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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald
10 reviews
kathrynreading's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Like her first book Spineless, Juli takes you on a fantastic journey through the science of corals and reefs but also introduces you to the amazing people doing the work to understand and protect corals. Juli had a way of making you feel like you are right there and every chapter is full of excitement and discovery.
Intertwined is the story of her daughter Isy’s OCD. All the sections on Isy are from Juli’s POV and Isy has given permission for them to be in the book. From interviews and articles I read with Juli post publication Isy seems to be thriving. This was important for me to know going in as Juli’s initial descriptions of Isy’s OCD are very visceral. I needed to know that Isy was going to get the help she needed. I don’t consider this a spoiler. I appreciate how Juli ties together mental health, social inequality, racism and the reef together.
This is a fabulous book. If you haven’t read Juli’s book Spineless which is on jellyfish I recommend you do; it’s just as excellent.
Intertwined is the story of her daughter Isy’s OCD. All the sections on Isy are from Juli’s POV and Isy has given permission for them to be in the book. From interviews and articles I read with Juli post publication Isy seems to be thriving. This was important for me to know going in as Juli’s initial descriptions of Isy’s OCD are very visceral. I needed to know that Isy was going to get the help she needed. I don’t consider this a spoiler. I appreciate how Juli ties together mental health, social inequality, racism and the reef together.
This is a fabulous book. If you haven’t read Juli’s book Spineless which is on jellyfish I recommend you do; it’s just as excellent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Animal death
Minor: Racism and Medical content
julianairving's review
emotional
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Very informative
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
awaywiththefairies's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
A solid 3 because it is packed with information. However I was not a fam of the writing style and it was a bit hard for me to get into. A lot more science information than anticipated - packed with historical and scientific facts.
Not my cup of tea but I think might be someone elses.
Not my cup of tea but I think might be someone elses.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
librarymouse's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
This was a fast, informative, and enjoyable read. I initial picked up this book for a reading challenge, having enjoyed Juli Berwald's other book Spineless, and wanting to see if I could get to understand my own OCD diagnosis better through understanding that of her daughter. While that isn't what I got out of this book, I still greatly enjoyed it. Framing coral health to the health of the planet, as mental health is to the health of the body, especially in how both have been consistently ignored until they reach near catastrophic extents clarified quite a lot about the coral reefs and what they do for the planet, that I had not been aware of before. That frame made the more scientifically dense sections easy to understand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
kaelindegrees's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
audreybethc's review
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
2.5
I read this one for a book club. I did find a lot of the coral information interesting, but I really struggled with the author’s attempts to connect the coral to her daughter’s experience with OCD (hopefully included with her daughter’s consent) and with the COVID pandemic. Those portions of the text felt very forced, and also very surface level. We never got deep enough into her daughter’s story to engage with it, and the points of connection were a stretch; it just never felt like a successful merging of memoir/narrative non-fiction. I really wanted to love this but it fell short for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
There is some discussion of contamination OCD, although not in depth.30something_reads's review
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
My first foray back into non fiction after getting back into reading 😊
I was not anticipating the number of emotions that this book would put me through, but I loved all of them. On the surface, yes, this is a book about coral reef conservation and restoration, but I never felt bogged down by the science and data that was being discussed.
The author does such a wonderful job of weaving in personal anecdotes about her travels, the people she meets, social commentary, as well as what is happening with her daughter’s diagnosis. It shouldn’t make sense, but everything works so well together.
Despite the obvious amount of bad, we’re still left feeling hopeful about the resilience of the corals as well as the amount of attention the cause has garnered across passionate corporations, organizations, and individuals with the resources to affect change.
I was not anticipating the number of emotions that this book would put me through, but I loved all of them. On the surface, yes, this is a book about coral reef conservation and restoration, but I never felt bogged down by the science and data that was being discussed.
The author does such a wonderful job of weaving in personal anecdotes about her travels, the people she meets, social commentary, as well as what is happening with her daughter’s diagnosis. It shouldn’t make sense, but everything works so well together.
Despite the obvious amount of bad, we’re still left feeling hopeful about the resilience of the corals as well as the amount of attention the cause has garnered across passionate corporations, organizations, and individuals with the resources to affect change.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Police brutality, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, and Racism
aus10england's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A very informative read! I didn’t know much about coral reefs, but I feel like I learned a lot about the politics surrounding them. If you’re looking for a specifically scientific book, this is not for you, but I really enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, and Police brutality
rdesanto's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
A beautifully written discovery of the condition and hopes for flourishing coral reefs. This book was fascinating and full of detail concerning the different opportunities we have to maintain reefs and help their diversity flourish. I would highly recommend this book to any sea lover! It was truly breathtaking and fascinating.
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness
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