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Reviews
What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna
jainabee's review
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Queer and authoritative menopause information by a snarky queer Gen-X who knows WTF they speak of! Trans men, trans women and other gender expansive people will find their concerns addressed here. If I could stuff everyone's stockings, this would be it. Also, straight, cis women will find what they need here!
Content Warnings
Everyone, and I mean everyone, would benefit from reading this book.
alicebme's review
3.0
I appreciate this book for how inclusive it is, and I found it useful in my validation phase of perimenopause.
rosietomyn's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What Fresh Hell Is This by Heather Corinna is a great primer on all things hormone-changes that are coming, happening, or have happened to anyone who has (or once had) a uterus.
There isn't a whole lot of new information, but for me, it was a great compilation of all of the things that hormonal changes can impact. Corinna tackles everything from the history of HRT to bodily impacts to neurological changes to how parents can model positive self care, self advocacy, and how to support loved ones and partners who are struggling with the impacts of hormonal transitions.
This is a beneficial read at any age, but would be incredibly impactful for readers in their 30s-early 40s. In this age-group, we are able to more effectively prepare and be ready, rather than be put in a reactive position as changes become more likely and consistent.
When life is crazy, as it tends to be, it is easy for women in particular to bury our heads in the work of life and plug our ears to issues coming for us. We should not be doing this! It IS just one more thing, but it is an important one that should not be back-burnered because we are stressed/exhausted/all-the-things.
We should absolutely be frontloading good information about the changes coming, especially because they can and do happen in our 30s and even during childbearing years. This is so we are prepared and can advocate for ourselves and, in the long run, we can reduce that same stressed/exhausted/all-the-things cycle.
This book is a great crash-course on perimenopause, menopause, and other hormonal fluctuations. It is also a great refresher on self-advocacy when things come up that make us think "what the heck is going on?!" and we aren't getting real support from providers (hint: the answer isn't giving up).
Corinna is very fluid and flexible, and is clearly writing from a place of support for all people. Not all information applies to everyone, but I found the inclusion of different perspectives enlightening. Negative reviewers didn't appreciate Corinna's inclusion of the personal stressors she experienced as she embarked on personal hormonal shifts, the 2016 being a big one. Personally, I think her personal experiences provide examples of how many experiences/outside influences can impact a person's health, particularly in a time of transition.
I definitely recommend What Fresh Hell Is This. I hope it inspires more of us to learn more and lean into self advocacy.
There isn't a whole lot of new information, but for me, it was a great compilation of all of the things that hormonal changes can impact. Corinna tackles everything from the history of HRT to bodily impacts to neurological changes to how parents can model positive self care, self advocacy, and how to support loved ones and partners who are struggling with the impacts of hormonal transitions.
This is a beneficial read at any age, but would be incredibly impactful for readers in their 30s-early 40s. In this age-group, we are able to more effectively prepare and be ready, rather than be put in a reactive position as changes become more likely and consistent.
When life is crazy, as it tends to be, it is easy for women in particular to bury our heads in the work of life and plug our ears to issues coming for us. We should not be doing this! It IS just one more thing, but it is an important one that should not be back-burnered because we are stressed/exhausted/all-the-things.
We should absolutely be frontloading good information about the changes coming, especially because they can and do happen in our 30s and even during childbearing years. This is so we are prepared and can advocate for ourselves and, in the long run, we can reduce that same stressed/exhausted/all-the-things cycle.
This book is a great crash-course on perimenopause, menopause, and other hormonal fluctuations. It is also a great refresher on self-advocacy when things come up that make us think "what the heck is going on?!" and we aren't getting real support from providers (hint: the answer isn't giving up).
Corinna is very fluid and flexible, and is clearly writing from a place of support for all people. Not all information applies to everyone, but I found the inclusion of different perspectives enlightening. Negative reviewers didn't appreciate Corinna's inclusion of the personal stressors she experienced as she embarked on personal hormonal shifts, the 2016 being a big one. Personally, I think her personal experiences provide examples of how many experiences/outside influences can impact a person's health, particularly in a time of transition.
I definitely recommend What Fresh Hell Is This. I hope it inspires more of us to learn more and lean into self advocacy.
omegabeth's review
5.0
SUPER USEFUL ADVICE, presented by your extremely direct (and profane) best friend who has has a *much* more interesting life than you have had. I recommend dipping in and out to find the bits that address what's going on right now, and skim to rest to make connections about all of the other changes that you had no idea were quite possibly perimenopause-related. It can be ALOT to try and read cover to cover, and the graphic design and layout people failed in making clear delineations of the side bar material versus the main text, which doesn't help. Corinna's recognition of the structural inequalities that make this transition so much harder than it needs to be and her understanding of the interlocking axes of privilege makes this both much more inclusive and more educational about all sorts of things that I hadn't ever really thought about (hello, transmasc peoples!) when I thought about perimenopause. Potentially great fodder as a scaffolding for a support group~
ovenbird_reads's review
5.0
If you're approaching menopause or in a body that will experience menopause at some point this should be essential reading.
themahtin's review
Great book. It took me a long time to read it because sometimes I just had to let the information soak in...