This is a well written and surprisingly funny memoir. The author did a good job describing her medical conditions, and how it has affected her psychically and emotionally throughout life. Even though I enjoyed the tone and brutal honesty, I must admit the book is short, but it read super long. Sometimes the themes become repetitive and draggy. Good book but I don’t think it will have a lot of lasting impact for me.

3.5/5. I really liked the author’s voice. She was blunt, honest and funny when tackling complex subjects. She just told it like it was. This memoir was short and to the point. I really was able to connect with the author.
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I really wanted to love this book - a memoir told through essays and dark humor is usually right up my alley, but I struggled to get into this one.

I enjoyed some of the essays and thought the overall topics and message was good but it was not quite what I expected. The editorial voice was incredibly millennial, often reading more like a buzzfeed article than an essay and the humor did not come through as strongly as I had hoped, instead reading more as anger/bitterness (fair based on the authors experience but less enjoyable as a reader)

The cover and title immediately drew me in and even though I’m not big on memoirs, I really enjoyed learning about Carla’s experiences and how positive her outlook is now. Carla was born with Klippel–Trénaunay syndrome and had to deal with constant reminders of a world that worships normalcy and skinniness. Would definitely recommend.

Reviewing memoirs can be so difficult because your subjective views on characters are no longer on characters but real people and the choices that they have made in their lives. Why do I get an opinion about this person, their likability, their privilege etc?? But here we are anyway, so let’s dive in.

There were a lot of things that were very enjoyable about this memoir and it starts with the title. The dark sarcasm mirrors Jennette McCurdy’s memoir and had me sold before I even opened the book. The deeper glances into life with a disability and especially one that is not so invisible puts a lense on our society as a whole and Sosenko very clearly has insight and was well articulated about them. The deeper dive into fat phobia and how our society treats fat women was something I wasn’t expecting in this but was looked upon with a lot of poignant examples and became the framework of this book.

With that said, there were times where I wanted the dark sarcasm to fit more with the title. Instead of dark humour, I felt more anger. And I’m all for angry women as we deserve to be angry, it merely wasn’t what I was expecting given the title. A lot of points were harped in so deeply that I wanted to grab the authour and tell her it’s actually all okay and not as bad as it seems, and I know it’s BAD out here.

There were a lot of times Sosenko would just start making actual lists instead of writing and this threw me for a loop. It was overwhelming, exhausting, and I kept thinking “but you’re a writer? Why are you just listing and bullet pointing PAGES at me??” I think she’s better than this and I feel confident in that given other bits of her writing. It felt like a cop out to include points without making the effort of succinctly story telling with them.

My last was gripe was *gasp* the privilege. I DO appreciate entirely that Sosenko continuously tells us that she has it. From her pretty face, to her rich parents bailing her out, to the emotional support and how good of a family she has, etc etc etc. but it got very tiring and made the story hard to carry on after the halfway point. Why do women so often have to be like-able? I struggled with this idea while reading because I kept going “UGH GIRL STOP” so many times. She doesn’t have to be like-able, she doesn’t have to be nice all the time, she doesn’t have to be skinny to have worth but it also felt like she was begging for this while also being incredibly hard to swallow too.

I do wish we had more on her actual disability and how that affected her more in life and not just her younger years and lack of autonomy. Mixing these points with a deeper dive into how fatness and women are affected in the medical community was more what I was anticipating here and seemed to be lacking overall. As a disabled woman it felt like a lot of this was just her young age and looking different to people and then moved on from the ramifications and how disability can and does affect day to day life. Disabilities effect everyone in different ways but the way it was framed had me wondering how it was effecting her outside of just narcissism and how our society sees bodies. So much of this story was about internalized fat phobia and our society on fatness but that wasn’t what I was expecting to get with this book.

I very clearly have a lot of thoughts on this book and I don’t want to demonize it in any way. There were a lot of great, high points to this but they were also balanced with very annoying and overwrought aspects that had me wanting her to move on already. There were some fall backs and some highlights and by no means am I mad I read it. I enjoyed quite a few moments in reading but they were often smothered by a lot of other rantings that dimmed the overall shine.

(this review was posted on goodreads on 04.11.2025)

i don't know if i can find the right words to accurately review i'll look so hot in a coffin, and what impact it had on me while reading it.

what i can say is that it's a powerful, raw, incredibly open memoir, told through a voice, sosenko's, that teeters in a perfect way between laugh out loud funny (pootsies!!) while, two lines down, smacking you in the face with the most accurately worded paragraph of what it means to be disconnected from one's body, to strive for invisibility, to belong to those that are "blurry" in the camera lens eye of modern society. as sosenko herself says, there is strenght in numbers, and no feeling was more powerful for me while reading this memoir than that of being deeply understood, of standing in a group with somebody telling me "yeah, it happens and it sucks but you have agency over how and how much it affects you". the writing is quick and accessible, almost comparable to speaking with a friend, as well as extremely poignant, so much so that sometimes i had to stop reading just to stare into the void and let every sillable sink in.

i dare say that EVERYONE should read this if they can, mindful of trigger warnings, either to receive a glimpse of a life they may not know, to learn something (like not feeling entitled to comment on other people's bodies!), or simply to feel understood and realize how much power we have in making our own choices with our own fundamental, beautiful bodies.

thank you to netgalley and random house publishing for the arc!

