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sshabein's review against another edition
5.0
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.
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Miscarriage, Violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma
laurenkimoto's review against another edition
3.5
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
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Excrement, Infertility, Grief, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Miscarriage, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Gore, and Medical content
bethnash's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death, Animal death, Bullying, Murder, Violence, and Infidelity
jaimeekate's review against another edition
4.0
This book is both down to earth and contemplative, with a tone that O’Farrell crafts beautifully. Everyone can relate to this book, but especially women as it details the circumstances so familiar to so many, and yet rarely talked about.
This is a heart-wrenching book, but O’Farrell does it in such a way that makes the topic of ever-present death not only tolerable, but enjoyable.
Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual harassment
invaderlinz's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Miscarriage, Grief, and Chronic illness
hrhacissej's review against another edition
4.0
I don't think reading this book during a pandemic was the best idea for me.
O'Farrell is a wonderful writer. Her prose gets to the heart of what she's experiencing succinctly but with an enormous depth. She FEELS things; she writes them down; you read them; and then you FEEL things.
Feeling things is a good thing, but right now, I FEEL a lot of things. Most of them anxiety producing.
In this book of essays, O'Farrell shares 17 of her near death experiences. And even though, I know she's alive (duh...she wrote the book...), I got so anxious reading some of these stories.
So, pardon me, but I skimmed some of them and promptly returned the book to the library. Just breathe.
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma