Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Sick: A Memoir by Porochista Khakpour

4 reviews

lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Miscarriage, Self harm, and Islamophobia

brogan7's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

3.0

I was disappointed in this book because I felt it didn't increase my empathy, it rather decreased it. Intellectually, I could think about empathy for this woman and her story, but in my heart, I didn't feel it as I was reading her story.  A tumbling tale of addiction and problematic relationships, it becomes more and more confusing the deeper you get into it.  For a while the story-following-the-setting works, but by 3/4 of the way through the book, the places all seem interchangeable, as do the men, and the only constancy is that her life is falling apart.
Two things are particularly striking to me about the story: that she never stops to take care of herself, for one moment, and that none of the other people in the book are particularly real.  There is never a time when she goes: oh, I need to do things differently, I'm on too many pills, what I'm doing isn't working.  She goes jumping from one bandwagon to another, looking for a miracle cure, which I understand the desperation for, but also seems, externally, as so evidently a rabbithole.  And the other people in her story, the boyfriends, the friends, the strange connections she makes with people of dubious reliability and care...none of them really strike you, other than perhaps as flashing a million alarm bells.  Even her parents are rather two-dimensional.
It's unfortunate, because these stories are important, but I would recommend Abby Norman's book,  if you're looking for something more analytical, Sonya Huber, if you're looking for more insight and wild beauty; also Julie Devaney, Anna Lyndsey, or Tessa Miller.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Addiction

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

4.0

I feel like this one has been on my TBR for ages and I'm glad I finally read it. The medical gaslighting was a lot; I think abled-bodied folks will be tempted to think this could not happen, but I felt it was so relatable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Medical content

mackenziem12's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Ableism, Car accident, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage