samcsmith's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

3.5


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sshabein's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

After reading Hamnet (and absolutely loving it), I decided to check out Maggie O'Farrell's memoir from the library, and wow, what a book! She tells the stories of her life where she narrowly avoided death, and how those experiences shaped her. It isn't told chronologically, but in a way that definitely unfolds and flashes back in a really compelling way. Her writing is flush with description that never feels overwrought or superfluous.

Some of her brushes with death involve medical treatment, and my jaw quite literally dropped at what people, especially medical professionals, said to her during those times. From her childhood hospitalization from encephalitis to her many miscarriages after a difficult first birth, you'll be ready to fight a couple nurses and doctors ON SIGHT. That said, there is also the very moving moment where one mysterious medical person, about whom she never found out any information, really supported her when she needed it most. If you're a person who has medical trauma of any sort, you may want to check in with yourself before reading.

Between this book and Hamnet being among my favorites this year, I'm ready to delve further into her back catalog. I've had an ARC of Instructions for a Heatwave sitting around an embarrassingly long time, and I will definitely, finally read it.

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laurenkimoto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

3.5

How can someone have 17 brushes with death?????? Wild but eloquently written. 
Parts of this book are written in first person and parts are written in third person and the impact that has on the tone and the emotions is masterful used 

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onmywaytobefamous's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

4.5


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localcat's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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shelfofunread's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

3.5


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bradypus's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0


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l1llymay's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

4.0


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ambero's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

The first chapter hit me and was one of the few things I’ve read this year that I connected with 

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invaderlinz's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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