In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss
- Downloads：3889
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-02-26 05:20:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Amy Bloom
- ISBN：0593243951
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
sarabeth
，
3。75
Paige Johnson
，
A stark， unsentimental， but moving exploration of love， life， and death: a memoir unlike any that I’ve ever read before。 I’ll be thinking about this story for some time to come。
Richard Walden
，
A helpful read for those who have a loved one lost or suffering from a debilitating， incurable illness over an extended period of time。
Nicki Hanseling
，
I can’t recall where I found out about this memoir。 Honestly， it had almost nothing I can relate to。 I learned some。 It made me uncomfortable。 Memoirs are great。
Monique Prins
，
4⭐
Debbie Levine
，
I really did like this book by Amy Bloom which chronicles her husband’s battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and his decision to end his life on his terms， as upsetting as it is。 Together， as a couple they explored the options available to them and came up with a plan。Ending your life is a difficult decision for anyone to make， but this book was thoughtful， provocative and heroic。 I found myself rooting for both Amy and Brian as they went down their path into uncharted territory。
Alex Anderson
，
Tender and heartfelt memoir from a woman whose husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and who chose to end his life。 While clearly painful， the author is honest as she describes her frustration with her husband as his illness got worse， and how she tried to cope。 She also shares a lot of details about how end of life decisions work in different states and countries。 Though a morbid topic， it’s an important discussion to have as our society’s average age ticks up and we grapple with the difficult Tender and heartfelt memoir from a woman whose husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and who chose to end his life。 While clearly painful， the author is honest as she describes her frustration with her husband as his illness got worse， and how she tried to cope。 She also shares a lot of details about how end of life decisions work in different states and countries。 Though a morbid topic， it’s an important discussion to have as our society’s average age ticks up and we grapple with the difficult decision of what to do when life won’t be worth living anymore。 I’ve never read a first person account of someone who went through the Dignitas process， so this was eye opening。 My only criticism is that at times， this read more like a therapy session （which it clearly was for her） so I had to get past that。 Overall， a very thought provoking read。 。。。more
Jordana Horn Gordon
，
remarkableWhat a story and what a way with words to tell it- grateful she shared her beautiful husband with us
Max Kelly
，
Audiobook！ All of you reading this are bound to be somewhat familiar with my recent affinity for memoirs。 This is no exception to that case。 This book was phenomenal， although it was not the memoir I was expecting。 This memoir was much more driven by realities of accompanied suicide than with any “love” I imagined， though this only asks me to consider the form in which love takes in something like this。 This wasn’t a book about high school sweethearts， the curtain call on a lifetime of love， but Audiobook！ All of you reading this are bound to be somewhat familiar with my recent affinity for memoirs。 This is no exception to that case。 This book was phenomenal， although it was not the memoir I was expecting。 This memoir was much more driven by realities of accompanied suicide than with any “love” I imagined， though this only asks me to consider the form in which love takes in something like this。 This wasn’t a book about high school sweethearts， the curtain call on a lifetime of love， but rather highlights how there is no one love to idealize while also acknowledging the pain that comes with it much of the time。 I loved the two shoutouts to Still Alice （phenomenal movie） and the joke about Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying （on my TBR list！）。 Overall this was beautiful and I finished it in a day， captivating。 Also my first book of February？ Don’t know how I went so long between reads… 。。。more
Stacy Natal
，
I'm not a fan of rating a book about the death of someone's spouse as he certainly seemed like a five star kind of guy。 I felt that the strength of the book was that in so many tiny little comments， she brought her husband's personality to life for the reader。 Also， this book clearly demonstrates the horrible process of trying to end your own life due to Alzheimers （and choosing to go to Dignatas）。 I truly felt the pain and frustration of the author during this process and was angry that she had I'm not a fan of rating a book about the death of someone's spouse as he certainly seemed like a five star kind of guy。 I felt that the strength of the book was that in so many tiny little comments， she brought her husband's personality to life for the reader。 Also， this book clearly demonstrates the horrible process of trying to end your own life due to Alzheimers （and choosing to go to Dignatas）。 I truly felt the pain and frustration of the author during this process and was angry that she had to deal with so much crap at a time when she should have been enjoying last moments with her spouse。 。。。more
Louie B
，
