Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

What Doesn't Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller

21 reviews

laurenkimoto's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

4.0

Why isn’t heart wrenching an option for the mood of the book??

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This was a compelling, honest look at life with chronic illness. I felt seen and heard as a person with a disability while I read Miller's recounts of her life. This book gave me a lot to reflect on in my own experiences and beliefs about (dis)ability and a meaningful life with a chronic condition, while also validating me for the fears and emotions I experience. 

If you are chronically ill or disabled, I especially recommend this book to you.

This being said, please note the trigger warnings as this book may be difficult to read for some people. Miller discusses the abuse she experienced from her alcoholic father and drug-addicted ex-boyfriend, the nitty gritty of Crohn's (including detailed references to excrement, blood and vomit), medical trauma and ableism of many kinds, and sexual assault. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia and Racism

gracegeeks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Vomit, Excrement, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

sierrascha's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Drug abuse

imstephtacular's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, Classism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Excrement, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Self harm, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Miscarriage

emfass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Part memoir, part journalism, 1000% vulnerable and a must-read, especially if you love someone with chronic illness. I cannot speak from an #OwnVoices perspective, but I hope it would also help a reader with chronic illness feel seen. I listened to this on audiobook, and it was made even more powerful by listening to Miller tell her story in her own voice.

Content warning: the author is descriptive throughout concerning the effects of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), C. diff, and Crohn's disease) and does not hold back about what it does to her body. She also shares openly about many different traumas she has faced throughout her life. (I love The StoryGraph website for more detailed content warnings, if you need them!)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, and Excrement

Moderate: Eating disorder

shaunashares's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Excrement, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I received a free ARC from Henry Holt Books in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. My chronic illness differs from Tessa's, but I still found this book to be incredibly relatable. I also liked how it was part memoir and part educational. I want everyone in my life to read this so they can better understand living with a chronic illness.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Excrement, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Ableism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent

alexandrap529's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Sexual assault

lisabreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

 What Doesn’t Kill You by Tessa Miller is a chronic illness memoir. The author has Crohn’s Disease, like I do, but like many chronic illnesses, our symptoms and treatment paths are completely different. I did find this one leaning heavily on her experience in US healthcare and her persistent infections with C. Diff, neither of which I have personally experienced. She also goes a lot into her own personal history with abuse and the affects that had on her mental health during this experience as well, which was very personal to her.
So if you are reading this as a primer on Crohn’s, you’ll get some great information, especially if you are a US patient. But you will also get a lot of personal chapters that you would expect from a memoir.

Having Crohn’s can feel isolating as most people don’t love much “bathroom” talk so I appreciate anyone willing to share their story so I can feel a little less alone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia