Published By: Hashtag Press
Pages:
Released On: 19/10/2023
After 12 years of being trapped in the world of one room by the M.E. Monster, Jessica’s dreams start to come true. She’s pregnant! But Jessica has to adjust to being a disabled mum in an inaccessible world and face the critics who doubt her abilities.
*****
Thanks to Literally PR for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review and a spot on the book tour.
This is book number three in the series, but only the first one I’ve read, but I won’t say it really mattered as she provided a small backstory to the start of the book. I mean, if I had been choosing to read this off the shelf then I’d probably have read the first two first, and I’m sure they give you more context and more time to really invest in Jessica’s story. But as someone who is just reading book three, it is perfectly pleasant enough to read one without the others, and I didn’t feel particularly short-changed.
I was diagnosed with M.E myself in 2021, along with Fibromyalgia, and Functional Neurological Disorder in 2022, so I empathise with Jessica about her disability and I was keen to read her story, even if I’m only getting the tail end of it.
Even though words are my livelihood, I’ve always struggled in documenting just how my condition makes me think and feel. And whilst I know we have different disabilities and individual complex needs, but Jessica has got it down beautifully. It’s like someone saw me and my illness and wrote it down perfectly.
I like the positivity she brings. When you’re amongst all that illness, it can be difficult to find any positivity in life. But she’s proven that you can do. You can have a husband and a family and a good life, and also still be struggling.
I also appreciate her honesty. Illness is so personal and often embarrassing that we aren’t always honest to anyone other than our nearest and dearest, and sometimes not even to them. She could have kept the hardest parts a secret. Illness isn’t pretty, in fact it can be pretty disgusting at times, but she’s not sugar-coated it. This is what it is. So I really commend her for it.
Even if I do relate to some of her difficulties, this book was still eye opening to me, and a real credit to just how much the human body can actually cope with even if your mind doesn’t think so.
She has managed to fill a relatively short book with so much power. Yes, at it’s basic level it is about a woman with M.E who is expecting her first child. But it’s got so much depth, there’s love and friendship first and foremost, and hope and strength and joy, but also misery and sadness and wanting. But it never strays too far into unbelievable either end of the spectrum. It’s sad enough for you to feel sympathy, but happy enough to feel hope. It just feels very human.
If you’ve got M.E or another immune condition, or you know someone who has, I thoroughly recommend this book (I can’t speak for the whole series but I’m fairly confident it will be as good). Hey, even if you’re lucky enough to have no ailments, I still think it’s an important book to read, as it gives you a completely different outlook on your life, on your community, your loved ones, and just humanity as a whole, and you’ll never take your good health for granted.
I know this had the potential to be quite morose and make you feel a bit low. But it actually is the complete opposite. I felt much lighter and more positive once I’d finished it and I can guarantee you will too.
Books By Your Bedside 