I received this book as an eARC from the publisher through netgalley and I absolutely loved it. This is the book that all girls & women should read to really understand their bodies and their lifecycle. While focused on menstruation, this book really opens your eyes to why your period is a vital sign rather than an affliction, and how it is intertwined with your health and happiness. The positive attitude and approach of this book is refreshing and much needed. From exploring a quick history of attitudes towards menstruation, the evolution (or lack thereof) of scientific research, to quick medical facts in digestible language set in context, this is a great primer to get to know real fact, rather than advertising by consumer goods companies who are more focused on profiting off the "taboo" rather than promoting health and happiness. The author is also a great coach talking about how to change your mindset around what healthy and normal is and some simple tips on how to make your period a better experience for you. I will recommend this to anyone who wants to open their mind up and learn more about what has for far too long been shut away.

This book is an important and helpful guide to what the author describes as "body literacy"--the understanding and resultant loving of our bodies. Laird offers a look into female reproductive health that our healthcare system often does not, and spends time examining oft avoided topics like birth control, menopause, and period management. I love the way the author teaches while empowering. Five stars!

Every woman (and man really) should read a book about periods and how/why they happen. I loved reading this and learning more about myself and the importance of periods. This was a really interesting book that was packed with facts and ideas.

Amanda Laird breaks down some of the stigma's regarding the menstrual cycle. She explains the science and biology around what is happening with your body each month. She explains options and alternatives in dealing with your monthly flow, cramps, diet, etc. The book is intensely readable, interesting, and engaging.

My personal history with the understanding of Menstruation has been sadly recent. I was 24 years old when I was first learned that there were four hormones guiding every woman's cycle. I also learned about cervical fluid, and many other monthly fluctuations. This is the book that I wish I had had at 16. I'd recommend it to anyone with a menstrual cycle. It's also certainly less intimidating that Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which is where I was first introduced. If I have a daughter, I want to use this book and others like it to help her.

A really interesting and thought provoking book that made me reflect and think a lot about my experiences of periods. A book unlike any other I’ve read! Four star

Very educational and important, would highly recommend to young people who might have just began experiencing periods, but also to people who've already had periods for a long time. I feel like every one can learn something new and clear some things up.

Oh my goodness. Can we just make this required reading in every school and home education program for teens & young adults with a uterus (or without for that matter)?!? This book is SO good. You won’t only learn about what is and isn’t normal in a period. You’ll learn about anatomy, taboos & social myths, menstrual hygiene products, holistic lifestyle tips, and more. I have already suggested this book to many friends. I learned a lot from it and realized just how lacking my education was in this area. I’m grateful to have received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley to share my honest review with you.

I promised myself not to request any more NetGalley books this year. I wanted to solely focus on my unread ebooks and physical books. But when I stumbled over Heavy Flow, the always present feminist in me made herself known very loudly and there was no way I could not buy it.

“Go a little further and you’ll see how menstruation is a sister to the conversation around hormonal birth control; cousin to female sexuality, fertility, pregnancy, and abortion. It’s about what we as a society think is okay to do to female bodies.”

For those of you who shy away from feminist books, do not fear. Heavy Flow covers all certain kind of topics and there’s something for everyone in this book: history, biology, self-help, and feminism.

I can’t express how much I loved this book. I recommend this one to every girl and every woman out there. It’s a must-read for me. And this is not only the feminist in me speaking. This is me as a person and woman speaking. I can honestly say that in my 29 years I have never learned so much about periods and the menstrual cycle as from this book. Not even school and we had sex-ed class in elementary, junior, and high school! Up until a couple months ago the whole cycle was more or less a mystery to me. Of course I knew what was going on but I never quite “got it”. Does that make sense? I don’t want to blame my biology teachers for failing to explain the menstrual cycle (sex-ed is part of biology class in Germany!) because I’m pretty sure they did a good job but Heavy Flow explained it in much more detail and in such a different way than my biology teachers ever did.

“There’s nothing inherently shameful about menstruation. It’s a perfectly normal, healthy function of a body – tissue missed with blood and mucus, exiting the body.”

Heavy Flow definitely left a lasting impression on me. Even before reading the book I tried to embrace my period more than I used to. I tried to be more positive about it. But reading this book helped me to strengthen my positivity about it even more. I see my period and the menstrual cycle in a completely different light now. It’s not a monthly, recurring and annoying burden anymore. The period and menstrual cycle is also more than only a sign of fertility. For us women and girls it is a sign of health and wellness. Who would have thought because no one taught me that little fact.

