3.83 AVERAGE


“…all bodies ache with a wisdom that wants to be appreciated.”

So grateful this author is in the medical field and shared so much wisdom, vulnerability, and realness with the world.

lczach's review

4.0

Primarily a medical memoir that (sometimes loosely) ties into the author’s personal journey of self-healing. I really enjoyed the writing and stories about the patients the author encountered as an ER doc.
emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Wow Dr. Harper your gift of storytelling is incredible. What a great memoir to allow me to peer into your world in the ER. What an impressive life and gift of healing. I loved every part of this book. Brilliant mind I want to be dr. Harper or at least be her friend.
emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

This was good, very reflective, at some points felt a bit pretentious but was a good book on the medical field from a perspective that’s often not in the conversation.

This book healed me
Absolutely my life is better for having read this book
emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Such an incredibly important memoir. For anyone interested in medicine this was such a sincere & revealing take into both Harper's intimate life and growth, and also the daily trials of working in the emergency room. There were little lessons within each chapter that encapsulated what I assume was years of learning & growth in Harper's life, and also patient vignettes. She wrote so beautifully about thought and emotion, alongside beginner-level medical details and great dialogue. This makes me excited for anything else she may write in the future. Must-read for future healthcare workers. 

Heartbreakingly beautifully written memoir that explores the ways we can find healing in our brokenness, from the perspective of an ER doctor. A truly life transforming read.
challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

This book is worthy of 5 stars. However, it was triggering to me because it brought up healthcare anxieties, and fears of death and loss, from when I was little. I listened to this book on audible, which was the first time I've ever really listened to a book before, and I found myself dozing in and out often because that's not the typical form in which I read. So my judgment may not be as strong as someone else's, particularly someone who has read the physical text. That being said, Michele Harper brings a very important and necessary perspective on what it's like working in an American hospital with fellow Americans, under the American healthcare system. I personally found her point of view to be incredibly eye-opening. I enjoyed the way the memoir tells the patients' stories within the time frame of one hospital shift she works.  It speaks to the amount of people there are in this world, and how every person has a story of their own. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

just felt extremely clunky — each case has a specific lesson that hits you over the head with some maxim, and her personal life was dropped in at seemingly random intervals. while I respect her beliefs and she certainly is an ambitious, smart, high achieving medical professional, so much of the healing talk was yoga related and preach