Listened to this in one day! I love Abigail during her times on Bachelor Nation, but love her even more now. Listening to her share her story was beautiful because she shares her heart, her fears and highs.

I love memoirs, and having a glimpse into someone else's life. I picked up this book to hear about life with a cochlear implant. I have never watched the bachelor, so I knew nothing about her being on the show.

The author did a great job reading the audiobook version.

I did feel like it lacked substance in many ways, but I think that's merely because she is fairly young and she kept the focus on her upbringing and then the show.

I don't like rating memoirs, since everyone's story is worth sharing! I am rating more on the depth and substance of this book. It's a personal story of a deal girl, with a large focus on her experience on reality TV.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this one! I have been trying to make it a priority this year to read more books by disabled authors and I'm really glad I came across this one! I watched some of the season of the Bachelor that Abigal was on and she was one of my favorite contestants that year. I took ASL in high school and have had an interest in the deaf community but had never read anything by someone with a cochlear implant. While I do understand both sides of that debate, I really enjoyed Abigal's story and hearing her perspective. I will be recommending this to my friends who are interested in learning more about the deaf community.

Overall, this was a 4.5 stars for me!

I was thrilled when Abigail announced she was releasing her own book. I’ve loved her since her time on *The Bachelor* and adored her even more on *Bachelor in Paradise*. It was fascinating to learn more about her life story, her experiences with her cochlear implant, and the challenges she’s faced. I also appreciated that she narrated the audiobook herself—it added a personal touch. While I enjoyed most of the book, I found that some parts felt repetitive, which made it lose a bit of its impact at times.

I thoroughly enjoyed Abigails story of growing up deaf and overcoming her fears of being her true self, and not just being 'the deaf girl'. She is an inspiration to everyone, hearing or not. I love the way she gives homage to her family, especially her sister Rachel and her mother and grandparents. She is blessed and she knows it. I was lucky enough to see her on the Batchelor and loved her. However I didn't know she went on to Batchelor in Paradise and found her true love there. Congratulations Abigail on finding love and finding your true self in the process! I listened to the audio version of this book and she did a wonderful job narrating her own story. Highly recommended. 5 stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and RBmedia | Recorded Books for a chance to listen/read an audio version of this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the audio of this memoir! Abigail is such an inspiration to so many people. I began my journey into learning about the Deaf community in university and was so inspired by Abigail's story. I watched her on the Bachelor and BIP and quickly became a fan! I loved learning about her experience and how she navigated different things throughout her life. This is a quick read (or listen) and will leave you feeling inspired and hopefully with a new perspective on life. The audio was spectacularly done and I loved hearing her raw emotion of retelling her life.

I listened to the audio book, which was narrated by the author, and this added a whole new dimension. It was a very interesting story and made me fall in love with Abigail. Alot of information regarding the bachelor franchise. It was all real life and very true. You can not help but wish for it to work out for Abigail and Noah. It is hard to realize exactly what Abigail and those who are deaf have gone through in their lives.

Thank you Net galley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. The audiobook is narrated by the author herself which connects you with her. I knew nothing about her being on the Bachelor so it was a fun read for those insights. In addition she does a remarkable job informing about being deaf, the struggles and differences as well as advocacy. Shout out to her love for her mother and grandparents who help to make her the amazing person she is. Not your typical memoir. Definitely worth the read-especially the audiobook.

You may know Abigail from The Bachelor franchise, as the first deaf contestant to appear on the show, but I’d highly recommend this book even if you’ve never heard of her before! I loved listening to this memoir and hearing about her experience growing up with a cochlear implant. She’s a delight and it was eye-opening to me to learn about her experience navigating the world with a disability. Of course, she covers her journey on The Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise, and meeting her fiancé, Noah, too.

This kind of book is exactly why I like to read - it helps me understand other people’s experiences of the world. At 5 hours, it went by fast, plus I got a little behind the scenes of my favorite reality TV show. I’d definitely recommend this one!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun quick read/listen and I loved hearing it directly from Abigail! I’m a big Bachelor fan and loved watching her journey when it aired on television. I also have a sister with hearing loss so her representation on one of our family’s favorite shows was really cool. So hearing about her and her family’s journey was really special. Thanks so much for sharing your story and heart and who you are, Abigail! And thank you so much to NetGalley for the ability to listen to the audiobook!

Thanks to RBMedia and NetGalley for access to the audiobook of The Deaf Girl in exchange for my honest opinion.
Matt James' season of The Bachelor (filmed and aired during 2020) was the first season that I watched, and I remember seeing Abigail tell Matt about her cochlear implant on the first episode.
While I've read a few novels with deaf characters, I had not read a memoir by a deaf person. It was educational, learning about how controversial cochlear implants can be in the community. Abigail did a great job narrating, as she tells about the positives and negatives of growing up with a disability and how others perceived her. As a teacher, it was particularly hard to read about the high school teachers she had that did not do what they could to help her, due to the minor inconvenience to them. I hope I haven't ever made a student feel that way!
Reading about Abigail's college experience, and how supported she felt by her small college community, on the other hand, made me really happy. If you're a Bachelor superfan looking for more information about behind the scenes, there is a little of that, but it isn't really a focus. And very little is included about Abigail's Bachelor in Paradise experience. However, I do recommend checking this out - especially to hear Abigail's voice telling her story in the audiobook.