“Your menstrual cycle is a vital sign that’s both an indication and promoter of your overall health and wellness.”

Even though some of the self-help tips mentioned in the book to improve your period experience were a little too natural and holistic for my taste, there were definitely some other things I’d like to try.

I’m not sure how the publisher handled the graphics and images in the print version, but my NetGalley copy was free from any graphics or images. I simply googled the images that were mentioned in the biology part of the book.

Besides being a little too natural and holistic, the only other “negative” comment I have is about the sex-ed mentioned in the beginning of the book. It was mentioned that sex-ed in the US (and Canada?) is funded by companies that produce female hygiene products. They basically promote themselves during this class while at the same time contribute to period shame and taboo. I don’t think this fact is applicable for Germany. Of course we have female hygiene product commercials on TV that probably promise the same thing as in the US and may contribute to the shame and taboo as well but it’s certainly not true for schools over here. As I mentioned above, sex-ed is part of biology class in Germany so it’s not funded by a company whatsoever. So if you live outside the US and Canada, please be aware that this certain part of the book may not be applicable for your country.

Heavy Flow was an amazing book and is definitely one of my favorite reads this year. It was informative, interesting, and so helpful. As much I loved reading it on my kindle, I’m certain that I will buy the print version also, just to re-read certain parts, mark them, and to rummage through it again.

“Once you understand the role of the menstrual cycle as a vital sign, beyond fertility, and you start to feel relief from menstrual-related symptoms, perhaps you’ll begin to feel that it’s not such a curse after all.”

Heavy Flow is the book I wish I would have had when I first started menstruating and it's the book I am overjoyed to have experienced now. This book is vital to the cause of flipping the narrative that has surrounded menstruation for centuries. Not only does Amanda fight stigma associated with periods (at least in our culture), but she takes it an important step further by discussing the positive aspect of periods. She includes important information about working alongside your period and paying attention to your body. There is also an awesome final chapter that provides a framework for talking to the next generation.

This is a book that belongs on shelves to be referenced over and over. You can also bet that I just subscribed to this podcast as a result!

This book should be read by all women, as it highlights the importance of being upfront and honest with girls about their bodies and the importance of menstruation. The history discussed in this book provided insight into how far we have come in this area, but also how far we have to go.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dundorn, and Amanda Laird for an ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

My rating is 4.5 stars, but since there aren't half stars I always round up.

Like:
- Discusses why feminists don’t talk about menstruation more
- Its the adult version of the period book, but with tons of positive health information not just focused on fear and embarrassment
- More natural approach not because the author believes Western medicine is evil, but because there are many easy healthy ways you can take control of your health
- Mentions TSS and menstrual cups - yes! There’s so much misinformation out there about these.

Love:
- #PeriodPositive
- The discussion of how stress can negatively affect hormones, health and the menstrual cycle
- Focuses on the period as the fifth vital sign - sounds weird but actually makes a lot of sense
- Gets more people talking about menstruation
- Menstruation doesn’t not equal being a woman (discusses trans men and women, gender non binary people, menopause, medical reasons for not menstruating, birth control, and more)
- Overall atmosphere of the book - not preachy but she’s giving the information so you can do what’s best for you

Dislike:
- Nutritionist is not the same qualifications and education as a dietitian, but the author’s knowledge seems well researched, science based and logical. She’s not going to recommend too many weird things that won’t work or are harmful.

Wish that: —-


Overall, a wonderful book all about menstruation. It educates, empowers and supports the people reading it. A great mix of science based Western medicine and alternative health practices to support your entire mind, body and soul throughout your menstrual cycle.

I loved this book. As someone who struggles with endometriosis and PCOS, this book helps explain the world of periods for men and women alike. This will be my go-to book to help teach others about the importance of our reproductive system and how to care for it in the best way possible. Thank you for my advance copy of the book.

I never thought I’d be reading a book like this at this point in my life, but it sounded interesting so decided to give it a go. Anyone of any age benefits from this…even if you’re going through menopause. This really puts this function of a woman’s body into perspective for those of us who thought of it as a “curse” all our lives and how it is tied with so many other aspects of our health, acting as a barometer or measure for other issues we may have going on. It should be required reading for all teenage girls, and it might even encourage lifelong healthier habits in taking care of their body. Probably wouldn’t hurt for males in our lives to read it also. Definitely worth the read.

