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A review by rachelb36
From Depths We Rise: A Journey of Beauty from Ashes by Sarah Rodriguez
1.0
1.5 stars
A lot of telling, very little showing.
The author recounts her husband Joel's battle with cancer, their struggle to conceive, his eventual death, and her attempts at IVF afterward. I feel a little guilty saying it, but as I read, I didn't care very much.
Sarah was writing about incredibly emotional experiences but rather than allowing me to see her emotion, she had to tell me that she was sad, angry, etc. I didn't ever feel that I was invited to be present and experience it with her. I never connected with her so I wasn't invested in her story.
The writing is simplistic, abrupt, and clichéd. (There were several variations of "little did I know that was the last time that...," "a smile slowly crept across my face," "peace washed over me," and on and on.)
I started caring a little more when she documented her time in the PICU with her daughter, Ellis, but the clichéd writing continued.
One part that really irked me happened after she had started the process of IVF for the second time (after Joel died). One of the nurses informed her that they'd never before had a situation where one of the biological parents was deceased. The nurse goes on to say:
"We don't have a box [on the legal paperwork] that states what exactly should be done in a situation like this. We want to make sure we are handling it the right way, but it's a situation our lawyers may need to be involved in..." (p. 133)
They received the green light to proceed within 48 hours, and Sarah is once again interacting with this nurse. The nurse tells her that everyone at the clinic thought she was so brave. Sarah's thoughts in response to this?
"Stunned, I didn't know quite what to say. She was one of the first oppositions I had encountered in my decision. Now, her opinion had softened." (p. 136)
The nurse was not "opposed" in the first place. It wasn't her "opinion" that Sarah shouldn't go through with the procedure or something – she's a nurse, and had a responsibility to be sure everything that transpired was legal. It really frustrated me that Sarah villainized her.
I would, of course, never wish anyone to have to go through what Sarah experienced; however, I don't think Sarah's story was done justice through her writing.
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
A lot of telling, very little showing.
The author recounts her husband Joel's battle with cancer, their struggle to conceive, his eventual death, and her attempts at IVF afterward. I feel a little guilty saying it, but as I read, I didn't care very much.
Sarah was writing about incredibly emotional experiences but rather than allowing me to see her emotion, she had to tell me that she was sad, angry, etc. I didn't ever feel that I was invited to be present and experience it with her. I never connected with her so I wasn't invested in her story.
The writing is simplistic, abrupt, and clichéd. (There were several variations of "little did I know that was the last time that...," "a smile slowly crept across my face," "peace washed over me," and on and on.)
I started caring a little more when she documented her time in the PICU with her daughter, Ellis, but the clichéd writing continued.
One part that really irked me happened after she had started the process of IVF for the second time (after Joel died). One of the nurses informed her that they'd never before had a situation where one of the biological parents was deceased. The nurse goes on to say:
"We don't have a box [on the legal paperwork] that states what exactly should be done in a situation like this. We want to make sure we are handling it the right way, but it's a situation our lawyers may need to be involved in..." (p. 133)
They received the green light to proceed within 48 hours, and Sarah is once again interacting with this nurse. The nurse tells her that everyone at the clinic thought she was so brave. Sarah's thoughts in response to this?
"Stunned, I didn't know quite what to say. She was one of the first oppositions I had encountered in my decision. Now, her opinion had softened." (p. 136)
The nurse was not "opposed" in the first place. It wasn't her "opinion" that Sarah shouldn't go through with the procedure or something – she's a nurse, and had a responsibility to be sure everything that transpired was legal. It really frustrated me that Sarah villainized her.
I would, of course, never wish anyone to have to go through what Sarah experienced; however, I don't think Sarah's story was done justice through her writing.
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.