You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
44 reviews for:
Everything that Makes Us Human: Case Notes of a Children's Brain Surgeon
Jay Jayamohan
4.24 AVERAGE
44 reviews for:
Everything that Makes Us Human: Case Notes of a Children's Brain Surgeon
Jay Jayamohan
4.24 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
informative
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Abortion
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
TL,DR: The meat of this book is great the framework, not so much.
I read this book very fast, I couldn't put it down. It was gripping and interesting and heart wrenching. I was often so tense I could feel it in my shoulders. I really recommend it.
However I have to give it three stars for the writing style. Firstly the amount of sentences that are straight up repeated over and over as if they are being read for the first time -"it's not only the one in danger who's the patient it's also the parents." Repeated ad nauseam as the doctor tries to handle patients parents, for example.
Secondly the number of badly disguised cliff hangers... " but it was not over, as I was about to find out..." end paragraph. I audibly sighed everytime. Just let us find out naturally it wasn't over! It's interesting enough without having to prompt me to ask questions about what's going to happen to next. It also cheapened the experience of reading these anecdotes framed like a bad thriller.
The editing/pacing was a little strange. Medical terms that a lay person wouldn't know where used a lot and then randomly explained in the middle of the book. And a lot of the stories seemed a little formulaic towards the end, not in the meat of the story but the framework.
I read this book very fast, I couldn't put it down. It was gripping and interesting and heart wrenching. I was often so tense I could feel it in my shoulders. I really recommend it.
However I have to give it three stars for the writing style. Firstly the amount of sentences that are straight up repeated over and over as if they are being read for the first time -"it's not only the one in danger who's the patient it's also the parents." Repeated ad nauseam as the doctor tries to handle patients parents, for example.
Secondly the number of badly disguised cliff hangers... " but it was not over, as I was about to find out..." end paragraph. I audibly sighed everytime. Just let us find out naturally it wasn't over! It's interesting enough without having to prompt me to ask questions about what's going to happen to next. It also cheapened the experience of reading these anecdotes framed like a bad thriller.
The editing/pacing was a little strange. Medical terms that a lay person wouldn't know where used a lot and then randomly explained in the middle of the book. And a lot of the stories seemed a little formulaic towards the end, not in the meat of the story but the framework.
Interesting reading, though I think I expected it to be more patient-focused than it was. There were a lot of cases covered, but it jumped around a lot more than I expected.
The brain is a fascinating subject and the author is quite good at explaining things in a way that’s easy to understand. I think I learnt a lot that I didn’t know before I read the book.
In places, it felt a little repetitive, with some sentiments being expressed more than once. Overall, however, a fascinating read, and I think I would definitely trust this doctor with my own child.
The brain is a fascinating subject and the author is quite good at explaining things in a way that’s easy to understand. I think I learnt a lot that I didn’t know before I read the book.
In places, it felt a little repetitive, with some sentiments being expressed more than once. Overall, however, a fascinating read, and I think I would definitely trust this doctor with my own child.
wow i loved this book! i finished it in a day it was just that good, it had a great mix of his personal life and the patients without being overly complicated
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy
Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced