Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin and the author for this free ARC. It's such an important topic and I think everyone on Earth needs to hear about it and read this book. It's complete BS how much funding and research has gone into men's health problems vs. women's. And the fact that endo and Vagina Problems are so misunderstood still in 2020 is ridiculous. I've had my own share of Vagina Problems that still have not been diagnosed, and the amount of gaslighting that happens with "women's issues" is insane. It's also a necessary story to hear about chronic illness, so the rest of us can gain some empathy.

I enjoyed reading Vagina Problems by Lara Parker because the book dispels the secrecy around endometriosis & shares what it’s been like for the author to struggle with it. Learning from the experience of others is an easy entry point to better understanding a problem and this book is an excellent primer what endometriosis is like. The author’s voice is clear & personable & it’s like she’s talking directly to you as a friend, so you learn all the ins & outs of what she’s going through. I appreciated learning more about this medical problem because it’s more common than we realize & learning about her experience will help me to better understand others.
Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

CW: all things medical, death of a friend

I laughed, I cried, I felt so incredibly seen. I would recommend this book to literally everyone because you either have a chronic illness and can relate to so much of Lara's words, or you don't but you should read this so you can be aware of what folks experience on a daily basis.

I really enjoyed Parker's voice, which is really consistent throughout. She combines humor, anger, and frankness to fully illustrate what it is like to have Vagina Problems, both dealing with the immense pain, expecting & fearing the pain, and having doctors not believe that pain. I do think this will be a balm for those with Vagina Problems, but also instructive for those who have someone in their life with Vagina Problems (or someone who just wants to learn and realize that 1 in 10 women have endometriosis.
In some of the early chapters they seemed stretched out and a bit repetitive at times, and I felt they could've been cut down and be more concise. Overall I really liked it, and with a good narrator, I bet this would be a really great audiobook too.

I sincerely hope that anyone who ever experiences any sort of vagina problem finds this book, or at the very least, a standalone article by Lara Parker talking about her experiences with various vagina problem. This is such an important issue that effects SO MANY WOMEN, and we never really talk about it. As someone who is pretty sure they have an undiagnosed vagina problem, I'm so glad I found this book and have friends I can openly and honestly talk to.

In VAGINA PROBLEMS, the author very honestly discusses various aspects of her life, from dating to work, navigating the medical system, and dealing with difficult mental health spirals that having a chronic illness brings with it. She is very up front about how difficult it is dealing with her multiple conditions, but also takes times to note the good things, too. I really appreciated her open, honest dialogue throughout this book, and her advice for when it comes to fighting for yourself and standing up against health professionals who may not believe your pain is real. No one knows your body better than yourself, and you deserve to see a medical professional who will listen to your concerns and take them seriously.

Again, I cannot emphasize how important and powerful this book is. I hope those who need it find it, and it helps shed some light on a very important topic that needs more attention.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"We're not talking about the fact than an estimated 176 million people worldwide live with endometriosis, and around one in ten people with vaginas will experience some sort of vaginal or pelvic pain in their lifetime. We're not talking about painful sex, or painful orgasms, or periods that are so debilitating they keep you home from work or school. That's what we should be talking about."

This is Lara Parker's first person account of her life living with endometriosis, and other aliments she dubs her Vagina Problems. It is her story, but it is also the story of so many women around the world. She delves deep into the details of how living with chronic pain has impacted every facet of her life since the age of 14. She explores the shame and stigma she felt; the agonizing struggle to be heard by her doctors, to the point of blaming herself; and the general lack of information and support available relating to women's sexual health problems.

From the very first line, I was simply immersed in Lara's honest account of living with chronic pain. Her determination and perseverance are inspiring. Her vulnerability and rawness are empowering. Her dialogue and humour are educational and informative. And it is absolutely heart-wrenching to know her (and so many other women) are not seen or heard. At times her writing gets repetitive, but given the nature of the subject matter I cannot fault her here. These illnesses are real and this book should definitely help raise awareness and normalize talking about taboo topics surrounding women's sexual health. As heart-breaking as it is to learn so many girls suffer in silence, Lara offers hope.

