Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

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

19 reviews

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

4.0

Why isn’t heart wrenching an option for the mood of the book??

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

the_vegan_bookworm's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This was a compelling, honest look at life with chronic illness. I felt seen and heard as a person with a disability while I read Miller's recounts of her life. This book gave me a lot to reflect on in my own experiences and beliefs about (dis)ability and a meaningful life with a chronic condition, while also validating me for the fears and emotions I experience. 

If you are chronically ill or disabled, I especially recommend this book to you.

This being said, please note the trigger warnings as this book may be difficult to read for some people. Miller discusses the abuse she experienced from her alcoholic father and drug-addicted ex-boyfriend, the nitty gritty of Crohn's (including detailed references to excrement, blood and vomit), medical trauma and ableism of many kinds, and sexual assault. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia and Racism

sierrascha's review

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

imstephtacular's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

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

emfass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Part memoir, part journalism, 1000% vulnerable and a must-read, especially if you love someone with chronic illness. I cannot speak from an #OwnVoices perspective, but I hope it would also help a reader with chronic illness feel seen. I listened to this on audiobook, and it was made even more powerful by listening to Miller tell her story in her own voice.

Content warning: the author is descriptive throughout concerning the effects of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), C. diff, and Crohn's disease) and does not hold back about what it does to her body. She also shares openly about many different traumas she has faced throughout her life. (I love The StoryGraph website for more detailed content warnings, if you need them!)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I received a free ARC from Henry Holt Books in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. My chronic illness differs from Tessa's, but I still found this book to be incredibly relatable. I also liked how it was part memoir and part educational. I want everyone in my life to read this so they can better understand living with a chronic illness.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent

spaghettireads's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

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. 

---

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