Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

35 reviews

rbacon's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Read it in a day, so much happens and all of it is so well written. I bloody love the NHS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Vomit, Blood, and Chronic illness

onthelam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

i just finished reading this and i am shook .I cant believe that we are in the 21st century yet people have to go through such torture constantly. i cant believe there is nothing we can do. i have a sister who's gonna become a doctor because of parental pressure, I have a friend. i cant believe that this is how the most important profession is treated..this is how we treat the people we put our lives in the hand of. The title was true, this is going to hurt and it should hurt for this hurt is nothing faced with what these people go through.I am grateful to this book for bringing me awareness about this topic and helping me make some major decisions of my own life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Blood, Gore, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Excrement, Abortion, Cancer, Chronic illness, Dementia, Grief, Infertility, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Dementia, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Cursing, Infertility, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

readingthroughinfinity's review

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

I'd heard from friends working in different sectors of the NHS how understaffed and overworked NHS staff are but this book is a sobering reminder of how bad things have truly become. The amount of times Adam Kay chronicles working back-to-back 12-hour shifts is staggering. 

I picked up the audiobook for this after starting the TV adaptation and it's equal parts uplifting and disheartening (to hear about the exhaustion and lack of support available for doctors and nurses). Adam Kay's caustic brand of humour brings so many moments of light-hearted relief among the sad and emotional diary entries that make up this book. I have a huge amount of respect and appreciation for everything NHS workers do and I wish our government afforded them the same respect (instead of gradually eroding the NHS and pushing it towards privatisation). Kay has a good suggestion for what we can do to change things: write to your MPs and demand changes at government level.

This is a great read, and although there are some extremely harrowing moments, it's definitely one I'd recommend for an eye-opening first-hand account of life as a medic.

Content warnings for graphic descriptions of blood and bodily trauma, pregnancy, miscarriages and stillbirth, death of children/babies, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, discussions of racism, fatphobia, excrement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Death, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Excrement

Minor: Body shaming

akira_outofthegravity's review

emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted sad fast-paced

4.25

I was never prepared for anything this book threw at me. When I prepared for the worst, I ended up laughing. When I was prepared for a funny story, I was hit the hardest.

This book is poignant and beautiful and fucking hilarious. Adam Kay is brilliant, and his writing style is fabulous. If you get the chance to see him live- which I have- do it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Vomit, Miscarriage, Medical content, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Excrement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion and Alcoholism

kathrinellis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative fast-paced

5.0

This was such an interesting and emotional read. There‘s the right balance between funny and tragic stories. It also provides an accurate insight into the way people working in a medical institution are treated by patients, the government and colleagues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Vomit

emmakvc's review against another edition

emotional funny sad

4.5

Made me laugh & made me cry

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Grief, and Excrement

maduvanthivenkatesan's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

This was so affecting and especially poignant reading it as someone who dropped out of medical school. I loved learning about the ins and outs of obs and gynae medicine, about different conditions and their treatments. It was deeply frustrating and angering to read about the deep systemic issues chipping away at the health system and the affect it had on doctors. I work for a union now and it made my blood boil to witness such appalling working conditions and health and safety arising from austerity. The author narrates the book in such a laid-back and funny way, which makes the sad bits even more impactful. Would definitely recommend it!

rayne_1906's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

3 hours 6 minutes - This book was not what I was expecting, as it was so much better, so much more engaging, and so much more insightful than anything I had expected. The writing style is funny but provides so much insight into how the NHS runs and the way doctors experience daily life. It was so heart-breaking in places, yet hilarious in others. I don't usually enjoy reading non-fiction, as I often find it boring and hard-to-read, but none of these problems applied to this book at all. I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Vomit

asmale's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Infertility

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, Suicide, Excrement, Eating disorder, Drug use, and Dementia

sedgewren's review

emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

An incisive and darkly hilarious insight into the life of a junior doctor in the NHS. It made me laugh, cringe, realise how woefully underfunded the NHS is, and how hypocritical the British government is when they applaud the NHS but at the same time strip it of its funding and resources.

Whilst reading this book, I kept on snickering aloud at the situations that Kay kept finding himself in, and enjoying the dark but gruesome humour. I gained a newfound respect for doctors - I already knew they were hard-working, tough and resilient, but the amount of extra work, heart ache and sleep deprivation for no extra compensation was a shock to me.

The book is both hilarious but also heart breaking - if you are to read a book this year, make it this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Excrement, Gore, and Medical content