Being (Sick) Enough, by Jessica Graham
Rating: 3/5
Published: 14 Jan 2025
This book is a triumph, and there were many parts that resonated with me deeply. Graham’s thoughts on invisible illness, childhood trauma and living well are emotional, but also empowering. I loved the sections where she explored forgiveness and family, and she approaches illness with a tentative and respectful touch, but I did find that she could have delved deeper. Despite that, it is still an exceptionally powerful book, and will provide comfort to a lot of people, myself included.

Jessica Graham's *Being Sick Enough* is a candid and insightful exploration of the complexities surrounding illness, mental health, and the often unspoken struggles individuals face while navigating both personal and systemic challenges. With raw honesty, Graham offers readers a glimpse into the inner world of those grappling with chronic illness, detailing the emotional, physical, and psychological toll it can take on one's sense of identity and self-worth.

The strength of the book lies in Graham's ability to articulate the nuanced, often conflicting feelings of "being sick enough" — a concept that resonates deeply with those who have ever questioned the validity of their suffering. The author's vulnerability shines through as she weaves her own experiences with broader reflections on how society, the medical system, and even loved ones can sometimes unintentionally minimize or misunderstand the gravity of invisible illnesses.

While the book is emotionally powerful, at times, the narrative can feel repetitive, as certain themes are revisited frequently. However, this repetition may also serve as a reflection of the cyclical nature of living with chronic illness — an experience that doesn't have a clear beginning, middle, or end.

Overall, *Being Sick Enough* is a poignant and necessary read for anyone seeking to better understand the realities of chronic illness, both from a personal and societal standpoint. Graham's honesty is both inspiring and heartbreaking, making this a valuable contribution to conversations about health, identity, and validation.

I imagine writing this book took a lot from the author, and I applaud her. It was difficult to read at times given the topic of childhood trauma, but it was well written and I often stopped to think more in depth about what I read .

Being (Sick) Enough is a really interesting look at the impact childhood trauma has on our health. In these personal essays, Jessica Graham frankly explores not only their own childhood experiences but also those of their parents and grandparents. They also write about living with multiple chronic illnesses, dealing with addiction, and realising they are neurodivergent (AuDHD) later in life.

Graham writes about "difficult" topics with more than a little dark humour, which might not suit everyone's taste but I enjoyed. I also appreciated that while spirituality and meditation plays a role in their recovery, Graham doesn't claim that this is "the cure."

One thing that resonated with me is how different doctors often diagnose the same symptoms as something completely different than the previous doctor you saw, so you're left wondering whether you now have multiple illnesses or does this new(er) diagnosis cancel out the other ones. Let's just say, I have been there and it's exhausting trying to navigate health care systems!

This book was well-written and thoughtful, offering a profound exploration of how chronic illness can both limit us and necessitate constant awareness of our energy and resources (spoons). The author's compassionate self-awareness and understanding of their own strength and situation make for a powerful and poignant read. Highly recommend.

This novel follows the authors life through trauma and addiction by looking at generational trauma. As someone with the same sort of problems as the author it was easy to connect. I did enjoy her dark humor dotted throughout the tough topics. I did find it a bit slow to get through once I reached the half way point

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

This book is deep and can be a lot to take in. Though the topics can be heavy she does tie in some light comedy throughout.

This book reads as very self-indulgent. It gives no knowledge, no new ideas, no statistics. To me, it said “I get paid to write words,” and the content doesn’t matter. It was frankly insulting to read that meditation should’ve cured my chronic illnesses by now, I meditate daily. There’s so much more that goes into it than just therapy and meditation. The author is smarmy at best and condescending at worst. I couldn’t finish this drivel.

Being (Sick) Enough is a memoir that, while offering a personal look into the author's life with chronic illness, didn’t provide the insights I was hoping for. I appreciate the courage it took to share such a story, but instead of feeling understood or inspired, I found myself feeling even more low. As someone with a chronic illness, I expected to take away helpful perspectives, but unfortunately, this book didn’t offer the support or encouragement I needed.

Pros: Graham’s competent in her telling of her challenges and disabilities, and she is comfortable in her skin. Her writing style appealed to me to some extent.
Cons: The content and the execution did not appeal to me 100%.
I was a bit disappointed since I expected a more nuanced and engaging title that offered a fresh, groundbreaking perspective.