As Lara says herself, Vagina Problems is the book she wished she had back when she was searching for answers, and for that reason I highly recommend it to anyone experiencing their own vagina issues. For this book to be truly transformative it is a MUST read for all women, but even more importantly for men. It is our chance to all inch a little closer to understanding, and offer a much more compassionate approach. Approximately half of the world's population has a vagina, and yet no one wants to talk about them. It is time that changes, and with this book Lara certainly helps create a safe space for women to talk about their sexual health problems.

Conversational, brutally honest, and delightfully clever, Lara Parker dives into all her vagina problems and the research that she's done to solve them. Parker offers up a safe space for discussion and commissary on topics such as PCOS, endometriosis, other chronic issues. For those who too suffer from pesky vagina problems, it's a must read!

Vagina Problems is the real story of Lara Parker, a life that has been surrounded by pain and Doctors who kept telling her lies and misguided her on what to do or how to feel better if that's something that actually exists.

Vagina Problems, a very eye-opener book, not only do we see ourselves in every page and story Lara wrote about, but also we identify so much on how usually Doctors don't have any clue about our bodies, the female body, and how they usually throw diagnoses at us that are so wrong just to get rid of us or try to convince us that all our symptoms are in our head.

I identify so much with Lara story, It will never compare to what she went through or what she still going thought, as my story is very different but I've been in that chair many, many, times When a Doctor wants to impose his will and diagnose to you no matter what you said he will try to convince you to do or believe everything he says. When they try to convince you that you need a catheter for chemo when they don't even know if you will even need it, or when they are trying to do major surgery on your intestines because they assure you, you're in danger when is all lies and you don't even need the surgery, they just want the money and to get rid of you because they dont have an answer or your clue to what is happening with your body.

Vagina Problems is the story of a misdiagnose of a bunch of doctors who didn't know what to do and keep lying and misdiagnosing Laura over and over again, she even had a surgery that it wasn't even necessary, she tells us how all these terrible misdiagnoses hurt her immensely, how the Doctors never took her seriously and keep making up excuses. I felt angry many times reading how they treat her, how they constantly dismissed her. How hard she fought without any help because people could never understand what she was going through. I feel her and I'm sure many of us will feel her and understand her perfectly.

Vagina Problems show us how clueless the medicine world is about us, about the women's body, how in the medical industry we're still being discriminated and constantly try to lies to us when they want to make excuses for their lack of knowledge.

I really wish Lara had a different ending, I wish someone in the world could help her, she has been through so much, I wish I knew her so I could tell her to have a soul retrieval.

Thank you Laura for being a warrior and a fighter in a man's world.

Lara Parker's "Vagina Problems" is about the health problems she has suffered since first getting her period as a young woman. She discusses her struggles with endometriosis, vulvodynia, bladder pain, and more, as well as the devastating effects these conditions have on her mental health, sex life, relationships, career, and daily life. I hesitate to call this a memoir, since we learn only a handful of details about her family, upbringing, job, etc. Instead, each chapter explores different topics, such as living with chronic pain, or how to manage endometriosis symptoms while working. This book will be very cathartic for those of us who have dealt with many of the same issues as Lara, and she offers many valuable insights into how women navigate their health care, particularly with an illness like endometriosis that is often misdiagnosed or overlooked. Yet the structure of the book felt a little too loose for me. I never expected a happy ending or cure for Lara, and I appreciate how honest she is about how her health issues are ongoing. However, I think the book needed a little bit more to justify its length, either with more about Lara's life, or with insights from those working in women's health and advocating for patients like Lara and the millions of women like her. This book doesn't bill itself as a medical book, but I don't feel there's enough here to call it a memoir either.

There was so much that this book COULD have done to highlight the many issues that women face, especially when it comes to vagina problems. I was looking forward to this book as an informative non-fiction read that uses statistics and specific diagnoses that women receive. 

Rather than being informative though, this book read as a long complaint of chronic pain. I almost feel that a two-star rating is generous, but Lara Parker has obviously helped many people (women especially) by talking about the issues that she has faced with the multiple diagnoses she has received for the pain that she feels. 