Heavy Flow changed my life. I only recently started becoming more comfortable with my body's functions, but I'd decided (before reading) that I wanted to eventually become a midewife. The prerequisite to that, of course, is understanding the reproductive system. While this book doesn't provide enough knowledge to make me an expert (no one book can do that), it gave me an excellent jumping board. Laird confirms a lot of the hunches I had about periods: they don't necessarily need to be painful and bodily awareness, as well as some lifestyle changes, can go a long way to helping us manage them.

In the book, Laird explains what the organs are and how they work, then details the entire menstrual cycle step-by-step. She does so in an easy-to-understand way, so don't be alarmed. She's also very cognizant of the fact that some people may have trauma related to periods, childbirth, fertility and sex. Towards the end of the book, Laird covers some common ailments related to periods and uteruses and offers suggestions. In my opinion, she offers enough information for menstruating people to go to the doctor and start getting the right tests (and diagnoses). I requested this book at the suggestion of another book blogger (Evelina at Avalinah's Books), and now I cannot recommend this one enough!

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

I've long been glad I have only one X chromosome to deal with, and this book rubber-stamped that for me! The author takes on the myths and nonsense surrounding menstruation, and straight-talks her way through it, setting a few things to rights as she goes. I could have done without the more fringe elements of the book, which fortunately were rare. The author references naturopathy a lot, and that, as far as I'm concerned is pseudo-medicine, as Britt Marie Hermes's website will confirm https://www.naturopathicdiaries.com" (or any competent doctor!), but that was a small part and I had no problem with her observations and recommendations elsewhere.

The book discusses, in depth, the menstrual cycle and the body parts it affects, down to biochemistry and hormones. It spares no important detail, and it explains everything in clear language, discussing every aspect and dispelling any vestige of perceived shame, embarrassment, negativity or any other bad feeling about a perfectly natural event that is in fact not a curse, but a vital sign which can help a woman to understand her body and get the best out of it including, unless you're sadly unlucky, an improved outlook and experience during "that time of the month".

I watched a short documentary on Netflix recently, titled Period. End Of Sentence and directed by Rayka Zehtabchi. This was before it went on to win best short documentary in this year's Oscars so I wasn't just jumping on the paddy wagon! It highlighted yet another aspect of how badly women are done to when it comes to ordinary - although fortunately in this case not quite everyday - experiences that women undergo, and for me it highlighted why books like this one are important and ought to be read by anyone, regardless of how many X's they carry or how they perceive themselves regardless of the X factor in their chromosomes.

This was a Kindle edition and also an advance review copy, so hopefully the technical problems I found in it will be fixed before it's 'out there', but just in passing I should mention that once again, Amazon's crappy Kindle process turned yet another book into kindling in places. In the section, "THE PHASES OF THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE" a table showing follicular and luteal phases was completely mangled by Amazon's conversion process. You absolutely cannot have anything fancy in a book or novel if you're going to put it through the Kindle mangle, because Kindle will slice, dice, shred and julienne it, I promise you.

In addition to this, I also noted, about 30% in, this random text that didn't seem to be connected to anything else: "years to be different from the period that you have in your twenties or after childbirth." Much later in the book, there was the partial sentence "...prioritize food over supplements. Fresh," which ended right there, abruptly and was then followed by two screens of another mangled table which I assume in the print book is an inserted box. This was followed by the rest of the beginning sentence, "healthy food should be the first source...." Again mangled courtesy of Kindle.

There was another case, which I saw several times, where the page header became incorporated into the text, again courtesy of Amazon's crappy Kindle conversion process, so the text looked like this:

when a Chinese medical textbook
Managing Your Period Pain 177
recommended cannabis flowers to ease symptoms during menstruation.
Again if you're submitting the book to Amazon, you need to strip it of anything fancy or even remotely fancy. No page headers, no page numbering, no inset boxes, no plethora of fancy fonts. Just plain vanilla all the way is the only thing Kindle can handle in my experience, and it sometimes has isses with that, too. This is one of several reasons why I will have no truck with that mega-corporation any more.
There may have been other quirky instances of text mangling that I did not notice or that I forgot to record because I was engrossed in the reading! There was at least one instance of a misunderstanding. Around 80% in I read, "...it's only going to increase that inflammation, which in turn may increase pain and discomfort. It's like rubbing salt into the wound." But the reason salt was rubbed into a wound wasn't to increase pain or to torture, it was to sterilize the wound, so I'm not sure this metaphor is apt. On the other hand, it is used commonly to mean, 'make things worse', quite contrary to when it's used to compliment someone as in 'you're the salt of the Earth'. English language is totally screwed-up; that's part of the joy of being a writer who uses it!

