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A review by greymalkin
What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.5
I love the inclusion of how menopause and perimenopause might affect queer and diverse people differently than cis-women. I also liked the focus on this being just one more life stage instead of "The End" or "The Change".
I didn't even particularly mind the strident tone and anger. What I did mind was losing confidence in the author's credibility. They would say something very very confidently and loudly, and then take it back or even contradict it just pages later. e.g. "This guy is horrible for recommending estrogen therapy to deal with menopause" and then a few pages later "estrogen therapy will help ease so many perimenopause symptoms you should totally consider it and if not I will keep arguing for its miracle powers in every chapter from now until the end of the book."
They would also make sweeping generalized statements and then add a line to allow for someone with a different experience, but the way that it is phrased made it seem very othering where not having this shared perimenopausal experience means that this book isn't for you or that you can't be part of the club because you are "too lucky" to understand what everyone else is going through.
I also had issues with the extensive use of acronyms and terms without defining them. the author doesn't even define perimenopause until over 25% of the way into the book.
The repetition of information and advice was mind-numbing and made it hard to read because every time I picked it up again I would wonder if I actually read the section already or if it was just that similar to the last one.
The topic is great. The appendices are also really good. The lists of recommended resources are also really helpful. I rather wish the book had been just a chapter or two and then all the end-matter.
I didn't even particularly mind the strident tone and anger. What I did mind was losing confidence in the author's credibility. They would say something very very confidently and loudly, and then take it back or even contradict it just pages later. e.g. "This guy is horrible for recommending estrogen therapy to deal with menopause" and then a few pages later "estrogen therapy will help ease so many perimenopause symptoms you should totally consider it and if not I will keep arguing for its miracle powers in every chapter from now until the end of the book."
They would also make sweeping generalized statements and then add a line to allow for someone with a different experience, but the way that it is phrased made it seem very othering where not having this shared perimenopausal experience means that this book isn't for you or that you can't be part of the club because you are "too lucky" to understand what everyone else is going through.
I also had issues with the extensive use of acronyms and terms without defining them. the author doesn't even define perimenopause until over 25% of the way into the book.
The repetition of information and advice was mind-numbing and made it hard to read because every time I picked it up again I would wonder if I actually read the section already or if it was just that similar to the last one.
The topic is great. The appendices are also really good. The lists of recommended resources are also really helpful. I rather wish the book had been just a chapter or two and then all the end-matter.