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mayagb37's review
3.0
While a well-written and comprehensive guide to menstruation and women's health, definitely not the perspective I was interested in. I was hoping this book would be a more social-science oriented read, maybe social justice heavy. Instead, it was very scientific, and I found myself often lost in medical terms surrounding various hormones and conditions. That said, just my personal preference.
strandedinbooks's review
4.0
An appropriately info-heavy book that allows me to not only learn more about my body, but keeps me *wanting* to learn more and to take care of myself, coupled with the author’s humor and wit, makes this book so worthy of a listen to anyone (all genders welcome) who also has a ton of questions about the complexity that is the menstrual cycle.
bitinglime's review
3.0
I listened to this as an audiobook, which was read by the author herself.
Not sure how I feel about this one. I knew about alot of what was in here, and wasn't at all surprised by how little women's health is taken seriously. The author does talk a lot about her own health and struggles within the health system and I'm more inclined to put this in the memoir genre for it if it weren't for the subject matter. I think hearing about her health struggle is important because not all women's health struggle is the same, but in a way I think she is lucky. Not because of her health issues, but because it seemed like a lot of her doctors were men and they actually tried helping her. I never have luck with male doctors even listening to me at all and was actually turned away at my last encounter for intense ovary pain on my right side, the doctor saying it was normal to feel "cramps" during menstruation. I've been menstruating for 2/3rds of my life at 30, I know if a cramp doesn't feel right. A month later a female doctor actually took the time to look me over and discovered I have fibroids on that side.
While the title says, "Why We Need to Talk About Women, Hormones, and Mental Health," I feel like everything was barely brushed upon. Like, yes, those things were covered, but nothing really significant stood out to me. Whenever I read books like these, I always question how the author thinks we can move forward, but unfortunately there wasn't much she was suggesting. I would love to know how to talk to my doctors to make sure they listen to me. Or how to make sure drug companies aren't just making sure their medicine works for men and completely disregarding women's reactions or side-effects. I can't take medication for my mental health because of the side-effects.
The one thing I was surprised to hear about was PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder). I have done my own research on PMDD in the past, looking for answers about my own menstrual health. Very little is known or said about it, so I thought it would be interesting to hear her take, but I was again running into the problem of already knowing what she was saying.
Would I recommend this book? Actually, yes. I don't think this book is bad by any means, and in fact it may help a lot of women. It just didn't have what I wanted out of it. I do a lot of my own research on things like this, so it wasn't really for someone like me, but I will say it is nice to have a lot of that information in one place.
Not sure how I feel about this one. I knew about alot of what was in here, and wasn't at all surprised by how little women's health is taken seriously. The author does talk a lot about her own health and struggles within the health system and I'm more inclined to put this in the memoir genre for it if it weren't for the subject matter. I think hearing about her health struggle is important because not all women's health struggle is the same, but in a way I think she is lucky. Not because of her health issues, but because it seemed like a lot of her doctors were men and they actually tried helping her. I never have luck with male doctors even listening to me at all and was actually turned away at my last encounter for intense ovary pain on my right side, the doctor saying it was normal to feel "cramps" during menstruation. I've been menstruating for 2/3rds of my life at 30, I know if a cramp doesn't feel right. A month later a female doctor actually took the time to look me over and discovered I have fibroids on that side.
While the title says, "Why We Need to Talk About Women, Hormones, and Mental Health," I feel like everything was barely brushed upon. Like, yes, those things were covered, but nothing really significant stood out to me. Whenever I read books like these, I always question how the author thinks we can move forward, but unfortunately there wasn't much she was suggesting. I would love to know how to talk to my doctors to make sure they listen to me. Or how to make sure drug companies aren't just making sure their medicine works for men and completely disregarding women's reactions or side-effects. I can't take medication for my mental health because of the side-effects.
The one thing I was surprised to hear about was PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder). I have done my own research on PMDD in the past, looking for answers about my own menstrual health. Very little is known or said about it, so I thought it would be interesting to hear her take, but I was again running into the problem of already knowing what she was saying.
Would I recommend this book? Actually, yes. I don't think this book is bad by any means, and in fact it may help a lot of women. It just didn't have what I wanted out of it. I do a lot of my own research on things like this, so it wasn't really for someone like me, but I will say it is nice to have a lot of that information in one place.
melannrosenthal's review against another edition
4.0
I'm always looking for more books like this where the author presents an account of her own experience alongside specific scientific data showing how she was mistreated by doctors or in a greater sense, society as a whole, and pointing out how we can be better moving forward, believing women and people with uteruses about the truth of their pain and mental health.
hannahslittlenook's review against another edition
5.0
This book is my top social science book for the year hands down. As a female, I can relate to the author who talks about her own struggles with doctors, pain, expenses, and PMS. Women are not taken seriously when they have pain and it almost cost her her life. This book fired me up and taught me a lot that I did not know about the human body, seeming as I'm a female and wasn't taught the majority of this..I was shocked. Highly recommend reading this book, if for nothing more than a glance into a world you might not have to deal with daily.
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