But technical issues aside, I really enjoyed this book and consider it not only a worthy read, but an essential one. It made for fascinating, sometimes disturbing, but always educational reading.

Probably the best book ever. So many hidden facts about periods and myths .

I loved how the author explained the business behind periods so amazing.

The best book to read , gift or store in heaps.

Understanding the hows and whys of our female bodies' incredible design should be part of every young woman's coming of age. A book such as this one should be the go-to book for mothers educating their daughter's concerning the monthly cycles of their bodies. Young women should be taught with much of the content laid out in this very informative and practical debunking of our period.

Amanda Laird bares the truth surrounding the mystery of the period, exposing societies repulsion of what is a perfectly normal body function for women for what it is - a lack of information and exploitation of centuries of shame surrounding menstruation.

What I appreciate about this book the most was the practical applications, relative to food, self-care and education on the subject. Women have amazing bodies, capable of carrying new life and the understanding of these bodies, is paramount to living healthier lives that contribute positively to the world around us.

Thank you for an informative and practical read.

I've noticed that when it comes to books for review, I often enjoy nonfiction the most – and Heavy Flow by Amanda Laird was no exception. I think this is an absolute MUST READ for every woman (in this case, I mean biologically). There are so many things we don't talk about that make up the experience of being a woman, and periods are part of that. Or rather, periods are talked about, but the narrative is so incredibly cherry-picked that it affects our whole view on something that is completely natural and has been there in the lives of women basically since the dawn of time, and it affects it in certain, most often negative, ways. Heavy Flow is a book meant to not only open up this conversation, but speak about it as should be spoken about – on women's terms, as well as educate its reader about the myths associated with this part of women's lives, while explaining and promoting natural ways in which you could influence your cycle for your own wellbeing and health. The book promotes understanding and educating yourself, and l'm sure it will teach you at least a few things you didn't know about your own body.

Heavy Flow is a book centered on clearing up the myths around periods, meant to explain the mechanisms behind them and how it ties into your overall health. It's meant to help you understand that periods are only a part of your menstrual cycle, and period health tells you much more about your body than just how fertile it is. Amanda Laird tackles all sorts of cultural and emotional topics connected with periods, and not only this – at the end of the book, you will find several chapters on nutrition, hormone balance and self-care to let you understand more about self-regulation and how to balance yourself, if you are feeling off in your current day to day.

What Might We Not Know About Our Periods?

As it turns out, we might not know quite a lot. Pretty much to the point where we should rather ask ourselves about what we actually know, as opposed to what we don't know about our periods. Amanda Laird talks a lot about this, and why it is this way – starting with societal stigma that we have been raised with, and ending with the fact that most health classes are actually funded and backed by commercial entities that just want to sell you their hygiene products. The period narrative has been created and maintained by men and corporate entities – both of which don't really have much to do with how women experience it (and back when the sanitary product narrative began, I'm pretty sure there weren't even many women working in those companies either, if at all.)

This is partly why I stayed glued to Heavy Flow and finished it in one evening. The amount of myths, historical facts and trivia you might have never known about periods and conception is huge. And to think that talking about periods publicly has only become a thing in the past several years is staggering.

What Are Some Of These Facts You Might Not Know?

Well, for example, did you ever consider that your period is actually only a tiny part of your menstrual cycle? I wouldn't expect anyone not actively trying to conceive to even be aware of this, because it isn't common knowledge at all. Part of the reason for this, again, is that we're only taught these facts about our periods that help companies sell us more pads and tampons (like how periods are gross, inconvenient, a hindrance to an active life and god forbid should anyone ever find out that we're on our period right now, or really... ever!) Another one, this time one about contraception. How many of you know, especially if you're on the pill yourself, that the 'period' you have when you're on it, is actually no period at all? lts actually just a bleed that happens because your body is suddenly starved of the synthetic hormones you've been taking for the past few weeks. This bleed is not really necessary, but has been adopted mostly as a marketing technique when the pill was invented – because women felt just very uncomfortable about suddenly not having periods at all.

How We View Our Periods

Or rather, how we don't really view them as ours! We have been taught to only see our periods in the light of fertility. Its part of the process of having children. That's it!

Except its not.

A period is part of being a healthy female. It's a general indicator of your health, and an outcome of certain processes in your body that regulate so much more than just your ability to have children or not. Part of the reason we don't "own" our periods, for these of us who choose to have natural ones, is because we're taught that they have nothing to do with us and are actually unnecessary, a hindrance, if you are not currently attempting to have children. Heavy Flow talks about this in depth and I think every woman should get familiar with this info and this reasoning. Having a menstrual cycle is part of a healthy body. You wouldn't expect to remove a wheel from a car and expect it to keep moving like it did before. Except that's what millions of women do to their bodies every day by disrupting part of their natural hormonal cycle.

