Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong

22 reviews

lottie1803's review

challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Cancer, Body shaming, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Racism

maeverose's review

Dnfed @ 48%

This is the second time I’ve attempted to read this - the first time was via audio and I retained very little of it - this time my ebook copy was due back to the library.

I’m not sure if I’ll attempt to read it again, hence why I’m marking it as a dnf instead of putting it back on my tbr as I normally would. I think this book is important and has a lot to offer, especially if you  want an insight into the lives of actual disabled people telling their own story, as opposed to inspo porn books/movies made by non-disabled people — It just put me in a bad mood every time I picked it up. I’m currently going through a lot regarding my own disabilities, so it made me feel a bit hopeless.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Racial slurs, Stalking, Medical trauma, Suicide, Racism, Murder, Ableism, Sexual content, Death of parent, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Islamophobia and Drug abuse

Graphic: eugenics, infanticide, incarceration, Moderate: forced sterilization. Also, there are content warnings listed for some of the essays in the collection, but I felt that some of them missed things that should’ve been listed, so be aware of that. I also am likely missing content warnings in my review, as I didn’t read the whole book.

yourbookishbff's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Disability Visibility is an anthology of essays edited by disability justice advocate Alice Wong. I don’t think I’ve ever read a collection of stories and perspectives so intersectional, raw and (as a non-disabled person) necessary. The structure of the collection is itself a stunning example of “disabled praxis,” as defined by A.H. Reaume in their essay “Why My Novel is Dedicated to My Disabled Friend Maddy,” as each essay simultaneously adds to and stands apart from preceding narratives, building a collage of experience that reflects the community built by and for those seeking disability justice.  

Loosely framed as essays, these range from first-person narratives to transcribed Ted talks to eulogies to artist manifestos to poetry. Several of these stories reflect the trauma and abuse experienced by those living at complex intersections of marginalization, and I was thankful that every essay includes detailed content and trigger warnings at the start. Through this unvarnished truth-telling, the intention of the anthology is made crystal clear - this is a collection rightfully built to amplify disabled voices for the benefit of disabled people and not for the gaze or comfort of non-disabled people.

I read this slowly, over more than a month, and I’m grateful I took my time with it. It challenged me to think about my own areas of deep-seated privilege and about the systems and spaces I have made inaccessible because of this privilege. It expanded my understanding of and respect for inclusivity and helped me to see the ways in which disability rights work has been consistently constrained by non-disabled people. These stories force us to ask, as s.e. smith does in their essay “The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by Disabled People:” “How can we cultivate spaces where everyone has that soaring sense of inclusion, where we can have difficult and meaningful conversations?”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cancer and Child abuse

In this collection of essays, trigger warnings for each individual essay are included at the start of each essay.

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I consider myself familiar with disability justice principles and discussions, and I still learned a lot from this.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Cancer, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Abortion and Excrement

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Damn. Read this book!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Excrement, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Grief, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Infertility, Body shaming, Ableism, Racism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Fatphobia

chronicacademia's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Abortion, Bullying, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

booksjessreads's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is such an eye-opening anthology of essays from disabled people to speak their realities of being disabled in such an ablest world. The stories were so deeply personal and evoked so much emotion. I liked how through the audio, the essays felt more like dialogue with the reader, or like an official talk. Alice Wong and Alejandra Ospina read this with the right tone and made it so digestible despite the heavier content. 

This book does not solely focus on disability, but contributors also discuss further intersections of identity, such as gender, sexuality, age, race and religion. This allows the reader to understand how society further disadvantages those with these intersections and offers a deeply moving and rage-inducing account of US society. 

I enjoyed the audio so much I am getting my own print version to get more familiar with the text. This is essential reading and is one of the most informative reads I have read this year. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Ableism, Transphobia, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death and Pregnancy

changelingreader_adrian's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Racism, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abortion, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

tigger89's review

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was an incredibly informative read. As Alice Wong notes in her introduction, these essays aren't presented with the intention of swaying abled readers. There's little sugarcoating or gentle easing in these chapters, and often the rage behind the words is palpable. With many of these essays, the reader is expected to meet the author where they are, and to do the work themselves to understand any concepts that don't make sense. This is okay. After all, we've got google in our pockets and are capable of searching up a reference.

It's not all frustration and anger, though. Several of the essays focus on community, companionship, and finding joy. I smiled the whole way through "Guide Dogs Don't Lead Blind People. We Wander as One." even at the inevitable moment of sadness. The collection also makes a point to end with positivity, with the entire last section focusing on community and the final essay detailing a moment of joy at a performance conducted by and for the disabled community.

I think most readers would walk away from this volume with at least a few thoughts to chew on, even if you've already spent some time pondering or working in disability advocacy. The sheer diversity of the voices presented virtually guarantees it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Excrement

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Rape

softgalaxy's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

One of the best books I’ve ever read. Everyone should read this. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Sexism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Hate crime, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood and Acephobia/Arophobia