Reviews tagging 'Death'

What Doesn't Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller

9 reviews

hollydyer328's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

This was an informative, enlightening, and emotional look inside a life with chronic illness. I don't really take the time to consider what Crohn's disease even is, let alone what life is like. Tessa Miller doesn't shy away from the pain and the graphic elements involved with living with this disease, including recurrent bouts of C. Diff. which brought her close to death. She combines the memoir with reporting on chronic illness on a larger level and speaks out against the systems that keep chronically ill people down and further sick, including healthcare, the workplace, and also interpersonal relationships. There's some intense stuff in her like abuse, thoughts of death, eating disorders, near-death experiences, medical trauma, etc. which is hard to read but it all fits with the advocacy for the chronically-ill community. This is first and foremost a book for chronically-ill people, so some sections I glossed over as someone not dealing with a chronic illness. It also felt like the reporting came first and the memoir came second or was disjointed, and I wanted a more connected understanding of her story. But this was great awareness and education of the life of chronically-ill people. I hope this inspires those who are able-bodied to be grateful for our health and our bodies, and to support and act as allies for those in our lives who are dealing with chronic illness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Excrement, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

meliroo's review

informative reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

atokuyama's review

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

gracegeeks's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol

rhia_a's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

4.0

As someone who has been chronically ill from a young age but had it go from mostly functional to mostly incapacitating in the last few years, this was a relateable read... sadly. I feel seen now but if the book had existed a few years back in my darkest times, I would have found it cathartic, oddly comforting and informative (it still is those things) - it could have led to easier 'aha' moments along the grieving process. I wish the author well on her journey and hope that it's an easier ride for her from here on out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Medical trauma

imstephtacular's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

spaghettireads's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder

diversifyyourshelf's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Miller places a heavy emphasis on the mental and emotional toll of chronic illness, issues I don’t see discussed nearly enough! It is lonely and hard and exhausting being sick all the time, and she 1) shows us we’re not alone and validates those feelings and 2) offers help and advice from someone who has been there. 

 

I really enjoyed this book, and I do highly recommend it, with some caveats.  On one hand, I want everyone I know to read this, but on the other, Miller’s experiences, even before her diagnosis, are quite traumatic. There are descriptions of physical abuse, addiction, domestic violence, sexual assault, eating disorders (check the content warnings for the extensive list of possible triggers). 

 

I’m not at all saying that Miller shouldn’t have written this part of her story – in a lot of ways, I feel it was necessary to give a holistic view of her life experience - but it can be difficult to read. While a lot of Miller’s writing is highly specific to her and to her own diagnosis of Crohn’s, she does a good job towards the middle and end of each chapter in connecting her story to the broader chronic illness community. For sensitive readers, it may be helpful to skip the starts of each chapter. 

 

This book undoubtedly helped me, and there are actionable steps that I plan to take based on it! If you are chronically ill or are close to someone who is chronically ill, I advise you to pick this up. Thank you to Tessa Miller for using your voice to help the rest of us. And thank you to Henry Holt for sending me an advanced copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma