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michelleleao10's review against another edition
2.0
I really had a hard time with the book at the beginning because it didn’t feel like I was getting anything new out of it. I did enjoy the last quarter of the book a bit more with Raphael making some interesting comparisons.
nialystic's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Chronic illness, and Infertility
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
roxymaybe's review against another edition
3.0
There are a zillion books on this topic nowadays and this one is perfectly fine, but doesn't stand out in any particular way. It did exactly what it promised.
bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.5
This is, ultimately, just another case where I am not actually the target audience for the book. I picked this up because it covers topics I'm quite interested in - the commodification of self-care that turns the concept of taking care of yourself into just one more thing to buy, the gentrification of good health, the wellness mandate (the idea that there exists a state of perfect health which everyone can achieve and that it is a moral obligation that everyone achieve it), how basic human body management things like "exercise" and "eat veggies" became the compulsive purview of mostly white upper-middle- and upper-class women. And it did have some interesting information. This is one of the few places I've seen that actually goes into the connection between "wellness" and spirituality, which I appreciated. But it tried to cover too much ground in too short a book to really go in-depth into anything. This is very much an overview. Which is not a bad thing! If this isn't a topic that you're fairly familiar with, you will likely find it as eye-opening as the people quoted on the back cover of my copy. But it's not really written for those like me who have already read a lot about the ideas. It's engaging, well-written, and clearly thoroughly researched. It just doesn't go into as much detail and depth as I hoped it would.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Classism, and Eating disorder
Minor: Chronic illness, Body shaming, Infertility, and Medical content