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astrobab3y's review
5.0
Hysterical is one of the best memoirs i’ve ever read. I related to Elissa’s story intensely and appreciated the inclusivity of her writing around gender, race, ethnicity, and class. I could not recommend this more!
alle9077's review
2.0
This book had a great message and hooked me in the beginning, but lacked in the body and conclusion. Many of the run-on sentences were redundant and lengthy, and as a reader your eyes begin the glaze over and you realize you didn’t actually retain anything. What also bothered me, is that she speaks of all these medical appointments and medicine but fails to really highlight the inaccessibility for many women in America. The idea was great, didn’t love the execution.
mariamsaidwhat's review
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
2.5
I was initially recommended this book because (as a chronic pain girlie) the person thought I would enjoy what they thought was a book about how women dealing with chronic pain are often dismissed by their medical team as being “hysterical” or making themselves sick through the sheer power of manifestation. This was the first few chapters, then the memoir diverged into a bunch of scattered essays with no clear point other than “The patriarchy is bad!” and “Men are the reason for all of our problems!”.
While these are not exactly untrue, I found myself getting exhausted at Bassist’s shallow analysis of what so many of us have already known for years. If I wasn’t getting the medical memoir I initially signed up for, I at least wanted a deeper point of view. Like, okay, the patriarchy is bad, but what’s next?
Anyway, I was clearly not the target audience. Definitely also check CW if reading about sexual assault is tough for you.
While these are not exactly untrue, I found myself getting exhausted at Bassist’s shallow analysis of what so many of us have already known for years. If I wasn’t getting the medical memoir I initially signed up for, I at least wanted a deeper point of view. Like, okay, the patriarchy is bad, but what’s next?
Anyway, I was clearly not the target audience. Definitely also check CW if reading about sexual assault is tough for you.
katiemccreary's review
emotional
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexism
rebarrowsmith's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
So funny, so original. The stories in these pages elicited memories from my own girlhood. Tour de force. I am changed. Joan Didion would never. I ruined my pants. If I ever get married I will also get divorced because of this book. This might sound bad—it is but not the book, the book is good.