mayunotnais's review against another edition
4.0
rating memoirs doesn't sound right, so I only rate the writing.
lilianapeace's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
This should be a sit down and read all the way through book. I didn’t do it justice by listening to it because I kept coming back to it which I think disrupted the flow. It moves back and forth in time from her husband’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to their time at Dignitas which is why I think it’d be best to read it all in one go rather than piece it all together several times. As much as it is about death/the right to die and disease, this memoir is also a lot about privilege — it costs 10k to go to Dignitas (assisted suicide in Switzerland), like that’s their fee, let alone the tedious, sometimes toeing impossible, tasks you have to do in order to secure a spot there (which is to say only the rich actually can afford the right to die). Bloom is very honest about their situation though and made it very clear where they stood in terms of privilege and money/class. Still some parts made me go.. huh. Other times it was devastating. I didn’t cry, but I think it was because I was more focused on the process of assisted suicide than I was on their love story (Bloom is the wife who wrote/tells her husband’s/their story).
This should be a sit down and read all the way through book. I didn’t do it justice by listening to it because I kept coming back to it which I think disrupted the flow. It moves back and forth in time from her husband’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to their time at Dignitas which is why I think it’d be best to read it all in one go rather than piece it all together several times. As much as it is about death/the right to die and disease, this memoir is also a lot about privilege — it costs 10k to go to Dignitas (assisted suicide in Switzerland), like that’s their fee, let alone the tedious, sometimes toeing impossible, tasks you have to do in order to secure a spot there (which is to say only the rich actually can afford the right to die). Bloom is very honest about their situation though and made it very clear where they stood in terms of privilege and money/class. Still some parts made me go.. huh. Other times it was devastating. I didn’t cry, but I think it was because I was more focused on the process of assisted suicide than I was on their love story (Bloom is the wife who wrote/tells her husband’s/their story).
melissacushman's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
lucymcclellan's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to the audiobook, which was really nice because Amy reads it herself. I admire her discipline in telling this story--I'm sure she could have written 2000 pages, but she kept it tightly focused.
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
An emotionally challenging read - not surprising that reviews seem to either love it or hate it. Bloom holds back nothing as she relates the backstory and process of her husband's dementia diagnosis and his clear conscious decision to pursue legal assisted suicide, with her support. Although I felt that she sometimes drifted a bit with her own reactions and reflections, overall this is a very focused and revealing account of the intensely personal journey to a chosen end of life process.
leefox's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Had to read this after hearing an excerpt of it on This American Life Ep. 779 End of Earth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Chronic illness, Dementia, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Death
Minor: Car accident and Vomit