Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Brein in brand: Hoe mijn lichaam mijn hersenen aanviel by Willem van Paassen, Susannah Cahalan

4 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

After reading this book, the hypochondriac in me is grateful to know the existence of this disease, in case it happens to me and I need a doctor to look into it.

I’m sorry she had to go through this. My mom was misdiagnosed for a long time, and by the time we finally got an accurate diagnosis, we had only three weeks left together. So I know a little about this, even though my mom’s disease was something entirely different. As such, my compassion meter was very high on this one.
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elvahn's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

This book highlights the importance of empathy in the medical profession and calls attention to the grave harm of misdiagnoses that can result from lack of information or simply not taking the time to dive deeper into a parent's case.
By the end, there is also some hope in that though sharing her story, others get access to real help, and medical science is furthered. Even the doctor who had decided she was simply "partying" too hard rather than take her symptoms more seriously (my rage boiled over reading about this man) eventually refers to her experience to direct patients to help.
Part memoir, part call to action, part humane medical text(??), the author weaves us through her month of madness, using interviews, journals, and hospital footage to help complete the story. Engaging, well-done.
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maddiearthur's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

3.75

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bartlebies's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

3.5

Boy howdy the narrator for the audiobook was awful. Can we ban white people doing bad accents when there is literally no reason to do them?? christ. 

The book itself was okay, but I felt like it lacked any deeper meaning beyond “i had this rare disorder and it sucked for everyone and now i’m better” which is unfortunate since she’s a reporter/writer who you would think would be a better writer. 
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