hereistheend's review against another edition
5.0
Love this book of essays. All is layered and vividly visceral.
sadiereadsagain's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of personal essays is such a mixed bag. I really connected with about half of them, but found it took me a while to warm to the meandering writing style, trying to figure out where a tangent was going and if we'd ever make it back to where we had veered off from. I think the stronger essays were in the later half of the collection, and I really enjoyed the honesty and introspection of them. There were often sentences that I wanted to read more than once because of their stand out lyricism, but then there were whole essays that I just didn't get. I did like the format though - rather than a straight up memoir Young has curated tales of oddities and studies of the mundane to make a collection that really makes her stand out as a person and as a writer. I just thought that it could have been a bit more refined, though judging from other reviews there are those who loved the bits I didn't so maybe there is something in here for everyone.
Many thanks to Bloomsbury for my Netgalley copy of this book. All views my own.
Many thanks to Bloomsbury for my Netgalley copy of this book. All views my own.
uglyclogs's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book in the sense that the writing was delightful but it also irritated me how certain things were talked about so I dunno if I'd recommend necessarily but if nonfiction is your jam I'd like to hear what you think too,,, I originally picked this up because of the Maggie Nelson blurb but it didn't live up to the level of wonder I was imagining but thats life ~
dillarhonda's review against another edition
Can You Tolerate This? the well-named, but uneven collection of nonfiction stories from Ashleigh Young explores the strangeness of living in a body and the peculiarity of small New Zealand towns. Named for the phrase chiropractors ask their patients during adjustments, the collection varies widely from Young's own experiences with a sore shoulder, eating disorder, and uncomfortable puberty to stories she tells about her brother's desire to be a songwriter, a family pet, and her parents' youthful rock band. At their best, the stories bring a focused attention to the idiosyncratic nature of a body and how we all must devote attention and care to maintaining our own. At their worst, some stories are well, barely tolerable.
katxlaura's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
1.25
The first two chapters had premise and it went down hill from there. I don’t want to be overly harsh as I know it must be a emotional piece for the author but this just wasn’t for me. It was confusing, slow and just all over the place, you could argue like the human mind and so the whole book is reflective of the mind of the author? But I’m sorry this book was just awful, although on the plus side it was finishable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
aqilahreads's review against another edition
2.0
idk...how to feel for this one....just couldnt get myself enjoying out of most of it and i was looking forward to read this one based on some good reviews :")
its a collection of essays about youth, ambition, anxiety, the challenges of personal transformation and disappointment. sounded like something that i would like tho!!! i guess its unfortunate that it turned out to be not for me. overall just felt that the stories could have been organized better to make it a much smoother read.
i really love ashleigh young's writing so probably will look out to more of her other works.
its a collection of essays about youth, ambition, anxiety, the challenges of personal transformation and disappointment. sounded like something that i would like tho!!! i guess its unfortunate that it turned out to be not for me. overall just felt that the stories could have been organized better to make it a much smoother read.
i really love ashleigh young's writing so probably will look out to more of her other works.
dystopia's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Eating disorder
kathyxtran's review against another edition
1.0
In a few words: the personal essay genre is a 90-10 hit-miss with me, and this is often felt like, to me, shallow portraits of characters in scattered vignettes, strung together in a way that was playing at, or suggesting the presence of a story, like talking to a friend you like well enough, but is telling you a story that, while interesting to her, is not inherently interesting to anyone else
Why: Lauded as hell, I thought?
For: Technically fits into the Reading Women Challenge (#10 An essay collection), but I'm waiting on a book I actually would recommend.
Why: Lauded as hell, I thought?
For: Technically fits into the Reading Women Challenge (#10 An essay collection), but I'm waiting on a book I actually would recommend.
jessjubinski's review against another edition
1.0
Opening a book with an essay that is so personal it isn't relatable is... tough. I couldn't make it past the third essay. I found it hard to understand, and somehow simultaneously juvenile. I'm sorry to say I jumped ship.