Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Title: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
Author: Susannah Cahalan
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: November 13 2012

T H R E E • W O R D S

Informative • Brave • Fascinating

📖 S Y N O P S I S

In Brain on Fire, Cahalan tells about her abrupt descent into madness, her family's fight for her rights and medical attention, and a diagnosis that nearly never happened spotlighting misdiagnosis and the importance of seeking a second opinion.

💭 T H O U G H T S

There was just something about this book that was mesmerizing to me. It could be my fascination with the human brain, or desire to always learn new things. This memoir is a brave and honest account, offering a glimpse into a rare disease. It is partly the author's own personal journey, partly relevant scientific information. Woven together it helps raise awareness for the rare auto-immune disease known as encephalitis, while still bring an enjoyable story. The mixed media format used is perfect, as it allowed her investigative abilities to really shine, while helping to piece together everything she experienced.

I am always up for a beautiful story of survival, and in this one Susannah's journalistic abilities shine brightly. It is clearly evident she did her research, combining it with her own personal experience. This is such an important book on both the human and medical levels.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• medical professionals
• memoir lovers

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"We didn't mean to exclude others. My dad and I had gone off to war, fought in the trenches, and against all odds has come out of it alive and intact. There are few other experiences that can bring two people closer than starting death in the face."

Content Warnings