Reviews tagging 'Racism'

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

26 reviews

kieransilika's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

It was crazy to see how the writers pain was masked under the words of a light heart. He talked about things that would be scary, challenging, emotional and overwhelming like it was normal. Kay managed to give a great insight into a life in the NHS - balancing a non-medic point of view with an informative counter part. It makes me angry and annoyed.

the writer works on a labour ward where he is stressed and overworked, and on the other side of that: black women are 4 times more likely to die during labour than white woman. This really highlights the awful dynamic between stressed workers and inadequate healthcare - a clear change needs to be made for employee and patient benefit.

overall the book was informative and intriguing and definitely a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Self harm, Infertility, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Dementia, Abortion, Racism, Miscarriage, and Animal death

beccaruthe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Excrement, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Cancer, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Infertility, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcoholism

wolf013's review

emotional funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Minor: Dementia, Abortion, Eating disorder, Excrement, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage

6emptynotebooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Infertility, Body horror, Child death, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Racism, and Fatphobia

Minor: Islamophobia

afiya2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Drug use, Self harm, and Racism

portapages's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

lovely, hilarious, heartbreaking book. made me bust out laughing more than once, and also really made me feel for people working on the frontlines. healthcare systems all over the world need to do better, for the sakes of both the staff and patients.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Fatphobia, Cancer, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Body shaming, and Islamophobia

Minor: Suicide attempt

tomesandtash's review against another edition

emotional funny informative medium-paced

5.0

This book taught me so much about working for the NHS and it was equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious. It made me angry, sad, and laugh all within a matter of pages. But I do think this book is really important, especially since the pandemic. The NHS is so underappreciated and this book comes straight from the horses mouth in telling us the best and the worst parts of day to day life in the NHS. It's such a quick read, you could get it done in a matter of hours, please read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Child death

Moderate: Infertility, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Minor: Cancer, Self harm, Racism, Terminal illness, and Mental 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 against another edition

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

amystainton's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.75

A great view into the NHS from a man who has experienced it first hand. Don’t recommend if pregnant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Terminal illness