While this book draws on a lot of personal research, it should be approached as an act of memoir. The book is at its best when the author is discussing what is within her personal realm of experience. This includes: her personal experiences of illness and responses from her care practitioners, discussions of illness as metaphor and how that affects approaches to care, her specific experiences as an upper-middle-class white woman, and her explorations of alternative treatments and their appeal to those suffering from illnesses that cannot be easily understood. I found these parts validating. I, too, am an upper-middle-class white woman suffering from multiple intersecting autoimmune conditions and found this part relatable. In particular, I appreciated the discussion of autoimmunity in the context of self vs non-self and the way that framing autoimmunity in this way can place responsibility on individuals for their disease. This was a real perspective shift that I will take forward with me. I do find it concerning when books like this, which will often be sought out by ill people looking for answers, discuss alternative and “controversial” treatment practices without actually digging into the controversy around those treatments. The line between memoir and treatment recommendation can become quite blurry. Where does the author’s discussion of her own experiences end, and the platforming and advertisement of treatments that may not have medical value begin? However, it’s when the author tries to step beyond her personal experiences that the book begins to really struggle. There is no discussion of disability in this book, which limits the author's ability to truly dig into the structural and cultural impacts of illness and disease. In the same way that the author discusses the distance the well can feel with those experiencing illness, her wealth and privilege allow her to distance herself from identifying with disability. Moreover, while the author occasionally discusses racial and class inequities that can contribute to illness, these discussions feel surface-level, because the author has no personal experience with this. While she mentions putting expensive specialists, alternative medical treatments and supplements on her credit cards, she appears to have a robust support system that allows her to do so, and her interaction with the medical system is coloured by this.

 The book also struggles when it tries to apply the author’s narrow view of illness to “solutions”. This is when the neoliberal perspective of this book becomes most clear. The challenges of coordinating complex care across a fragmented and financially driven healthcare system are attributed to doctors’ failure to “understand marketing, economics, and sales tactics,” not the financial constraints placed on care. The harrowing effects of widespread long-term chronic illness, represented by Long-Covid are explored merely through the economic perspective of lost productivity, ill workers and the financial strain on the healthcare system. The more direct solutions offered, like coordinated Autoimmune centres that mirror existing Cancer care centres, are promising, but discussed without any reflection on which types of people can access the expensive, specialized care these facilities offer under a for-profit healthcare system. If you are struggling with a poorly understood illness, you might find some value in this book, but for me it fell far short of what a real discussion of autoimmunity, disability and care should be.