jfshields's review against another edition
4.0
Audiobook-This is a really lovely memoir, and I’d recommend it to anyone who has struggled or loves someone who has struggled with chronic health issues, an autoimmune disorder, or unexplained health concerns. Having dealt with chronic, unexplained health issues, O’Rourke’s account of her own experience was deeply validating and moving.
joanthebaker's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
A great deep dive on the experience of chronic illness, with a first-person narrative threading together lots of research. Really explores the importance of empathy and doctors who will recognize that you do have a problem, but that they don't know the answer and will do everything to support you in feeling better (and how the U.S. healthcare system is not really set up to support this kind of care).
aziras_books's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
hi everyone needs to read this book
samantha's review against another edition
4.0
“To the extent that illness is a quest, it brings you to a very different place from the one you thought you were trying to get to. And so I am wary of papering over illness’s real ravages with fakes pieties that allow us to look away from the true price extracted.
Is illness, in any way, a lesson? Illness is a travesty; illness is shit; illness is not redemptive unless it happens to be for a particularly ill person, for reasons that are not replicable nor should they be said to be so … In the dark room where I listened to life happen around me when I was sick, I yielded a part of myself forever.”
Is illness, in any way, a lesson? Illness is a travesty; illness is shit; illness is not redemptive unless it happens to be for a particularly ill person, for reasons that are not replicable nor should they be said to be so … In the dark room where I listened to life happen around me when I was sick, I yielded a part of myself forever.”
mesgranier's review against another edition
3.0
A lot resonated with me about chronic illness and frustrations of the healthcare system. However there were aspects of the book that were so obviously privileged (and not well addressed) that it made it seem unrealistic in several instances.
joshmaher's review against another edition
5.0
Accessible description of the experience of chronic illness.
k8tlvn's review against another edition
5.0
As some one who was diagnosed with MS at an early age and grew up either experiencing it’s symptoms or living in it’s shadow, this book was amazing and so validating. It was so many things I’ve struggled to put into words. There is no simple paragraph or one-off you can write about chronic illness. It has to be a whole book. She goes into the many of the narratives one can have and how confusing it all is. Some parts hit home so much I ran and got a highlighter so I can reference them later. To have language and a framework built around something you’ve experienced your whole life can be so assuring and that’s what a lot of this book is attempting to do. Although the author is honest in that even she herself is still confused.. we all are as we “live at the edge of medical knowledge” as she puts it.
Recommend to all those effected by chronic illness, including covid. It also helped me uncover a POTS diagnose, which has been great because now I understand why I faint all the time and what I can do about it… thought that was just normal lol.
Recommend to all those effected by chronic illness, including covid. It also helped me uncover a POTS diagnose, which has been great because now I understand why I faint all the time and what I can do about it… thought that was just normal lol.