medium-paced
challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Bought the book at Gabor and Daniel’s launch in the fall of 2022 and read two chapters a day as its a long 525 paged book. Lots of ways to help one diminish the myth of normal. I bought the audio as well to have their words sink in while i walk. Highly recommended.
challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

kwubs's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 20%

Too much text. Read one of the intro chapters about pain and then read the section on healing. APDO book club. Very interesting, but too dense.

The most informative book I’ve ever read in my entire life. This will forever be a reference book, a reminder, and sign post for my life and work. I wish every single person would read this book and think about life/culture/society as it desperately needs to be thought about. I also wish this were a textbook included in many degree programs, if not all of them. Truly profound.

gabrizzle's review

DID NOT FINISH: 0%

Had to return it to the library!
challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced
challenging slow-paced
challenging reflective

A slightly mixed bag for me. On the one hand I think lots of coherent arguments were made about the negative impacts a capitalist and hyper materialistic society has on human health - something I've already pondered before so didn't require any convincing on that part, as well as the influence of childhood experiences on later health. 

The proposed link between patriarchal expectations on emotional repression and links to the rises in autoimmune diseases / women being disproportionately affected I think carries *some* weight to it, however I wasn't convinced to the extent that the author was implying (particularly due to the rise in numbers being fairly recent, when patriarchal expectations are nothing new at all so it would make sense that there are other factors going on). Yes there's the capitalist influences as loosely outlined at several points, but would also have appreciated a deeper look into medical bias - including the historical lack of research into the female body (something that's only begun to improve relatively recently). 

In reference to toxicity at the start the author explains their focus will be on the wider context of social structure (rather than focusing, in the literal sense, on environmental pollutants). However at least some reference around that could still have been included, such as considering:
- the boom of the cosmetics industry + the prevalence of endocrine disruptors and the lack of understanding around female hormones
- the prevalence of micro plastics and the effects on the body
(which all fits within the context of a patriarchal/consumerist society). Tbh those topics could be whole books by themselves so I guess my overall issue was the emotional repression being the running theme; without at least giving clearer nods to potential environmental factors.

TL;DR Overall brings a fresh perspective that's long overdue in western medicine, but I think lacks consideration for other factors influencing health in modern society.