Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

101 reviews

jchudson's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Death, Terminal illness, and Cancer

cynzar's review

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

5 STARS🎧💕

PART 1:
Gave me literal goosebumps. Love that it humanized the experience of death from a doctor's POV for me. I always thought it was just one of those things for them (as time went on) and although that was proven to be somewhat true, I got to really understand it better when hearing it from an actual medical professional.

PART 2: 
Broke my fragile little heart. This book feeling and being soo incomplete (because even though Paul had done so much for a man his age, it didn't feel like there was enough because he didn't have time to expand further on his past experiences and had he not been ill, would've experienced and done much more so he could eventually share it), and knowing that it was because of the reality of him facing his mortality and how it so clearly shone light on the reality and predictable (we're all going to die) unpredictability (we don't really know when, even in the face of a terminal diagnosis) of death just broke me.
We always think we have time and what a gut-wrenching reminder that we just really don't.

I want to, but conversely never want to read anything like this again (and will swiftly be getting a physical copy of this book for when I'm ready to face it again).

This was utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful (when I tell you that I cried like the author was my loved one?!)😭🤞🏽.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Terminal illness

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, and Vomit

bookish_bry's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Wow... this book really got to me. It's written very well and punches you in the gut. Paul's self-reflection at the end of his life hits hard. It was a hard book to get through, but it was very, very good. Don't read if you are not in the right emotional state. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, Death, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy

Paul is a doctor and described his medical training somewhat explicitly when talking about dissecting cadavers.

millie_eevee's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Cancer, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Blood, Suicide, and Vomit

eclloyd's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Suicide

racheldallaire's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

Wow. I will be thinking about this one for a long time. What a gift Paul left us in his words. This book is sad, and it made me a little tense at times, but the reflection that it is causing in me is so so valuable. What makes a life meaningful? How do we or should we live? How does death's inevitability shape our living? What is most important? Some of the questions that I am ruminating on as I think over this one. I would caution you that you need to have the (mental) capacity to handle some intense, sad emotions when going into this one, but it is such a worthy book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death

Minor: Cursing

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

meditative and powerful, when breath becomes air journeys kalanithi's confrontation with his own close mortality, bringing to ironic physical fruition his lifelong reflection on life and death. 

detailing his time in med school, the subsequent residency, and his diagnosis and treatment, kalanithi weaves the tale of a man in the unwanted yet unique position of being both a doctor and a patient, providing a rare POV of being on both sides of medical care. the memoir is seeped w/ an undercurrent of calm and mulling, all held tgt by kalanithi's poignant writing. im v glad that he's written and left this book as part of his legacy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Suicide and Child death

lucymoosie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

mdwsn27's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death, Medical content, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood