Reviews tagging 'Death'

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell

35 reviews

nadia's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

What a life Maggie O'Farrell has lived! This memoir was at times an edge-of-the-seat page-turner and at others a more meditative, reflective piece. It's definitely one that gets you thinking about mortality, risk, and living life to the fullest. And Maggie's writing is so great — I'm looking forward to trying some of her fiction now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Chronic illness

Moderate: Death and Violence

jamihoneycutt's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I promised myself that I would read more of Maggie O’Farrell after reading Hamnet and falling in love with her writing style. Unsurprisingly, I loved this and was so sad when it came to an end. The audiobook performance was phenomenal and I am baffled by the life this woman has lived. So many of the passages have been floating around in my mind since reading them. This might be the first book I buy a physical copy of for the purpose of highlighting and annotating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical content, Death, Infertility, and Violence

sruhsh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

rachel_sf's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Miscarriage

aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.5

O’Farrell’s writing is incomparable in its atmosphere and style. I have found myself profoundly moved by several parts of this book, though others slightly less. It has inspired me to reflect on my own life and how I have treated and considered it throughout, and has bored it’s way into my brain in the days I have been reading it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, and Child death

akashara's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Rape

jaimeekate's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

A premise so morbidly enticing I couldn’t help but pick it up! Admittedly, I expected this book to be over-the-top, dramatic, an exaggerated retelling of extraordinary circumstances. But it’s not that at all.
This book is both down to earth and contemplative, with a tone that O’Farrell crafts beautifully. Everyone can relate to this book, but especially women as it details the circumstances so familiar to so many, and yet rarely talked about.
This is a heart-wrenching book, but O’Farrell does it in such a way that makes the topic of ever-present death not only tolerable, but enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual harassment

bradypus's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, Infertility, and Pregnancy

kelly_e's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

Title: I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
Author: Maggie O'Farrell
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: August 27 2017

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intimate • Unconventional • Articulate

📖 S Y N O P S I S

I Am, I Am, I Am is the deeply personal memoir from British novelist Maggie O'Farrell, exploring seventeen brushes with death sprinkled throughout her life. From a childhood illness to a a frightening encounter deep in the jungle to dealing with a child diagnosed with severe allergies, each essay explores the preciousness of life.

💭 T H O U G H T S

This book had been on my TBR since it's release, and I honestly thought I was going to love it. Not only did it come highly recommended to me, but the beautiful cover and synopsis were right up my alley. However, it failed to engage me completely the whole way through. It is a deeply personal and insightful account of the fragility of life, yet I wasn't overly moved. What didn't work for me was the structure. Personally, I think a chronological order of events would have benefitted the narration and made for a more enjoyable reading experience. With that said, her writing is stunningly beautiful and she explores the complexities of life in a delicate manner.

I anticipated loving this book, and honestly it didn't live up to my expectations. While this wasn't the powerful, moving memoir I was hoping for, it was still worth reading.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who enjoyed The Year of Magical Thinking
• Maggie O'Farrell fans

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The people who teach us something retain a particularly vivid place in our memoires. I'd been a parent for about ten minutes when I met the man, but he taught me, with a small gesture, one of the most important things about the job: kindness, intuition, touch, and that sometimes you don't even need words." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy

meru's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abortion, and Medical content