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A review by ashortbooklover
Gut Feelings by C.G. Moore
4.0
TW: chronic illness, surgery, homophobia, bullying
Gut Feelings cut deep. This was such a powerful, eye-opening read that felt so poignant and beautiful.
This is a deeply personal story and it’s incredibly brave of Chris to be sharing such intimate details of his life, but I truly feel like this is a book that could change people’s lives. It examines living with a chronic illness and hidden disabilities through searing language that you can’t help but deeply emotionally connect with. I’ve spoken before about the innate emotional power that exists within poetry for me and Chris perfectly utilises the sparsity of the language here for maximum effect. Each word is obviously carefully considered and chosen. There’s also no room for sugarcoating or dishonesty, instead we are presented with the raw truth. In this way, I think it reflects the experiences of so many incredibly well.
There’s a plethora of conflicting emotions presented within the book, each of which I felt distinctly and I found myself connecting to Chris’ voice deeply. Some aspects of the story really hit home from familial experiences and this kind of representation is sorely needed. Invisible or hidden disabilities need to be spoken about more and we need to erase the notion of assuming that we need to always see someone’s disability in order for it to be considered real. No disability is more important than another and in particular the poem about using a disabled bathroom in public is exceptional.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I absolutely flew through this in the space of an evening, unable to tear myself away from the stunning yet devastating writing. Chris is definitely an author to watch and now I feel like I need to read everything he’s written.
Gut Feelings is a heart-wrenching, no holds barred discussion of living with a chronic illness, yet it also showcases the importance of family and the reclamation of your own narrative.
Gut Feelings cut deep. This was such a powerful, eye-opening read that felt so poignant and beautiful.
This is a deeply personal story and it’s incredibly brave of Chris to be sharing such intimate details of his life, but I truly feel like this is a book that could change people’s lives. It examines living with a chronic illness and hidden disabilities through searing language that you can’t help but deeply emotionally connect with. I’ve spoken before about the innate emotional power that exists within poetry for me and Chris perfectly utilises the sparsity of the language here for maximum effect. Each word is obviously carefully considered and chosen. There’s also no room for sugarcoating or dishonesty, instead we are presented with the raw truth. In this way, I think it reflects the experiences of so many incredibly well.
There’s a plethora of conflicting emotions presented within the book, each of which I felt distinctly and I found myself connecting to Chris’ voice deeply. Some aspects of the story really hit home from familial experiences and this kind of representation is sorely needed. Invisible or hidden disabilities need to be spoken about more and we need to erase the notion of assuming that we need to always see someone’s disability in order for it to be considered real. No disability is more important than another and in particular the poem about using a disabled bathroom in public is exceptional.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I absolutely flew through this in the space of an evening, unable to tear myself away from the stunning yet devastating writing. Chris is definitely an author to watch and now I feel like I need to read everything he’s written.
Gut Feelings is a heart-wrenching, no holds barred discussion of living with a chronic illness, yet it also showcases the importance of family and the reclamation of your own narrative.