Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It by Greg Marshall

8 reviews

jourdanicus's review

funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

I just loved this book. Greg's honesty and sense of humor are so down to earth, and helps translate his life experience into something even more relatable. This book has something for everyone, even if you aren't disabled or gay, but especially so if you are.

The core thread of this story, that Greg has cerebral palsy but didn't find out his diagnosis until adulthood, is certainly worth being the primary appeal. At one point, Greg refers to himself as a "diagnostic orphan," which really resonated with me as someone who, in an opposite way, grew up very likely on the autism spectrum but *without* a diagnosis. This book has me reflecting on the concept of labels, and whether the label itself is disabling or the experience of having a disability is what's disabling, no matter what you call it.

Greg doesn't necessarily have all the answers, and that's fine. This is still a compelling and wonderfully narrated memoir about one man, his leg, and the quirky family that raised him.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia and Ableism

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

sglance9's review

funny reflective medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction and Ableism

ruthie_the_librarian's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

2/3 stars - there were things I liked, and things I didn't like.  It's really graphic sexually, which is fine if that's what you're there for, but honestly it felt like a fifteen year old boy writing, not a grown man, and those parts felt awkward and exhausting to read.
I much preferred the parts about his family, even if I was somewhat incredulous reading some events.  Did his parents really gaslight him for all those many, many years about what was wrong with his leg?  Also, if he was so clever (going to a good Uni etc.) how did he never look up what was going on with his body?  I felt like his mum was both terrifying and amazing, and it would be interesting to have her take on what she did as a parent.
You can definitely feel that the book has come from individual essays - there's sometimes repetition, the timeline is off, and the whole book didn't quite hang together for me.  But there were some very moving moments (his dad...) and some very funny moments.
In a few places, I felt there was a lack of acknowledgement of the immense privilege he'd had.  I know that sounds weird because he'd grown up with a disability, and he's gay, and one parent died from ALS and the other has had cancer for forever...but still, there was a lot of money floating around, a lot of experiences in his life that he just seemed to take for granted, but not much self awareness around that.
So, a mixed bag with this...lots of it I found very easy to read, and some of it was almost impossible to get through, but it did move me.  I was glad he was happy at the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

imstephtacular's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Death of parent, Cancer, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Cursing, Bullying, Homophobia, Addiction, Drug use, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Blood, Classism, Excrement, Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Violence

abbie_'s review

funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.0

Coincidentally the second book I’ve read this year by a gay man with cerebral palsy, but I didn’t gel with this memoir as much as I did Just By Looking at Him. A few of my issues were the same - Mitchell is cis and white, middle class and sometimes a little unaware / blasé about his privilege. Some of his quips, mostly in the past, missed the mark in terms of internalised ableism re his sister’s neurodivergence (wanting to find out what’s ‘wrong’ with her) as well as a rape ‘quip’ that was just… no. 

Mitchell has a large than life family who have had more than their fair share of medical misfortune. I liked the way they all had each other’s backs, through his mother’s seemingly endless chemo to his father’s surprise diagnosis with ALS. His dad especially seemed like a wonderful person and I’m glad Mitchell had such a great support system in him. 

I feel like a couple of the chapters were unnecessarily stretched out (like his shady boyfriend Kevin - that should have been an online essay at most), while we completely skim over Mitchell meeting his now husband. 

But I did appreciate the perspective of a physically disabled gay man, and overall it was an entertaining read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, Ableism, and Medical content

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

sebrittainclark's review

dark funny sad medium-paced

3.5

This is a memoir about being gay and disabled (although not knowing his actual cerebral palsy diagnosis until his 30s) and having a mother with cancer and a father with ALS. I thought the author did a great job as the narrator on the audiobook, and despite talking about a lot of deeply difficult and dark topics, the author kept a fairly light tone throughout the book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

eslsilver's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia and Vomit

amobrien's review

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

Leg is a fantastic memoir on sexuality, disability, and family. For a book filled with heartbreak and loss, there's so much humor and joy and love. I loved reading about Greg Marshall's life, especially when it came to his relationship with his family.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Ableism, Cancer, and Chronic illness

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Addiction, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Death