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utahmomreads's review against another edition
2.0
I was about three chapters into the book when I realized that I knew the author. I have no doubt that all of the things she describes in the book could happen and possibly actually happened to her and her family but how do you know what to believe from a person that you don't trust? (I really don't like memoirs.)
That being said, Beck is a decent writer. She is sarcastic, caustic and occasionally funny (I enjoyed her descriptions of Harvard). Read as fiction, the story is moving and entertaining.
That being said, Beck is a decent writer. She is sarcastic, caustic and occasionally funny (I enjoyed her descriptions of Harvard). Read as fiction, the story is moving and entertaining.
courtneeyg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
book_concierge's review
4.0
3.5 *** (rounded up)
The subtitle of this memoir is: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.
John and Martha Beck were both working on their Ph.Ds at Harvard when they conceived their second child. Martha suffered severe nausea throughout the pregnancy, as she had with the couple’s first child, and the pressure to succeed at Harvard caused her to do everything she could to hide her condition from everyone but immediate family way past the time when most pregnant women would happily show their “baby bump.” Still, even that additional stress didn’t fully explain how “different” she felt, or the things she experienced. When she learned the baby she carried had Down syndrome, she fought against her doctors and virtually everyone she knew to continue the pregnancy. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew Adam would be fine.
Beck writes well, and she is very honest about what she went through. She has a wonderful way of expressing herself. Her self-deprecating humor is refreshing, and a few scenes had me laughing out loud. Many of the experiences she relates are simply “unbelievable” and yet I fully believe in the sincerity of her memoir.
The subtitle of this memoir is: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.
John and Martha Beck were both working on their Ph.Ds at Harvard when they conceived their second child. Martha suffered severe nausea throughout the pregnancy, as she had with the couple’s first child, and the pressure to succeed at Harvard caused her to do everything she could to hide her condition from everyone but immediate family way past the time when most pregnant women would happily show their “baby bump.” Still, even that additional stress didn’t fully explain how “different” she felt, or the things she experienced. When she learned the baby she carried had Down syndrome, she fought against her doctors and virtually everyone she knew to continue the pregnancy. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew Adam would be fine.
Beck writes well, and she is very honest about what she went through. She has a wonderful way of expressing herself. Her self-deprecating humor is refreshing, and a few scenes had me laughing out loud. Many of the experiences she relates are simply “unbelievable” and yet I fully believe in the sincerity of her memoir.
beccafeldhacker's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely a point of view I haven’t read from before! I appreciated the authors explanations of their families of origin dynamics and some of the ways she shared the messiness of coming to terms (no pun intended) with her son’s condition. That said, woof, it was hard to see the r word used throughout and wonder how books written now on the subject talk it through.
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up at Target because it looked interesting and was blurbed by Anne Lamott. I gave it 4 stars because I really liked reading it - though I'm still processing to figure out what I think. Martha Beck tells the story of the 'weird' (some would say supernatural, some would say God, some would say mystery) events that surrounded her as she was expecting her second child. Adam was born with down syndrome and he has changed the lives of his multiple-Harvard-degreed parents in unimaginable ways. She's funny (and way too cynical and self-sufficient at the beginning). I've never had experiences such as she has, but as I've gotten older I'm learning to trust other's experiences for what they are -- their experiences. And mine aren't necessarily better or worse than the other's. I'd love to hear what y'all think about the book.
sophiadorajensen's review against another edition
2.0
This was a difficult book for me to enjoy. It was well written, with a well-intended message, but I agree with a lot of the reviewers here that it felt uncomfortable with my own values.
traceyanneg's review against another edition
5.0
It is about a woman who finds out that the son she's expecting has Down's Syndrome. Some pretty amazing and magical things happen to her when she's pregnant to help her to know that things are going to be okay despite her fears. This was a wonderful book and it was very uplifting.