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shelby1994's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Pairs Well With:
- Commiserating about sexism in the group chat
- Engaging critically with third and fourth wave feminism
- Children of Men
“Nothing so quickly confirms what you fear most about the world and yourself as the question of whether or not you want children.”
Starting this year off with back-to-back explorations of open marriages and choosing whether to have a child in this dumpster fire of a society is exposing my complete lack of chill.
Australian journalist Gina Rushton is nearing 30 when she is diagnosed with endometriosis and has to have emergency surgery to remove one of her ovaries.
Faced with her window of fertility suddenly and rapidly closing after a lifetime of assuming she would not want a child, Rushton races to cobble together a definitive path toward either a childfree life or parenthood.
This was everything I wanted and needed to start 2024 off with. Everyone’s opinion on parenthood seems to be violently self-assured, and it is reassuring to read Rushton’s discussions with dozens of folks as they too, stumble their way toward an uncertain future. Rushton is uncommonly generous to everyone she meets, and I was left with both a greater sense of security in my own decision to lead a childfree life, AND a deeper love for all the parents in my life.
Thank you Astra House for the gifted copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Abortion
cprince99's review
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Essential reading for any gender weighing up whether to have a child (but also to simply understand the feminine experience)!! Extremely well-written.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
mads_jpg's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Is there anything that so quickly confirms what you love and fear most about the world and yourself, like the question of whether or not to have children?
I went into this book completely lost as to whether or not I would ever have children. And while those anxieties still remain, I think I can now confidently say that I do want to have children one day.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy
balfies's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
A really poignant and intelligent and rigorous examination of all the facets of modern motherhood, parenthood, womanhood, and eco-feminism, presented in an utterly unpretentious manner.
Gina's journalistic chops combine really beautifully with the kind of poetic self reflection and compassionate warmth I expected of her.
A must read for you whether you're thinking about having kids or not.
Gina's journalistic chops combine really beautifully with the kind of poetic self reflection and compassionate warmth I expected of her.
A must read for you whether you're thinking about having kids or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, and Abortion
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence