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A review by bookishpip
What Doesn't Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
4.0
I was really excited to read this book - I’d never heard of any memoirs that detail life with IBD, a condition that I have and have struggled with deeply in the past few months. Being mid-flare up and being off work for a few months with IBD, I couldn’t think of a more perfect time to read this.
I expected that the book would resonate, but I didn’t anticipate how much. There were so many nuances and intimacies of my own life that paralleled in ways that I didn’t expect - for example, basing my identity around her career, being profoundly impacted by the loss of her father, and the daily mental hurdles that accompany the physical ones. As a result, this book has had a profound impact on me.
The reason I’ve given this 4* rather than 5, is because I feel that, at the start especially, the book oscillated dramatically between being a memoir, a self-help guide, and an essay critiquing the American healthcare system, which made it harder to follow. Also, large sections of this book are very specific to experiences within the US. This in itself isn’t a bad thing - the author does a great job of reminding the reader that her experiences are rooted within just that, HER experiences as a white, thin, cisgender woman living in America. But it did mean that, as someone not living in the US, large sections devoted to teaching the reader about how to apply for insurance didn’t apply. (But I’ve never been more thankful to have the NHS!)
Overall, I’d love for everyone to read this. This book was validating in so many ways to me as a chronically unwell person, and I think healthy folks could learn a lot about our experiences in these pages.
I expected that the book would resonate, but I didn’t anticipate how much. There were so many nuances and intimacies of my own life that paralleled in ways that I didn’t expect - for example, basing my identity around her career, being profoundly impacted by the loss of her father, and the daily mental hurdles that accompany the physical ones. As a result, this book has had a profound impact on me.
The reason I’ve given this 4* rather than 5, is because I feel that, at the start especially, the book oscillated dramatically between being a memoir, a self-help guide, and an essay critiquing the American healthcare system, which made it harder to follow. Also, large sections of this book are very specific to experiences within the US. This in itself isn’t a bad thing - the author does a great job of reminding the reader that her experiences are rooted within just that, HER experiences as a white, thin, cisgender woman living in America. But it did mean that, as someone not living in the US, large sections devoted to teaching the reader about how to apply for insurance didn’t apply. (But I’ve never been more thankful to have the NHS!)
Overall, I’d love for everyone to read this. This book was validating in so many ways to me as a chronically unwell person, and I think healthy folks could learn a lot about our experiences in these pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Ableism, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Drug abuse and Alcoholism