3。5 stars。 In middle school， I wrote an essay on Dr。 Death。 Why did my school allow this？ I do not know。 How did this topic even come up？ No clue。 Why did I select Dr。 Death of all people？ Seriously， completely lost。 All I can say with confidence is that the essay was probably horrible。 Nonetheless， I remember strongly agreeing with one’s right to end his or her own life。 Perhaps since then， I’ve been very interested in all aspects of one’s end of life。 From Caitlin Doughty to Atul Gawande to in 3。5 stars。 In middle school， I wrote an essay on Dr。 Death。 Why did my school allow this？ I do not know。 How did this topic even come up？ No clue。 Why did I select Dr。 Death of all people？ Seriously， completely lost。 All I can say with confidence is that the essay was probably horrible。 Nonetheless， I remember strongly agreeing with one’s right to end his or her own life。 Perhaps since then， I’ve been very interested in all aspects of one’s end of life。 From Caitlin Doughty to Atul Gawande to infinite podcasts and an eventual philosophy focus in college， I’ve consumed all I can take in。 How death comes to be， the ethics of it all， choice， what happens after （nothing？） - it’s all been fascinating。 So I was extremely excited to pick this book up。 It was without a doubt a tear jerker and I feel so， so deeply for the situation the author and her spouse are in。 I listened on audiobook and had mixed feelings。 Unfortunately， the authors tone just wasn’t doing it for me。 Whether it was the sass， or the “better than thou” vibes she was giving off， or the judgement of various people throughout the book， I just wasn’t feeling it。 Maybe reading in person is a better option。 Apart from that， I was disappointed at the lack of discussion around one’s right to end his or her own life。 The author did write at length about her frustration with the process and the US not really having many options - but still， there was no ethics or morality of it all。 The book just didn’t offer anything new in this department。 Regardless， this is a worthy read。 It reminds us that death is still an unnecessarily taboo topic， which in turn has real consequences on real life situations such as this。 。。。more
Priscilla
，
Plenty of good reviews here。 I'll just add that I LOVE her wit， and that anyone who references Rufus T。 Firefly and Freedonia gets an extra high five from me。 Thank you， Amy！ This is a dark subject told with TONS of light。 Plenty of good reviews here。 I'll just add that I LOVE her wit， and that anyone who references Rufus T。 Firefly and Freedonia gets an extra high five from me。 Thank you， Amy！ This is a dark subject told with TONS of light。 。。。more
Dottie
，
DEPRESSING！！！！
Ange
，
Read for Booktube Prize 2023
Pat
，
for books on taps- A Memoir of Love and Loss。。。 yep it will be a downer but many relevant issues are brought up and discussed。
Carrie
，
What a gift for this author to have shared this very personal， very difficult journey in her life。 It lets us， as readers， contemplate what we may not want to think about， but that could happen。 How would we feel？ What choices might we make in that situation？ I appreciated her honesty throughout the process， with her profound sadness for the situation itself， her occasional annoyance with her husband， and not a lot， but bits of understandable self-pity for herself。 For me， this story was anchore What a gift for this author to have shared this very personal， very difficult journey in her life。 It lets us， as readers， contemplate what we may not want to think about， but that could happen。 How would we feel？ What choices might we make in that situation？ I appreciated her honesty throughout the process， with her profound sadness for the situation itself， her occasional annoyance with her husband， and not a lot， but bits of understandable self-pity for herself。 For me， this story was anchored in time， having just lost a very young daughter-in-law the same week the author’s husband died， and less than a year， after a loved one， made a similar decision。Alzheimers is clearly a cruel sentence and it’s unclear whether it is worse for the patient or the patient’s loved ones。 It seems a close race。 。。。more
Leah
，
Interesting to read about the hurdles and hoops one must jump through in order to take control of the ending to their own life。 The author’s husband is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and decides to end his life rather than slowly decline and lose his sense of self。 I found the aspects related to Dignitas - the Swiss company that offers assisted dying - all fascinating。
Lorraine
，
Disappointed in this book。 Thought it would be more informative。 Alzheimer is a disease that effects families and ending your life would be a very hard and sad decision。
Melinda Jones
，
What a great about Alzheimer’s and the complications that come along with it。 I really appreciate all her honesty and true feelings in life。
Katherine Stanley
，
2。7/5My favorite memoirs tend to be a bit more reflective rather than sharing mostly concrete， factual information。 Also， I found the subject matter a bit haunting， though that didn’t impact my rating。
Eleanor
，
I wept
Allison Covington
，
I really struggled to connect with the people in what I was expecting to be a heart-wrenching story。
Cynthia
，
Well。 I have long been a fan of Amy Bloom--"Silver Water" is one of the most amazing short stories I've ever read--but this book is quite something。 I didn't think I could stomach it--I haven't yet been able to watch Still Alice--but I got it from the library and just fell into it， doing nothing but reading it for two days。 She is such a great writer。 Going back and forth between their love story and their current plans for his death was a good structure to use， and that she is so open about how Well。 I have long been a fan of Amy Bloom--"Silver Water" is one of the most amazing short stories I've ever read--but this book is quite something。 I didn't think I could stomach it--I haven't yet been able to watch Still Alice--but I got it from the library and just fell into it， doing nothing but reading it for two days。 She is such a great writer。 Going back and forth between their love story and their current plans for his death was a good structure to use， and that she is so open about how difficult he is to live with， and that she ends with a memory of their wedding。 Well！ It makes me want to work hard for the right to die in this country。 A beautiful， excruciating memoir。 What a person she is to have been able to write it。 。。。more
Judith
，
This book is both awful and amazing， and it's one of those books where it's very difficult to seperate my feelings for what happened in the book from my feelings about this book。 Amy Bloom writes of her journey to facilitate the end of her husband's life with unvarnished candor。 I felt that I got a sense of both Amy and Brian as people， and I trusted her narrative。 What Amy goes through is both mundane and horrifying。 I finished the book in a day because I couldn't bear to inhabit the story any This book is both awful and amazing， and it's one of those books where it's very difficult to seperate my feelings for what happened in the book from my feelings about this book。 Amy Bloom writes of her journey to facilitate the end of her husband's life with unvarnished candor。 I felt that I got a sense of both Amy and Brian as people， and I trusted her narrative。 What Amy goes through is both mundane and horrifying。 I finished the book in a day because I couldn't bear to inhabit the story any longer。 Definetly a book that will stick with me for years。 。。。more
Obada Kattih
，
In Love follows Amy's journey through her husband's diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and their decision to pursue a physician assisted suicide outside the US。 I initially wanted to read this book because it seemed immensely powerful and I wanted some insight into what their journey was like。 While I do support physician assisted suicide， I personally found Amy' writing insufferable。 The book is clearly highly personal， and I felt like I could not connect with her or her husband Brian at all。 She In Love follows Amy's journey through her husband's diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and their decision to pursue a physician assisted suicide outside the US。 I initially wanted to read this book because it seemed immensely powerful and I wanted some insight into what their journey was like。 While I do support physician assisted suicide， I personally found Amy' writing insufferable。 The book is clearly highly personal， and I felt like I could not connect with her or her husband Brian at all。 She glosses over important topics like the right to die or processing grief and focuses on highly personal anecdotes instead which comes off as very dull。 It is replete with long run-offs and random tangents that have zero relevance to the story。 I do not want to minimize her grief， but it seems that this book was written to help her process her husband's death。 If you're interested in people's experiences with physician assisted suicide， I'm sure there are better books out there。 。。。more
Natalie Barnes
，
I bought it bc it was a Kindle daily deal。 I didn't expect to love it as much as I did。 It was so beautifully written。 I can't say I 100% agreed with the author's decisions but I don't think that's the point。 I understood her story， her pain， her determination and felt it with her。 I felt different from the author personality and experience wise but I felt so close to her bc of the honest and vulnerable way she wrote。 It was so sad but I didn't cry which surprised me but it wasn't for lack of en I bought it bc it was a Kindle daily deal。 I didn't expect to love it as much as I did。 It was so beautifully written。 I can't say I 100% agreed with the author's decisions but I don't think that's the point。 I understood her story， her pain， her determination and felt it with her。 I felt different from the author personality and experience wise but I felt so close to her bc of the honest and vulnerable way she wrote。 It was so sad but I didn't cry which surprised me but it wasn't for lack of engagement。 I think it was more out of respecting the author's grief？？ I don't know。 Maybe that sounds crazy。A few quotes: "he looked disappointed and frustrated and said， “We’re not on the same page，” which was true and terrible。""I could not bear any harshness at all， I didn’t think I could take kindness， either。 I wanted absolutely nothing， a blanket of indifference，""In the past， I would have said that I was heartbroken。 These days， I know better what “heartbroken” is and I’m a little ashamed that I used to use it so lightly and foolishly， indulging in my own rich emotional life。 What an idiot。" 。。。more
Jessica Hollister
，
I just sat here crying reading the last 30 or so pages， and I’ll definitely be thinking about this book and this author for awhile。 Bloom thought out how to tell this story very thoroughly， and I appreciate the order of the events in the book in a non-chronological fashion。 I don’t rate nonfiction but I think this would be as close to 5 stars as nonfiction gets。
Samantha Grenier
，
I will post a proper review after the conclusion of the BookTube round。
Lucy Hill
，
Impactful and deeply moving。
Keisha J。taffe
，