To start off, I have never seen an episode of The Bachelor, or any of the shows in that franchise. I, however, am always interested in memoirs from people in the disability and Deaf communities, so I was eager to listen to this audiobook.

By and large, I thought it was lovely. The author and her sister both classify themselves as “little d deaf” and both received cochlear implants as young children, though they had very different experiences getting used to it, and navigating the world. I liked both parts of the book - pre and during/post Bachelor. Abigail is reflective and open and did a great job narrating. The super raw emotion in her voice when sharing about the passing of a grandparent was really powerful. I also really valued her feelings and reflection on tokenism and accessibility!

Overall, this was a great listen and I recommend it!

As someone who use to watch all of the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows, I was interested to pick this one up because I really liked Abigail on Matt’s season. I was happy that this book wasn’t only a focus on the experience of the show, but also how she grew up and her family. There is still plenty about the show and what happened after, but the real focus is her experience with deafness, and how her disability has evolved who she is as she has grown from a child into her adult self. I appreciated that she also included how her experience wasn’t exactly like her sister’s experience with cochlear implants, and that she tackled the stigma of disability being a “one size fits all” narrative that our society often labels disabled people as when it comes to their lived experiences.

I listened to the audiobook, which she narrates herself. If you are a fan of the show, or are looking to learn more about experiences with cochlear implants, this is a great one to pick up.

Thanks to the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Loved listening to Abigail's story! So positive and insightful. I've loved her since we met her on The Bachelor. Her narration is great and really adds something to the book.

This was a great story about life with a cochlear implants. Abigail reads the book which I believe make to story more relatable. I did not know much about her journey on the bachelor and I enjoyed the insight. Abigail talks about capital D Deaf and lower case d deaf. I did find it interesting on where she felt she falls in the Deaf culture. This book is also a great sister story.

I was so excited when I saw this book pop up on NetGalley! I was a huge fan of Abigail's when she was on The Bachelor / BIP. I love that she was able to give us an inside look on what it was like growing up and navigating life with a disability. In my life, I've never even met a deaf person so I found this book extremely interesting and eye opening. I feel like even if you have never watched The Bachelor, this is still a really good memoir to pick up. I always love listening to the audiobook version of memoirs and actually hearing the person share their own experience. I could hear the emotion in Abigail's voice the whole way through and it was very touching.

thank you to netgalley, rbmedia and the author, abagail heringer for the copy of the book in exchange for a review.
i feel extremely lucky to get to read this fantastic and new book. going in, i haven’t watched much of the bachelor, and do not watch abagail’s season. i had not heard of a deaf contestant on the show or it would have peaked my interest long ago.
i do however, like to consume disabled media as someone who is disabled themselves with a different disability than the author. i liked the themes that were explored within this book. discussions on love, conflicting feelings about accomadations, grappling with how people will perceive them as someone openly disabled.
the author maintains a positive but realistic look at adversity, exploring life as someone with a cochlear implant and being seen for the person they are aside from the rest.
i liked the pieces about her college experience and moving in with her roommate. the disclosure to positive experiences in college vs high school was extremely fun to listen to.
i listened to the audiobook read by the author and i love these books. the author reading the book adds so much and this is no exception. having an audiobook available also makes it accessible for a variety of disabilities.
i learned a lot about cochlear implants- i had not thought about the batteries and how in some instances it isn’t preference for the wearer or that sometimes issues with the cochlear implants can be isolating like she explained on a few of her dates or in the auditorium.
this was of course a great read with a disabled author but was a great memoir regardless.
this is a must read.

Thank you #Netgalley for this advanced read!

Loved listening to Abigail share her journey. She discusses her family, how hearing loss affected not only her but her sister and how her mother and grandparents were strong allies on their behalf. It was interesting to learn more about the thoughts she experienced during the bachelor and things you may not necessarily think about as a hearing person. Specifically while in the hotel leading up to her bachelor stay and the pressure of relying on others to alert her of situations. Also loved hearing about the bachelor and bachelor in paradise experiences which ultimately led her to Noah.

Great non fiction read for me
As I continue to learn what type of non fiction I like i am understanding that stories by people with real world experiences always resonate with me.
I appreciate the honesty of this book.
So much to be learned from!

Omg I fell in love with Abigail during Matt’s season of the bachelor, and her book made me love her even more!

I truly love how she leaned in and told the hard truths about what life is like for someone with a significant disability and how ableism flat out sucks and impacts every part of her life, and how she felt not accepted in the hearing world, and also ostracized by adult members of the Deaf community as a teen for having cochlear implants.

I love how she continued to bring the story back to the fact that this is just one story, and when you have met one deaf person, you have met one deaf person.

As someone who works in employment advocacy space for pwd I also really appreciated her sharing about her experiences with work and wanting to not be a bother and not addressing her accommodations needs and as a result the impact in the workplace and just how important self-advocacy has been for her to succeed whether she wanted to or not.

Thanks a million times to the publisher for my gifted audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review!