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dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Genocide, Racism, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
I really liked the intertwining of the historic and social aspects in his exploration of this unjust disease.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Colonisation, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
It's surreal to have followed the Vlogbrothers for so long and to have learned a lot of what's in here from John's videos as he wrote this book. To be a part of the fight. He was calling out, "Marco!" and recieving a chorus of "Polo!"'s long before these pages shouted across bookshelves everywhere. And how wonderful, that he found a way to help turn all those voices into action. How actionable these things become to others when they are no longer things, but people, with names and families and lives that can no longer be diminished into a vague clump of numbers. (Also I don't think I knew how profoundly impactful plurals could be to me until that bit along the lines of, "she worked hard to help keep her kids healthy. Then she worked hard to keep her kid."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Colonisation, Classism
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
It's been a long while since I've put in the mental effort to fully sit through a non-fiction entry. Everything is Tuberculosis is a surprise entry from John Green, whose only other book I liked was Anthropocene Reviewed, which I read in 2021. This book was a bit of a hard read for me emotionally. John is an amazing storyteller when it comes to sharing the real plights around the world, and in this case, about the deadly Tuberculosis. TB is everywhere, and is everything. We might not know how it caused crucial events in history to take place, but we know that there are ways to cure it now. This is a story of a bacteria, its cure, access to its cure, and Henry.
I, like John, cannot understand or visualize a metric like "millions of deaths due to TB", but I can understand the experience of one single individual, and multiply that feeling by a million to understand the shared or common plight of TB patients.
John's emphasis on history as a strong, ongoing influence on the present gave me perspective on much more than what's in the book. I loved it, you might too. So check it out if you can!
I, like John, cannot understand or visualize a metric like "millions of deaths due to TB", but I can understand the experience of one single individual, and multiply that feeling by a million to understand the shared or common plight of TB patients.
John's emphasis on history as a strong, ongoing influence on the present gave me perspective on much more than what's in the book. I loved it, you might too. So check it out if you can!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Nonfiction is not super typical for me when it comes to reading for “fun.” This was one we chose for book club, and I am glad that we did. I’m giving this a 5 simply because I cannot think of a meaningful critique to give, or anything that could have been done differently to improve this informative novel. The research was clearly, passionately done, and the vast exploration of TB and its interwoven-ness with human history was delivered with care. This is a book that I think everyone should read, to be made aware of the ways in which we as a species could improve the lives of everyone by simply being more aware, but not turning a blind eye, by holding companies accountable to make treatments affordable for the people who need them most.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book explains how racism, colonialism, social determinants of health, and drug companies can allow a disease like tuberculosis to spread, and how antibiotic resistance complicates access to care. It also discusses how relative wealth can vastly impact whether or not a health issue is “worth treating.” These stories just further show me how healthcare cannot prioritize patient outcomes while being a for-profit system.
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness, Death
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
As a fan of John Green’s, I was excited to pick up this novel.
“Everything is Tuberculosis” is a novel that explores all things Tuberculosis. John Green breaks down what exactly Tuberculosis is, the history of the disease, its present day impact, and what the future could look like.
As an American living in 2025, I was not entirely certain what Tuberculosis was because I thought this disease was all but eradicated in these modern years. I was saddened to learn that Tuberculosis is still very much around and still devastating so many people. Worse than that, there exists effective treatments, but they are often too expensive for those affected, so they go untreated and often succumb to their symptoms. I feel like this should be talked about more. Why are we gatekeeping life saving medicine? Why do we allow corporate greed to win?!
This book explains the more technical side of Tuberculosis in a very digestible way, so even if you have no background in science, you can understand what Tuberculosis is. I also think John Green does a great job of humanizing this disease and giving a face to those suffering.
I think this is a great novel that anyone can pick up and get something out of.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Excellent book. I learned a lot about tuberculosis that I didn’t know, from the way it influenced beauty and fashion through the centuries to the many ways it can be treated but is not being treated in poorer countries. Did you know 1/4 of the world’s population today is infected with TB? We don’t even think about tuberculosis in America because almost nobody has it here and we’re not at risk from dying from it. But sadly that’s not the case in many countries around the world.
John Green is a great storyteller, and I confess that I only read this book because it is written by him and I’ve read all his previous books. But I’m so glad I gave this a chance because this was really educational while also holding my attention throughout. I love how he wove Henry’s personal story throughout the book. This was engaging and informational, and definitely a good primer on the history of tuberculosis.
John Green is a great storyteller, and I confess that I only read this book because it is written by him and I’ve read all his previous books. But I’m so glad I gave this a chance because this was really educational while also holding my attention throughout. I love how he wove Henry’s personal story throughout the book. This was engaging and informational, and definitely a good primer on the history of tuberculosis.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Transphobia
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Blood, Abandonment