If you are looking for one personal example of a woman who has suffered because of her vagina, I recommend this book. This book may help you recognize that you are not on your own. Note that her stories are repetitive- she retells the same stories in each of the chapters and this book would have been better at half the length.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Vagina Problems // by Lara Parker

Ever since reading When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, I have been reading every medically related memoir I could get my hands on. Over the past year, I’ve also tried to be more outspoken about taboo topics, both when with friends as well as on social media. When I came across Vagina Problems by Lara Parker, I knew that I just had to read it! Aside from the blurb, have you seen the cover?! It is awesome! It is perfect for for her story with its boldness that draws your attention immediately!

Lara Parker pulled me into her story right away. There aren’t many books that I read this quickly. But she just has a real talent at telling things how they are with no shame and leaving you wanting more. I know that might be a weird thing to say when it is about a topic like this, but it is true. I learned so much about the illnesses she talks about and I am a better person for it. I wish I could make not just every doctor but every person in general read this book. I knew there was a bias about women’s pain in medicine but I did not realize it takes an average of 7 (SEVEN!) years for someone to be diagnosed with endometriosis. That is ridiculous!

I love how Lara Parker is defensive and argumentative and owns it! It is so obvious how much she has been belittled and not taken serious, and it’s very empowering to me (who is struggling with unexplained medical issues thus far and feels like it’s not always being taken serious) to see her not back down and make her problems smaller than they are for the book. Several times throughout, Parker talks about her privilege and what that affords her in terms of treatment options, health insurance, and sick days. She sounds down to earth and honest when she talks about these things, very much in line with the rest of her book. This book is raw and honest and everything it needs to be. There is no happy ending, at least not the type we would all love to see with a cure and forever love and butterflies and flowers. But it has an ending that may feel familiar to others with chronic illnesses or hopefully at least spark some hope.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have Vagina Problems. Ever since my first period, I struggled with the unbearable pain associated with my period, missing school because of it. I went to various Gynaecologist with the belief that I could have endometriosis, many of these doctors brushed it off and put me on the pill. I struggled with my period for 9 more years before I met a gynecologist who listened and told me it was highly probable that I have endometriosis and that we should treat it as such.

It’s obvious that my story is incredibly common, I count myself among one of the lucky ones who found a doctor willing to work with me and get on a plan that worked for my body, my endo symptoms as a result are only a minor annoyance.

As someone who has multiple chronic illnesses and vagina problems this book resonated with me on so many levels. I really feel for Lara, Chronic Illness is isolating, it’s filled with anger, resentment, and constant self-doubt.
Although our struggles with illness are slightly different, I couldn’t help but feel everything she said so deeply, it was like I was reading a mirror of myself.

This book gives a voice to the many women who live with vagina problems, who have suffered through the dehumanizing and humiliating remarks and dismissals made by doctors, family members, friends, and strangers. The pain, loneliness, and isolation.

Women should no longer have to keep quiet about our vagina problems, it shouldn’t be shameful to want a sex life regardless of our pain.
Lara has given a voice to all of us women, she has vagina problems and she’s no longer keeping quiet about them.

5 stars.
Every woman struggling with vagina problems needs to read this book. I highly recommend it.
Thank you Lara for writing this book and no for longer keeping quiet about Vagina Problems.

**ARC provided by St. Martin's Griffin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I volunteered to read this book, through netgalley in exchange, for an honest review. This book is well written. It was my first time reading a book about Endometriosis. This book tells you how everyone who is experiencing Endometriosis is taking care of themselves day to day. I recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone. This book explains it well. This book will be in stores for $16.99 on October 6.

I'd like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I haven't heard of the author before, so I wasn't familiar with her previous writing on the topic of her health. I was eager to read this book - planned to buy a copy, if I wasn't awarded an ARC of it - because there seem to be few books written for women's health issues that are up to date and actually talk about what it's like to experience "something wrong" but not be able to get help - or empathy - in dealing with the issues. I'm of a generation where "women's issues" weren't talked about, so that it could be difficult to tell if an issue was abnormal or not - or how much to share with your doctor. So, I'm all for books that talk about these topics to educate everyone on these topics.

Overall, I found this an interesting book to read. Some bits were a bit repetitive, I felt, but it also felt like this young woman was in a lot of pain and very frustrated in her attempts to get help and get answers. Given those feelings, it makes sense that it would come out in the book. However, I guess as a reader, I wish there was a bit of editing there.

