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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
I found Calahan’s story and journey to be incredibly moving. I am genuinely so glad that she had the support systems she did and that people spoke up for her. Last year I helped take care of my grandma who has Parkinson’s when her device that alleviates symptoms died before a replacement was available, and remembering how difficult that situation was, despite the support system she had, made me feel for Susannah. It’s horrific to think about people having diseases that aren’t diagnosed with doctors who view them as money or as another item on a to do list. This memoir detailing the experiences really touched me and I hope that things continue to improve with doctors taking patients, specifically women, seriously with their health issues.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Read 3/15
Fascinating story of a reporter who finds herself in the middle of a mental illness which was in fact not a mental illness but rather an auto immune disease. The story is very fascinating, though told very slowly. At times the story seems to drag on and even though it only covers one month, it is so dull that it seems like it covers half of her life. So it's a little long and dull.
I wanted to connect with the writer but the way the story is "told" makes connecting very difficult. It was difficult to connect with any of them except perhaps the father. For some reason she does a better job of describing him than she does of herself or her mother. In fact, I disliked the mother very much. I found myself reading to finish rather than meeting to enjoy
Fascinating story of a reporter who finds herself in the middle of a mental illness which was in fact not a mental illness but rather an auto immune disease. The story is very fascinating, though told very slowly. At times the story seems to drag on and even though it only covers one month, it is so dull that it seems like it covers half of her life. So it's a little long and dull.
I wanted to connect with the writer but the way the story is "told" makes connecting very difficult. It was difficult to connect with any of them except perhaps the father. For some reason she does a better job of describing him than she does of herself or her mother. In fact, I disliked the mother very much. I found myself reading to finish rather than meeting to enjoy
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I heard some good things about this book when it came out, but I knew I would never get around to reading it myself -- so I listened to the audio version from Audible. The narrator is very good, and the story is fascinating/scary/amazing, but it is (at times) so intense I could only get through small bits at a time. Cahalan is able to tell her story in a compelling and fairly unbiased way, combining details from medical reports, personal diaries, and endless hours of interviews. After initially being "diagnosed" as a stressed-out, depressed alcoholic (which everyone knew she was not), Cahalan's disease continued to ravage her brain and her body, landing her in psych wards and hospital wings for epileptics, until one neurologist finally began to put the pieces of her puzzle together.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Interesting story. Lots of info about the complicated health issues that made this feel more clinical than emotional.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
A harrowing account of Susannah’s fight with a rare autoimmune condition that changed her entire life for a significant period of time. Some chapters were a bit slow, but overall a memorable listen.