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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
I am so glad I finally read this book. After recovering from her illness, Calahan not only managed to distill her entire story almost entirely from third party sources and records—which must have been an incredibly difficult feat on its own—she also managed to turn that information into a gripping page-turner. Frightening, emotional, and eye-opening.
Such an amazing and painful read. It makes me wonder how many people are trapped in their bodies or labeled as mentally ill when the true diagnosis is simply not known.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Normally I don’t tend to read non-fiction books but I was given this by a friend and I LOVED it!
Susannah’s story is fascinating andreading about how her life change so dramatically and no one knew why really made me think about my own mortality.
I think writing this book was very brave and being able to read Susannah’s story feels like a privilege.
Susannah’s story is fascinating and
I think writing this book was very brave and being able to read Susannah’s story feels like a privilege.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This was between a two and three star. The story was very interesting, and I am glad it was written to increase awareness about this disease (which I had never heard of before), as well as give others an appreciation of what it can be like going through mental illness as the patient, or those close to the patient. I think my lower rating might be because of the writing style. I found it a bit repetitive in places, and it could have benefitted from editing by a scientist or doctor to ensure accuracy (I know it is picky, but for the reader with a medical background little errors stand out).
Fast-paced, medical but accessible, excellent narrative. The story itself kept me reading, even if my eyes glazed over at some of the scientific explanations (don’t get me wrong, they’re important to the story).
Wow. Just wow. I could not put this book down. I just wanted to be there with Susannah every step of the way. It was extremely emotional, and I cannot even imagine what it was like to live it. I’m thoroughly impressed by the captivating writing style which was both informative and descriptive. I feel like I learned a lot from this book, and the author set the narrative up in such a creative way by pulling in pieces of her unreliable memories and hallucinations, the reviews from doctors, and her dad’s journal. Be careful reading this if you have a weak stomach though. There were a few parts that I skimmed through because I get freaked out by blood, needles, surgery, etc.
Cahalan is a skilled writer. Less of a memoir and more of a report which she warns in the beginning. It’s very sad to see how Cahalan is slowly unraveling and nothing is taken seriously until she has a seizure. I do wonder if she was taken more seriously by people if her family would’ve accepted a schizophrenia diagnosis. Sometimes I just found myself bored even though the information wasn’t boring.