I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. I will not be publicly reviewing this book because I did not finish it. The writing isn't bad, it's very compelling and moving, but the content just isn't for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

I read Being (sick) enough as an ebook, which was also kindly given to me by netgalley and the publishers, so thank you. This book was just wow! It was so shocking and heartbreaking from the very beginning of the book but it was also full of love and the happy moments as well and how Jessica delt with their chronic pain and other illnesses they have and how they still are today, decades later. Being (sick) enough is also a book that is very passionate about self love and acceptance and I love this and I think this is so important. I also love the other topics of conversation that come up, such as spirituality and sex positivity. I have learnt alot from this book by Jessica Graham and while I personally don't rate memoirs or books that are heavily focused on people's experiences, this was such a thoughtful and wonderful book and I'm so glad I read this and would definitely recommend to other people, however I will give talking about spirituality and sex positivity and all the other conversations (that don't solely focus on Jessica's experiences) 4 stars as I really enjoyed these conversations and think that these are so important and necessary to have. One thing I will say, is to please check TWs before reading as this book does not shy away from more mature and hard themes and events (eg abuse of all kinds and towards children, addictions and more). Thank you again to Netgalley and the publishers for this book.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It gives a real unfiltered look into the life of not just a disabled individual, but a disabled person who battles addiction brought on by their disability. While I cannot relate to the addiction portions of the book, the disability insights are spot on and should be painted on walls for anyone who isn't disabled to see and read. Make this book required reading for middle schools and maybe it might change the world to be a more compassionate or empathetic place.

I am not sure how to review this book, with it being someones memoir, I appreciate that this is someones life story but I am just not in a place in my life where I want to be reading someones trauma laid out on a page. I was expecting to take a lot from this book as someone with a chronic illness but unfortunately it just made me feel really depressed

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in January. I liked this book a lot and it was well written! I however don't think I am the target audience despite being disabled and having significant childhood trauma and generational trauma, but other disabled people might be. The spiritual parts do not claim to be THE answer or THE cure or even A cure which I solidly appreciated. This will definitely help some people.

I did not leave public feedback for this book because I DNF'ed it. I felt it was unfair to write a full review or rate something that I did not complete. I found the book to be crass and not what I was expecting when dealing with the topics at hand. It is a me problem, not a problem with the book or author. Thank you for the opportunity to read the arc.

This book made me feel so seen and like someone finally understood what I experience every day. It felt like having a deep chat with a friend. I'm not a religious person but I am spiritual so I really loved reading about the authors experiences.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an Advanced Reader Copy of ‘Being (Sick) Enough” by Jessica Graham. This book which is due to be published on the 14th January 2025 was an incredible read for anyone that’s struggling from PTSD, invisible illnesses and those are tick the neurodivergent spark.

As a fellow person who deeply resonates with the experiences and struggles that Jessica’s Graham, reading this book felt like I finally had been heard. After 23 years on earth I have never felt understood or listened too, that all changed reading this book!
For the first time in my life I didn’t feel on my own and that nobody truly understands, Jessica Graham felt like a friend. Telling a story as if sat with her over a cup of tea.

This book is the lived experience of the author, Jessica Graham and her experience of childhood trauma, chronic & invisible illnesses and being diagnosed late in life with Autism and ADHD. She talks about the life after suffering trauma and navigating the world trying to not allow her complex ptsd to rule it. Jessica Graham found her way of coping and moving forward by a lot of spiritual beliefs. meditation and by going to a church that was accepting who them as a person.

Although I’m a far from religious and spiritual person ‘Being (Sick) Enough’ wasn’t a read I felt uncomfortable with and actually opened my eyes to the spiritual world, the way the author describes her spirituality is in such a thought provoking manner and to be be honest the whole book is thought provoking. Some of the parts of the authors life which were mentioned throughout this book I could hear myself saying how ‘I thought that too!’, both with Jessica’s life that were a huge part of the childhood trauma and with the recovery and learning to live life again.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who suffers with some sort of mental illness, invisible or chronic illness and any form of PTSD/C-PTSD as well as professionals and friend & family of loved ones who are struggling also.

Jessica Graham has outdone herself with opening up to hopefully more awareness and acceptance of issues that so many individuals go through, Jessica Graham is allowing thiose, who like me, have never felt heard, who nobody could understand & who feel invisible to be listened too, understood and seen.

I thought this would be more self help than memoir but either way it was refreshing to hear about unapologetic life with multiple chronic illness. And neurodiversity.

Thank you for the advanced readers copy

Such a raw and insightful glance into the lives of those living with invisible illnesses. As a chronic illness sufferer myself I found this immensely helpful and funny! If there’s one thing we’ve all learnt to do it’s laugh, and this was so cleverly written, talking about serious and common issues but by taking the edge off with some humour! Recommended to anyone who suffers with invisible illnesses or wants to educate themselves about it!