A funny and touching memoir. Shines a light on how women are taught--taught to hate their own bodies.

This was such a raw, emotional, enjoyable memoir. Sosenko covered a whole range of topics pertaining to her relationship with her body, from self-perception to mental health and mental health struggles. Some of the topics covered dipped into emotionally heavy areas, but the author had a phenomenal sense of humor that balanced the book wonderfully. It is extremely impressive how vulnerable and honest the author was in sharing her stories and experiences, and that came through to create a grabbing and moving book.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

i recommend checking trigger warnings as a lot of sensitive topics are discussed, include but are not limited to death/wanting to die, anxiety, abusive relationships, and compulsive behaviors.

the title of carla sosenko’s memoir elicited the same feeling i had when i saw the title of jennette mccurdy’s memoir: “wtf is that title” and “i need to know the context immediately”

i’ll look so hot in a coffin is an hilariously unfiltered but extremely honest look into carla sosenko’s life — she holds nothing back, from her feelings towards herself, her family, men she’s dated, and society. particularly, she holds nothing back regarding her life as a woman with a “pretty face” whose “body doesn’t match”, as she has K-T, or klippel-trenaunay syndrome.

overall, this was a fantastic memoir!

What a raw and open read. Much gratitude to Carla Sosenko for being vulnerable and offering us insight into her world. As someone who also lives with a disability I appreciated her use of humour and how her essays were accessible and easy to read. I enjoyed the tone and would read more from this talented author. - particularly as it pertains to disability rights and fat culture.Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for the ARC.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for this advance copy!

What a powerful and funny book. I loved how Carla walks us through her life and her vision of her own body. It was vulnerable, real, funny, and irreverent at times. She educates about her life from birth without moralizing it, but doesn't give herself or others space to pity her. Instead, she lets us in and gives us an honest vision of her successes and challenges and it is great. A quick read, there is a lot happening on each page and I gobbled it up. Just a fantastic memoir.

This book hit SO HARD for me!! One of my most anticipated disability memoirs of 2025 in which the author who was born with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (basically a body full of deformities) shares about her life challenges with anxiety, disordered eating, ADHD, overspending, depression and other mental health issues.

I loved how she is able to write these essays with such self-deprecating humor while also unpacking important societal critiques about ableism, body-shaming and forced medical intervention on children's 'disabled' bodies in a very raw and honest manner.

Great on audio read by the author herself and perfect for fans of books like It must be beautiful to be finished by Kate Gies. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Review posted to StoryGraph and Goodreads on 3/31/25. Review will be posted to Amazon on release date.

What a powerful collection of essays. Sosenko tackles topics surrounding her medical conditions including having physical differences, ADHD, anxiety, depression and takes on a journey exploring how all of these things are part of her and also make her the woman she has become. As a fellow small fat who has done their time in the WeightWatchers cult I particularly enjoyed reading her essay on her experience with diet culture and eventual usage of wegovy. It felt as if I could have written just about all of it myself. I appreciated the way that Sosenko isn’t afraid to show all aspects of herself even the ones that folks might judge her for (hello shopping issues!). The flow of the essays was perfect and I felt like each one built on the last to create this whole picture of where Sosenko finds herself now.

Carla Sosenko’s I'll Look So Hot in a Coffin is an unflinchingly honest, darkly funny, and deeply relatable memoir about living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, disordered eating, and the ever-present fear of not being “enough.” With razor-sharp wit and heartbreaking vulnerability, Sosenko takes readers through her lifelong battle with perfectionism—one that manifests in calorie counting, obsessive rituals, and a relentless pursuit of control.

What makes this memoir stand out is Sosenko’s ability to balance raw emotion with humor. She doesn’t shy away from the ugly truths of living with OCD and an eating disorder, but she also infuses her storytelling with the kind of self-deprecating humor that makes you laugh even as your heart aches. Her writing is compulsively readable (pun intended), making it easy to devour while also sitting with the weight of her experiences.

This book is for anyone who has ever struggled with anxiety, body image, or the exhausting pressure to be perfect. It’s also for readers who appreciate memoirs that don’t just tell a story but invite you into the author’s mind, messiness and all. Sosenko’s honesty is a reminder that healing isn’t linear, and self-acceptance is an ongoing process.

This memoir was outstanding. It brought humor along with the deep reflection. I will definitely recommend this to others.

