Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell

73 reviews

hanz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

3.0

Some of these stories are absolutely beautifully written and heartbreaking but the rest felt very disjointed.

In particular, loved (was appropriatel  angered) by the stories about her childhood illness and pregnancy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Murder and Rape

baruss666's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical trauma

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Death

veposve's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Death, Infertility, Medical content, and Miscarriage

Minor: Sexual harassment

leahgustafson's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Maggie O’Farrell is one of my favorite authors, and I’m slowly but surely making my way through her backlist.
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I knew going in that this one would be different from her others, just for the fact of being a memoir. I was curious if it would reveal how her personal experiences led to Maggie O’Farrell’s ability to eloquently articulate so many different kinds of stories and life experiences. 
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This book, like all her others, so beautifully captures the human experience. O’Farrell has such a gift for being able to express emotions through words and language. 
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This memoir is organized into short stories (which I loved!), and it makes for a very quick pacing. I am impressed by how O’Farrell captures her own story without telling the stories of others in this process. I think this is very powerful and important. I do wonder about the order of her stories, and I couldn’t seem to figure out a pattern or rationale. This didn’t take anything away from the book for me; it’s just a wondering I have.
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⚠️ There are some BIG trigger warnings with this book. Make sure you look at those ahead of time so you’re aware going in if this book is going to be a good fit for you. 
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Check out what I'm reading next on Instagram @LeahsLitReview!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Violence and Medical trauma

annakh16's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was an interesting and certainly unique read - unique because of the nature of the story, and also because Maggie O’Farrell has such a distinctive voice that this book certainly helped me understand better. The writing was vivid and compelling. It’s definitely more snapshots of moments than one overarching „philosophical“ narrative - just an observation, not a critique. I thought some stories were executed better than others (generally the longer over the shorter ones), but overall, they were all good. An insightful and „enjoyable“ book (re the storytelling, not the events). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Chronic illness, Infertility, Violence, Grief, and Miscarriage

Minor: Excrement, Murder, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

aseel_reads's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Such a powerfully and beautiful piece of writing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Miscarriage

annabunce's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

skillwithaquill's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Moving. Emotional. Resonant. As someone with several chronic illnesses, this book was especially poignant and salient for me. 

None of the usual trappings of inspiration porn, healing through Jesus, or spiritual woowoo that many memoirs about illness and near-death experiences fall into. It’s thoughtful, but not preachy. Meaningful, but not maudlin. I’ll definitely revisit it in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Confinement, Medical content, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Sexism

Moderate: Misogyny and Death

Minor: Abortion, Blood, Excrement, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Other content warnings & specifics: medical sexism, graphic discussions of childbirth & c-section, attempted assault & kidnapping, child in peril, graphic depiction of a near drowning, claustrophobia, abortion (in the context of a missed miscarriage requiring surgical intervention).

vanesst's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Infertility, Medical content, and Grief

qtcarolyn's review

emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Miscarriage, Bullying, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Sexual violence, Dysphoria, and Animal death