Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell

43 reviews

gluten_full's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

Her ability to write about the way Illness, pain, fear, and grief manifest in a person has dazzled me since Hamnet, and this book did not disappoint. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Chronic illness

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

It’s about a woman’s near death experiences, which include instances of illness in her childhood, threats by men, drowning, pregnancy and childbirth complications, and her child daughter’s own near death experience

msteinhaus's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.0

Maggie O'Farrell's writing is lovely--very evocative without being over-the-top or cloying. I appreciated that while near-death experiences are the thread around which this memoir is organized, they aren't always the primary focus of a given vignette. My only complaint is that the last chapter about her daughter felt out of place--it is a sharp evolution/departure from the other stories and I would have preferred its exclusion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Miscarriage

bethnash's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Animal death, Bullying, Murder, Violence, and Infidelity

localcat's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Blood

Minor: Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence

alylentz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was a quick read and a really cool approach to memoir! Super interesting and definitely made me want to read more of her work. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

jamihoneycutt's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I promised myself that I would read more of Maggie O’Farrell after reading Hamnet and falling in love with her writing style. Unsurprisingly, I loved this and was so sad when it came to an end. The audiobook performance was phenomenal and I am baffled by the life this woman has lived. So many of the passages have been floating around in my mind since reading them. This might be the first book I buy a physical copy of for the purpose of highlighting and annotating. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical content, Death, Infertility, and Violence

scenic92's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence, Bullying, and Infertility

cocorenfroe's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Miscarriage

bradypus's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, Infertility, and Pregnancy

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

Title: I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
Author: Maggie O'Farrell
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: August 27 2017

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intimate • Unconventional • Articulate

📖 S Y N O P S I S

I Am, I Am, I Am is the deeply personal memoir from British novelist Maggie O'Farrell, exploring seventeen brushes with death sprinkled throughout her life. From a childhood illness to a a frightening encounter deep in the jungle to dealing with a child diagnosed with severe allergies, each essay explores the preciousness of life.

💭 T H O U G H T S

This book had been on my TBR since it's release, and I honestly thought I was going to love it. Not only did it come highly recommended to me, but the beautiful cover and synopsis were right up my alley. However, it failed to engage me completely the whole way through. It is a deeply personal and insightful account of the fragility of life, yet I wasn't overly moved. What didn't work for me was the structure. Personally, I think a chronological order of events would have benefitted the narration and made for a more enjoyable reading experience. With that said, her writing is stunningly beautiful and she explores the complexities of life in a delicate manner.

I anticipated loving this book, and honestly it didn't live up to my expectations. While this wasn't the powerful, moving memoir I was hoping for, it was still worth reading.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who enjoyed The Year of Magical Thinking
• Maggie O'Farrell fans

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The people who teach us something retain a particularly vivid place in our memoires. I'd been a parent for about ten minutes when I met the man, but he taught me, with a small gesture, one of the most important things about the job: kindness, intuition, touch, and that sometimes you don't even need words." 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy