overlap's reviews
223 reviews

there's a lot of great thought in here that, coming from a more SASS-witchy point of view, i find myself connecting with—radical acceptance of chronic illness, for example, is something i've also found very helpful in my life as a whole. i would love if there was more actual acknowledgement of cultural appropriation besides brushing it off, as well as discussion of the history of stolen land when cultivating a relationship to the natural world, but there were also parts of this book that i found myself pleasantly surprised by (such as the otherkin shoutout, which i didn't expect). i would recommend reading this book if you're quite new to your practice and trying to figure out where to start with the caveat that it is ultimately very much a book written by a white lady with limited perspective

learning more about different approaches to semi spiritual ways to live my life, appreciated a lot presented in here but wished there was more thought given to indigenous plants/species throughout (although it was mentioned early on)

cute innit

I absolutely empathise with the author's experience, having experienced sudden illness myself & having that call me to studies of our perception of illness & medicine over time. That being said, I really wished this book was more analysis-focused and truly historical—perhaps because of the tagline. I would reclassify this as "a consideration of hypochondria" with the caveat that it hints at conclusions but never truly achieves them, and left me wondering if that truly was all there is. I wished for more actual research and less Sherlock and John Green (although I understand the Tumblr instinct). Overall I found myself disappointed by this and wished it was redefined as a memoir with historical elements since that seems best suited to the author's aims, and reformatted to fit that goal. 

Thoughtful, eye-opening, & direct book