Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

chronicallyplotting's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

1.0

This memoir is about an author who goes through a long struggle with her health and is ultimately diagnosed with end stage lime disease. And her struggles of also being an addict. She goes through what many with a hard to diagnose illness go through and that is medical trauma and being dismissed not only by medical professionals but her peers and family. 
What I could not understand is how the author did not have any personal growth from this or takeaways to help anyone else from her medical journey. It was disheartening that she never fought for herself or advocated for a diagnosis. The author even indicated in her book that she became the patient no doctor or nurse wanted to work with because she was whining all the time for things; she became a person who loved medical attention and wanted to be waited on. She wanted people to care for her and used her friends also. I was hoping for a story of how someone overcame addiction or a medical crises that they had to fight to overcome and get care. Because I personally know the struggle to find good care, but it instead was a book of a person who does not like America but lives here and has a political agenda versus a message about her health journey. She focuses widely on anti-trump rants and Anit-American healthcare rants but offers no solutions to change or how any of it personally impacted her. And it was a person who thinks they are the best author in the world who probably has a tinge of Munchausen disease. 

Being a person of the chronic illness community myself I was so hoping for more of a survival story, even if it doesn't have a happy ending. Instead I got a political platform and a woman who craves attention and anyone who doesn't give it to her must be racist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Racism, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Addiction, Medical content, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

hamstringy's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

I don’t know how to feel about this. Maybe that’s the reason to read it. I swung between a hyper aware intimacy with the way Khakpour describes illness and a vague disgruntled apathy at the way I felt she was making the wrong choices. Which, I suppose, is an important thing to catch. Khakpour owes us no zen story of healing, of course, and I think she writes an important messy story that’s more common than people realize.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Miscarriage and Self harm

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