overduck's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

This book was incredibly informative and still had me laughing out loud at the author's wit and clever use of footnotes. My only complaint was that I was there had been summaries occasionally to wrap up a chapter; I quickly found myself forgetting the things I had read or losing the main point in the details. It was still phenomenal, though. 

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tiffanyg's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful inspiring medium-paced

3.0

Dated but still interesting.

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kaitlinjohnson's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

2.25

I honestly did not like the majority of this book and I'm not sure why I finished it. I have a very high tolerance for "gross" but portions of this were legitimately unbearable. I skipped the second half of multiple chapters (WARNING CH 4 IS TRULY AWFUL). I'm generally an easy audience for nonfiction science but this felt overly sensationalized and intentionally disturbing. 

Content warnings for bestiality, animal abuse (graphic descriptions), human abuse, genital mutilation, and all kinds of other stuff you probably weren't expecting to find in this book. And none of these things appear to be written about with any sense of disgust or with any empathy for the victims (and in fact feel like the butt end of jokes at times) . Do not recommend

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literary__mary's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

I read this book for a psych class and absolutely loved it. It discusses sex in a way that isn't uncomfortable, and is hilarious but informative. I love how willingly Roach gets into her research, and I can't wait to read more from her! This is the kind of book you want to read the footnotes in because they're so fascinating and funny.

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chronicallyplotting's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted slow-paced

5.0

I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. It was very interesting to read how our knowledge about sex has evolved over the years. Mary Roach had a great writing style and easily weaves humor into it. I read every footnote. I learned a lot throughout this book. I applaud the author for how dedicated she had to become to the subject; including volunteering for studies herself and traveling all over the world. Great read, it is so easy to pick this book up and get sucked in. I found myself laughing, making faces and pausing to think about how sex is viewed, how it’s changed, and how awesome we as humans are. 

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