I have to mention though, that this book is not against the pill – the author herself has used it for long periods in her life, like a lot of women do. It is an enabler for a lot of women to lead the lives they want to lead, to let them achieve careers, for one thing, and not only that. However, when doing something that concerns your health, you should know everything about it. You shouldn't do it "just because everyone is doing it" or "because that's the easiest way and it's fine". You should know all the whys and the hows, because that's the only way to make a rational, informed decision about your body and your health.

Practical Odds And Ends In Heavy Flow

But Heavy Flow isn't just about the facts or the histories. It also has chapters devoted purely to how you can make a difference in your life – by regulating your cycle if you're experiencing painful or irregular periods, or even about how to ensure that your doctor will hear you out and take you seriously – because a lot of women still experience a lack of understanding from professionals when it comes to period trouble – on the grounds that periods ARE trouble and nothing can be done about it (which is an outlook that should go back to the 19th century and stay there.) There is quite a lot about nutrition in Heavy Flow, as well as general lifestyle tips about what can help you if you're struggling. There are parts that can help you understand what processes are happening in your body and why, and what are your options. More than that, Heavy Flow treats your cycle health as part of your overall health, and may start you out on the way of looking at the whole, as opposed to particular parts of the body and trying to find separate symptoms relating to only those separated parts.

Overall...

The body is a whole. And looking at it like that, periods are also part of the whole. Heavy Flow is a good resource to take the first steps towards understanding yourself as a whole and taking steps to connect to your femininity. I can definitely recommend it, and I think it's required reading for every female out there. I will certainly be recommending it to all of my friends.

I thank Dundurn for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.

Unfortunately, I won’t be writing a full review for Heavy Flow as I am unable to finish this book.
I was drawn to it from the start, although it is non-fiction and it’s not my genre. But I thought (and still think) that this is a book every woman should, at least, check out.

My main problems with this book are that, first, sometimes it felt a little preachy when it comes to ditching the pill and using more natural ways to keep track and control your body. Which isn’t a wrong message, it’s just one that doesn’t resonate with me. Secondly, and probably most important, the format in which this ARC was sent to me was tough to read on my ereader. So, if I was already feeling a little meh about it, that didn’t help at all.

Still, I will be giving this 3 stars because I’m neutral about it and, as I said before, I still think it is a crucial matter to be discussed.

**Received an eARC through NetGalley from Dundern Press.**

The advance copy I received suffered from a general lack of charts and infographics that were implied but not seen. Unfortunately, much of the surrounding text seemed to be missing as well. So the following review is based on the complete chunks, with the assumption that the missing pieces will fit in along the same vein.

I’m a sucker for a book that tells me more about myself. Period health isn’t something I’ve focused much on in the last 20+ years, but I still wasn’t expecting a ton of surprises. I bleed once a month, more or less, sometimes there’s discomfort, sometimes it’s messy, it’s almost always an inconvenience, and there’s a kind of privileged secret club made up of covert passing around of supplies and pain meds. Not much new to see here, right?

But there was a lot of interesting stuff in here. Not all of it new, but definitely pulled together well. I appreciated the author’s sense of humor and keen sensitivity to balance and shades of gray. There’s some medical history, skewering of current attitudes, mechanical overviews, a few “crunchy” bits (such as seed cycles and vaginal steaming), but the author isn’t claiming to have a solution to your problems or answers to all your questions. Instead, she primarily encourages self-familiarity and self-care.

Included are tidbits on menstruating for introverts (scheduling your social engagements around appropriate times in your cycle); recognizing menstrual gaslighting (your symptoms are probably *not* all in your head); and self-parenting (because someone needs to be the grown-up around here, and sometimes that person is yourself). After all this great information, however, I am, left with the question of why we don’t simply absorb our uterine lining like many other large mammals, and if this is something that could be accomplished by science.

I’ve always felt that pregnancy, childbirth, and death should be better understood and appreciated (after all, those issues literally affect everyone on the planet). And now I would consider menstrual health pretty high on that list. It’s a mechanism that affects a substantial portion of our population, and one that is frequently glossed over or misunderstood, even by the people who experience it firsthand. This book sheds some light on something that shouldn’t be so mysterious in the first place.

#HeavyFlow #NetGalley