onceuponanisabel's Reviews (1.48k)

Lots of people talk about the prescience of this book and that's true enough but it makes me think mostly about the predictability of human shortcomings - greed, denial, cowardice.

Mixed feelings on this one - hard not to compare to Fangirl Down but I think this handles the subject matter better so there’s that. 

I never feel like I know how to review non-fiction, as if the artistic evaluation of something that's meant to be educational or informative is taking the work for something it isn't. Nonetheless, this moved me deeply. As the author points out again and again, tuberculosis is largely treated as a disease of the past for those are not knowledgable about healthcare, and the history and context he provided was masterfully interwoven with his own experiences in Sierra Leone as well as those of Henry. It kept me engaged through some of the dryer chapters (although, I was never tempted to skip ahead) and I found myself deeply moved by the end of the book.