markwillnevercry's review
2.0
This is the second work that I am reading by this author, so some parts of the review might be aimed more on their general style in this book and "Displacement", so be aware.
Lucy Knisley has this style of sometimes just writing stuff without really thinking about the fact, that what she publishes, goes to people. Some people would say, that we live in the time of post-modernism and one should expect the writer to write more for themselves than for the audience, but I would argue that a work should be analyzed outside it's timeframe also. In case everyone wonders, I am talking about the first chapter, where the writer discusses about how before she gave birth, she found it extremely annoying that parents would mention their child's age in weeks rather than months and what a problem it created for her, which honestly tells us everything we need to know about how empathetic Lucy Knisley is to other people.
Lucy Knisley manages to write and publish a whole book on pregnancy, history of gynecology and societal misconceptions about pregnancy while mentioning not monogamous cis hetero couples once - and even that is just in one sentence. Sure, it is not the writer's responsibility to educate anyone, but with general vibe of the book, one might be mistaken.
On page 85, we can find a truly beautiful infographic on prices of different fertility treatments, that fails to mention the fact, that some of them are illegal in certain countries (and with the focus on US, in certain states), while other are behind heavily guarded doors. Must be nice to be able to not pay attention to such issues.
The acknowledgments are cute.
I am not writing this to tell, that this book is terrible, has nothing good to say and Lucy Knisley is terrible, I am here to just remind people that just because you suffer trauma, it doesn't mean that you get to cast away all of your privileges. Lucy Knisley wrote an auto-biographical work and it shows, just keep in mind that there is more to every issue than a random person can say about it.
Lucy Knisley has this style of sometimes just writing stuff without really thinking about the fact, that what she publishes, goes to people. Some people would say, that we live in the time of post-modernism and one should expect the writer to write more for themselves than for the audience, but I would argue that a work should be analyzed outside it's timeframe also. In case everyone wonders, I am talking about the first chapter, where the writer discusses about how before she gave birth, she found it extremely annoying that parents would mention their child's age in weeks rather than months and what a problem it created for her, which honestly tells us everything we need to know about how empathetic Lucy Knisley is to other people.
Lucy Knisley manages to write and publish a whole book on pregnancy, history of gynecology and societal misconceptions about pregnancy while mentioning not monogamous cis hetero couples once - and even that is just in one sentence. Sure, it is not the writer's responsibility to educate anyone, but with general vibe of the book, one might be mistaken.
On page 85, we can find a truly beautiful infographic on prices of different fertility treatments, that fails to mention the fact, that some of them are illegal in certain countries (and with the focus on US, in certain states), while other are behind heavily guarded doors. Must be nice to be able to not pay attention to such issues.
The acknowledgments are cute.
I am not writing this to tell, that this book is terrible, has nothing good to say and Lucy Knisley is terrible, I am here to just remind people that just because you suffer trauma, it doesn't mean that you get to cast away all of your privileges. Lucy Knisley wrote an auto-biographical work and it shows, just keep in mind that there is more to every issue than a random person can say about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma
popsicleplease's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Vomit
sammykay25's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Such an informative memoir about pregnancy and childbirth. Even though my birth and pregnancy weren’t quite as eventful as Lucy’s I was still able to relate so much her words and drawings. I felt so seen and heard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Vomit, Misogyny, and Miscarriage
sgeron's review
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Miscarriage
theliteraryagenda's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infertility and Miscarriage
Minor: Blood
thecozyrogue's review
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
whitzilla's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A beautifully created memoir. Occasionally sad, often funny, always informative, this book portrays conception and pregnancy with realism and attention to detail that's often lacking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Infertility
Moderate: Vomit
emmishane's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
A really touching reflection on wanting and trying to have children in a world like ours.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Vomit, and Pregnancy
CW: traumatic birth story, pregnancy loss, and near death experiencerachelleahdorn's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Wow, yeah, this was really good and I apparently still have some strong feelings about doctors and lactation consultants who misled me. I had some strong feelings at the end.
Near the end she says “Breastfeeding was pretty much the hardest thing I’ve ever learned how to do.”
How much I wish someone had said that to me before I had a kid and failed at breastfeeding. Maybe if it hadn’t been presented as a freakin’ peaceful gift of love and happiness, I might have felt like I could learn it instead of feeling like a worthless failure who wasn’t a good enough woman/mother to find it easy and natural!!
Also, freakin’ doctors. Damn. When they ignore your obvious (in retrospect) symptoms and you believe them. My experience was cancer, not pregnancy, but Knisley’s presentation of the experience is spot on.
As for the book, I LOVED the inclusion of history and background (pregnancy research) and the superstitions and misconceptions around pregnancy.
Her experience was different than mine (hers: brutal pregnancy/birth, apparently easy babyhood; mine: easy pregnancy, fast birth, brutal first 6 months with the baby), but I really enjoyed (that feels like the wrong word) reading this
Near the end she says “Breastfeeding was pretty much the hardest thing I’ve ever learned how to do.”
How much I wish someone had said that to me before I had a kid and failed at breastfeeding. Maybe if it hadn’t been presented as a freakin’ peaceful gift of love and happiness, I might have felt like I could learn it instead of feeling like a worthless failure who wasn’t a good enough woman/mother to find it easy and natural!!
Spoiler
Also, freakin’ doctors. Damn. When they ignore your obvious (in retrospect) symptoms and you believe them. My experience was cancer, not pregnancy, but Knisley’s presentation of the experience is spot on.
As for the book, I LOVED the inclusion of history and background (pregnancy research) and the superstitions and misconceptions around pregnancy.
Spoiler
Her experience was different than mine (hers: brutal pregnancy/birth, apparently easy babyhood; mine: easy pregnancy, fast birth, brutal first 6 months with the baby), but I really enjoyed (that feels like the wrong word) reading this
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy and Miscarriage
Minor: Misogyny
mnerd63's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Medical trauma