Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke

4 reviews

growintogardens's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

clarabooksit's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

O’Rourke does a good job of blending personal narrative and research. She effectively and compassionately argues for reshaping the ways we as a society and as individuals think about chronic illness.

Key takeaways: how the invisibility of a lot of illnesses negatively impacts people on top of their already poor health—e.g. not being taken seriously, being dismissed, not getting the same kind of care and sympathy, etc.—and how we can do better simply by believing people; how desperate living with an unknown and therefore undiagnosed chronic illness can make someone and that there are people who take advantage of that; how chronic illness can affect the people around those who suffer from them, too; and that the pursuit of “cure-alls” is often damaging to the psyche when more emphasis should be put on adjusting to life with a chronic illness.

Her healthcare journey is often difficult to read about but an important one. I think a lot of people will feel seen by this book. And I think she does a decent job of acknowledging her personal privilege and sharing important research and statistics regarding minorities, particularly women of color, who have a chronic illness.

It does get a little repetitive in parts and for someone who lacks all of the privilege O’Rourke possesses, her story might be grating or frustrating. That’s not for me to decide, though.

I’m glad I read this. Many people in my life have a chronic illness and I’m always trying to better understand how and how much their illnesses impact their daily lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Classism

Minor: Excrement

lowbrowhighart's review

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, and Ableism

Moderate: Death, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Minor: Cursing and Terminal illness

internationalreads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This book literally changed my life. Longer review to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Vomit