Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

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

23 reviews

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

 This book is part memoir, part practical guide to navigating the U.S. healthcare system and advocating for yourself. It offers valuable insights on finding community, hope, and managing your health by focusing on what you can control.

The author shares her story with honesty and courage, offering readers both guidance and hope in their own health journeys. 

I recommend it to anyone living with a lifelong illness, as well as their family members and friends 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Eating disorder, and Blood

meliroo's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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

rockyroadbutch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

skillwithaquill's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

katrinarose's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Part memoir, part self-help, part political/sociological analysis, this was a wonderfully realistic yet hopeful book. As someone who has her same diagnosis (but has not gone through the level of severity she has) I empathized with her harrowing medical trauma. Her writing style kept me hooked. I imagine the self-help aspects to be invaluable for those with severe chronic illness and are written with such tenderness. She also rounds the book out with many statistics and research articles both to infuriate the reader about the state of healthcare in America but also act as a call to action. Since I am able to forget about my diagnosis 90% of the time, I don’t feel I am the exact target audience, however I loved it and would recommend to anyone chronically ill, anyone who has a chronically ill loved one, or anyone interested in the topic of healthcare in America.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief

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??

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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

chronicallyplotting's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

This is a slow paced memoir of Tessa's struggle to get diagnosed and treated with Crohn's Disease. It also highlights how the disease has affected her family, work and romantic relationships. 
Overall good memoir. A little political at times. Author also offers very little insight to help others struggling with chronic illness or the healthcare system. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Excrement, Medical trauma, 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

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

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. 

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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