzz @Crazeedi Thanks! Yes, I was surprised at first that it was YA so I‘m really itching to see how it is. 6y
mrozzz That‘s the truth! @RadicalReader 6y
readordierachel I haven't yet, but it's been on my list since you posted about it :) 6y
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