This lyrical memoir depicts the author’s experience with chronic illness, informed by her animist beliefs. The sheer beauty of the prose in this book stood out to me. The writer’s background in poetry really shines through. Though I didn’t agree with all the author had to say, her words were a pleasure to read. I was particularly struck by the way she talks about how her experience with illness failed to follow a neat narrative arc. Finally getting a diagnosis should have come as a relief, but it did little to heal her. She moved in with a romantic partner, but it wasn’t a fairy-tale ending. Intensive courses of therapy to heal her mind and body from trauma only left her feeling worse. This book points to the flaws in both conventional and alternative medicine—this is not a “Western medicine failed me and then I found my amazing naturopath” story! She encountered overconfident, patronizing and exploitative doctors as well as alternative healers who did little other than pushing her to buy more supplements. As a whole, this book felt raw and real, liking getting a peek inside the author’s brain. In refusing to follow the traditional narrative structure for illness stories, she’s created a book that is a true work of art.

I think the author has a good voice and the writing started out enjoyable for me. However, there were ideas presented that are not necessarily the best and are jarring when it comes to reading about healing.

the new-age vibes were interesting, and unlike some otoer reviewers i found the religious aspects not crazily overpowering. but there are some very troubling views in here about illness. 3 stars. tysm for thea rc.

One of my most anticipated releases of 2025, I was sorely disappointed and cancelled my preorder a third of the way into forcing myself to finish reading My Body Is A Doorway by Sophie Strand.
Despite being chronically ill and having the same disorder as the author, I was apparently not the target audience for this book. Who that target audience would be, remains a mystery to me. I can empathize with Strand insofar as the medical gaslighting and lack of awareness, urgent care and outright abuse is horrendous, but there seems to be little perspective, wisdom or humility in these overwrought pages.
Heavy with Jesus name dropping, new age proclivities, and self-congratulatory messages, alongside troubling and problematic views on trauma and illness, My Body Is A Doorway is a wildly convoluted, repetitive and tedious book that could use heavy rewriting and major editing.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Running Press and the Author for access to an eARC. All opinions are my own.

For a memoir on chronic illness, EDS and nature, a much better choice would be Polly Atkin's Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better.