Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

18 reviews

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

If you like reading about science and taxonomy, this would be a good book for you. If you’re loosely interested, maybe you would as well. I am not interested in these subjects but the way the author tied the subjects into her own story about life and how the universe is not as it seems… well I was interested to know why fish don’t exist. It was good book! Definitely not what I was expecting but it was enlightening and relaxing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicide, Homophobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Ableism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

garfguy7's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

this was wonderful. genuinely so INTERESTING - but yes, as a fan of radiolab i can say the pacing and tone was kind of an odd replica. there’s a bit of millennial humour but not enough to be noticeably annoying. i was captivated by the idea that fish don’t actually exist about a year ago, but didn’t delve into it. this book makes me want to pursue marine biology seriously. maybe i’ll have more to say about this later but i do wanna say: i think the author waited so long to reveal that jordan was a eugenicist to illustrate her point without giving us a bad preconceived notion about the guy. the point is that he engages in eugenics in a horrific attempt at controlling the “ladder” of supremacy as far as i can tell. it’s all about control and detrimental categorization, trying to make sense of things 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Rape, Ableism, Racism, Child abuse, and Infertility

Minor: Alcohol and Suicidal thoughts

itschelseaw's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

A great book about breaking free from the labels placed on us/the world by others, by way of a rather terrible man who spent his life imposing those labels on the world and ushering in terror to those he deemed unfit.
The structure of the book was great; to go from initially learning about David Starr Jordan and how he broke from the conventional wisdom of the day, to learning how he imposed conventional wisdom on others, to eventually how he fostered eugenics in the United States (and gave the Nazi the blueprint for their genocide). It's a wonder that he's still celebrated considering how horrid he was at the end of his life.
The scene with Anna and May was especially touching; I couldn't stop crying while reading it. The tenderness they have for each other, the love and respect after all these years. My heart broke for Anna and incandescent rage filled me at David Starr Jordan and what he championed.
It's interesting how someone who devoted his life to understanding the natural world ended up ultimately having such a bad understanding of it. Unfortunately his misunderstanding of the world has led to terror and usurping bodily autonomy for far too many individuals. The twist at the end of fish not really existing as their own category of animals? Chef's kiss.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma and Infertility

cornfusedsnow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

cardboard's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Ableism

Moderate: Classism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Infertility

strawberrymoonceci's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.5

This was an incredibly interesting book. She paints such a vivid picture in all the scenes, even the ones she didn't witness. I was very curious about the name of the book, I was also curious about the importance of this taxonomist. It was a gripping read, fascinating really. The audiobook version is wonderful, and I found the little nugget included at the end so heartwarming. This definitely made me want to read more book about natural history.

I absolutely did not expect the plot twists to include murder and eugenics! I think it's very interesting how Robert Starr Jordan went from allegedly covering up a murder, feeling wracked with guilt about it, to making eugenics his new purpose in life. What an absolute monster. The book is a masterclass in how to write a villain. In the beginning you hear mostly praise for him, there are definitely criticisms but you can see the author choosing to focus in his great capacity for perseverance, only for it to take a dark change, and for him to end up being responsible for the death, torture and mutilation (amongs other things) of tens of thousands in the US alone. Also, the US was the first country to make eugenics into national law. Which is so interesting considering the national narrative about it role in WW2. Not the least surprising though. I am surprised at how engaging this book was, considering I didn't like the author at all. Her writing is great, but she did not pass the vibe check. Also, fish dont exist as a category, that's the answer to the title. And Robert Starr Jordan can suck on that!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Torture, Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Rape, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Infertility, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death and Child death

maddiearthur's review

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Infertility, and Ableism

Moderate: Child death and Biphobia

Minor: Self harm

mirto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

If I could give this 6 stars, I would. Brilliant book. I would even say Lulu Miller created a whole new genre. Memoir, biography, essay, nature book, history book, sociology, psychology, murder mystery, whatever, you name it. Made me feel so many things, all at once. I learnt a lot, from science to giving myself the life I want. Why Fish Don't Exist will stay with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Ableism, Gaslighting, Infertility, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Grief, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Murder, Infertility, Infidelity, and Rape

emsim's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Rape, Self harm, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Death, Medical trauma, Infertility, and Suicide attempt

junefish's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Rape, Death, and Alcoholism

Includes content about the history of eugenics and the personal experiences of people who were forcibly sterilised.