In this comedically open memoir Carla Sosenko shares her experiences of living in a different body and what that has done to her self image. She also recalls how her image impacts her mental health and navigating relationships. It’s ultimately a memoir on bodily autonomy, as Sosenko recalls memories when she had none. Starting as early as 8 years old, getting liposuction for a rare vascular disorder she was born with. She discusses her lifelong feud with diet culture as a means to make herself smaller and more palatable. Sosenko’s privilege is also meditated on often in this memoir. She knows she’s different, but often feels she’s not apart of the disability community because she’s more able bodied than most. She knows she’s skinny fat, but has lived her life in a bigger body knowing the loneliness that comes with fatness. She knows she has pretty privilege and is a fair skinned Jewish woman. Her privilege is in the forefront of her mind as she tries to reclaim her autonomy.

I liked pieces of this memoir, the diet culture aspects being so normalized as a young girl is something I could relate to. I did definitely think this was going to be a bit more disability justice based than it was, and there are a lot of snippets of it sprinkled throughout that I appreciate. I did enjoy the journey of watching Carla getting to the pieces of body joy she does achieve. I loved her candor and humor and frankness she approaches these topics with and think it will resonate with a lot of audiences.

Thank you Random House and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. And thank you Carla for your honesty.

If you've ever felt like a square peg in a round hole, please read this book. This is the perfect read for those who just need to know they are not the only person in the world who feels so out of place and haunted by something they cannot control.

Thank you for letting me read this early. I will absolutely be grabbing a copy!

A fun memoir from Carla Sosenko that explores her lived experience of being born with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome. Born with K-T Carla has always lived in a body that does not conform to societies expectations of "normal."

I enjoyed this book, it was an interesting perspective on the conversations many people are having around beauty standards, disability rights, and Carla's distinct voice connected her experiences to these important conversations in a humane and thoughtful way.

There were some moments in the book that felt a little like reading a buzzfeed listicle but overall I thought the memoir flowed nicely for the reader. I think this is a good first book if you've never thought about these issues before and are interested in learning more about things like disability rights, the fat acceptance movement, or what it's like to navigate the world in a different body.

To start my review, I'd like to send a big, big thank you to the author, Carla Sosenko, Random House Publishing (Dial Press), and NetGalley for the privilege of being able to read an advanced digital copy of I'll Look So Hot in a Coffin by Carla Sosenko. I will share my review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble upon release.

I’ll Look So Hot in a Coffin is a super personal and vulnerable, but really funny memoir that explores the author's life with a syndrome that causes vascular defects and physical differences. Those differences and the variety of stigmas she has faced played a huge part in shaping her own self-image and relationships. This memoir is Sosenko's way of grappling with what she's learned, and the messy work of breaking those beliefs down to their bare parts in order to pull out what really serves you. Sosenko's physical differences and the resulting social fallout are extreme examples of what really all women go through in varying degrees: beauty and body expectations, fatphobia, pretty privilege, classism, ableism, diet culture, etc.) I'm thankful to be able to take a peek into Sosenko's perspective, because she really forced me to confront some of my own ideas about myself and my body and how it fits into the world.

The essays within this book take on different aspects of her life with candor and humor, which made this super readable and engaging. I felt like I was listening to a friend rant after she had taken time to think deeply about something, and I was nodding and agreeing with her throughout. I really appreciated the perspective of neurodivergence on these things, because those of us with pattern-seeking brains can be pretty good at pointing out things that others seem to take for granted. While facing the pain of being judged for her perceived inability to live up to a societal standard for feminity, she refuses to let those things define her or her life, and continues to work on facing hers and others' faults with honesty and empathy. That is something I think we can all appreciate, connect with, and strive to do as well.

I will separately point out that I thought one of the best things about this book was Sosenko's sense of humor. She had me laughing out loud several times and thinking about passages long after reading. Even though these kinds of memoirs can be kind of heavy and harder to get through, her ability to make everything feel absurd in its way kept me thinking that I can do a better job at laughing at myself as well. I particularly thought her reflections on more current options for weight loss like Ozempic. I thought her points and perspectives all around were really thought-provoking, powerful, and definitely worth a read. She reminded me that my body is not something that I have to change in order to be good enough, but that my body is good enough to do the work it can do. I think that's a pretty powerful message that anyone can heed when looking forward into the future and how they can impact their communities.

I'd recommend I'll Look So Hot in a Coffin to anyone who likes other essay-based nonfiction like Roxane Gay's or Lindy West's work.
Would probably be best appreciated by young adults or older.

Major Tropes and Themes:
- body image, diet culture, beauty standards, feminitity
-disability, physical differences & stigma
-mental health and anxiety/ADHD
-politics, society, and patriarchy

4 out of 5 stars!

I really enjoyed this book! I only know about this book because the publisher reached out to me and offered me an eARC and I'm so happy they did!

This book is honest and so relatable. I felt myself highlighting so much in each topic because thoughts about your body are ever present as a woman.

I recommend anyone and everyone read this! The honesty and the humor will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC!