Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Emotional Female

Emotional Female expertly weaves together the small but significant moments along Dr Kadota's path to becoming a plastic surgeon. These experiences build throughout the memoir to reveal a larger tapestry of personal heartbreak, exhaustion, mental health struggles and systemic exploitation. It is a raw, deeply vulnerable account of the events leading up to 2019: the worst year of Dr Kadota's life while working as an unaccredited surgical registrar in Sydney.

The stories Dr Kadota shares about her family and childhood create such a sense of warmth and intimacy, as well as a deep understanding of (and admiration for) her passion and drive to succeed in surgery, while also introducing a sense of foreboding of what's to come. The experiences she chooses to share from her formative years also set the background for the pervasive sexism and racism she is forced to encounter regularly - not just in the surgical field, but throughout all of medicine, university, and wider Australian society. Through the lens of Dr Kadota's lived experience we get a first-hand and confronting look at how the intersection between sex and race effects women of colour, particularly Asian women, within the white patriarchal structure underlying the surgical profession in Australia, which creates both a "glass" and "bamboo" ceiling for Dr Kadota to break through.

In saying that, though, it is by no means a tragedy - the treacherous journey ultimately leads Dr Kadota to a place of self-compassion, advocacy and hope. The memoir is cohesive, engaging and well-paced. There is a sense of immediacy in Dr Kadota's writing that drops you right in the heart of it, and I kept wanting to read more.

I feel such gratitude to Dr Kadota for courageously sharing her story. All in all a really important read.

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amy_forknall's review

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medium-paced

4.0

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vaniavela's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

A beautifully written memoir about a brilliant young surgeon's journey through ambition and dedication to exploitation and burnout.

Reading Dr. Kadota's story made me feel so much anger at so many people. For being a woman of color in this industry, she suffered from racism to harassment, being called emotional.

This is an incredible read. I have enormous respect for anyone working in the medical industry, and this book reaffirms how much we have to thank the medical staff for. The lack of empathy and support that exists for them is tragic.

This memoir is thoughtful and moving, showing us that Dr. Kadota's resilience, dedication and effort is truly admirable.

I highly recommend this book about a brilliant young doctor and the challenges she faces.

TW: mental health, racism, misogyny, bullying, sexual harrassment, family violence, sexual assault and suicide themes.

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