Certain topics don’t get enough air time because they’re considered taboo. How dare we speak of our ailments if they have anything to do with our reproductive organs and yet everyone feels the need have a say if given half the chance. We have to start discussing these issues in order to normalize them with the intention to get better care and more resources if we need them.

After I have my 3 children I learned I would need a Hysterectomy at 27! I wasn’t prepared to lose my uterus but I did what was needed to save the rest of my body from developing cancer. What I didn’t know was how menopause would affect me so young and there was no one I could talk to about it. I researched as much as I could and tried to connect with anyone who seemed like they might have been on a similar journey.

Books like this remind me of that time and how I felt back then someone could be feeling now. If I could be a resource to someone I would.

Vagina Problems is an important book for women who feel that their pain is dismissed by doctors. While I cannot relate to the author’s problems, I know many friends who would feel seen and heard by this book. At times, the book seemed repetitive but I imagine that is how the author experiences the pain she shares. The book sheds light on a vital topic that needs to be addressed so doctors can be more informed when treating patients with chronic pain.

Thank you to Lara Parker, St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Repetitive and not really all that informative🤔

I had hoped to learn something from Lara Parker's book that could help me understand how to handle some of the pain issues I've been facing for a few years. I did not find any answers here, and I found the narrative overly repetitive, depressing, and pretty well summed up in a few lines.

-Yes, she has pain that took a long time to diagnose and will not go away.
-No, she is not less worthy of love because of her pain.
-No, others who don't experience it will probably never understand how the pain dominates your life.
-No, she is not alone in her symptoms.
-Yes, the medical profession should do more to recognize and find mitigation therapies or cures for medical conditions that only affect women.
- Yes, living with vaginal problems presents tough challenges in forming and sustaining a relationship, but relationships are not just tough because of your pain.

The book is also heavily focused on the way the pain affects a woman's sex life. A book recognizing the issue is a good thing BUT I feel this one was a bit of a circular rant heavily critical of "all the doctors she'd known before." Knowing vaginal problems are common is important; I just wish there had been more light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks to publisher St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

A great book about the realities of living with chronic pain, specifically what the author refers to as “vagina problems.” I have friends who have endometriosis and vaginismus, but still didn’t know how common they were before reading this. I know so many women whose pain has been ignored or minimized by doctors, and the gaslighting by doctors in this book filled me with rage. There was a lot that I loved about this book, and I appreciate anyone willing to share their stories about chronic pain, illness, or disability.

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an arc. This was such a worthwhile read.

Vagina Problems by Lara Parker - 4/5 stars

Trigger Warnings: Descriptions of pain, vomit, gaslighting (from doctors and personal relationships)

I received a free copy of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have followed Lara Parker and her journey with her health and her life through social media for a couple of years now. Parker has always been inspiring and honest and watching her try her best always pushed me to do the same. When I found out that she had written a book, I knew that I HAD to read it. And I was absolutely not disappointed!

This book felt so much like the authentic person she is on the internet and didn't hold back at all. I laughed, I cried, I felt seen. I think this novel can do a lot of good for a lot of people.

Ultimately, while educational at times, Vagina Problems is not a book that aims to teach people about vagina problems or how to handle them. This book is made to reach out, grab hold of you, and say "I know. I see you. I get it."

I loved the way this was formatted. The different chapters all flowed really nicely and I was hooked the entire time. I actually read this in just about one sitting. As soon as I started, I couldn't seem to put it down.

Overall, the stories that Parker told and the anecdotes she shared felt realistic in some very painful, beautiful ways. Don't go into this expecting Lara to teach you how to talk to someone with chronic illness, that isn't her job. It's your job to educate yourself on that, and it differs with every person. This is for people with chronic illness or other health compromises to feel seen and heard. To connect with others. And it was incredibly done.

As a young woman with endometriosis and other issues, I was so happy to find this book!

So often I felt the author was talking about my own experiences as so many of us endo warriors face the same horrible things each day and night. Her tone is great and very real! I hope doctors will read this one so they can realize nope, it's not all in their heads and it's a real problem that needs medical attention.

I plan to buy this one to add to my health library and any woman facing 'female issues' should too!