I have mixed feelings about this book. I'm thrilled that the author wrote it - I think hormones and reproductive health and birth control are all massively understudied subjects, and ones that the public tends to massively misunderstand. It's nice to see this type of work laid out in fairly simple (if sometimes a bit condescending) language. Hill takes a feminist approach to her concerns about birth control, and her acknowledgement of the importance of the pill for many young folks who are tryin...

All I can say about this book is HOLY S***! I mean, TMI, but I have never been able to use the pill. I've tried over and over again with different versions and for different reasons (at first for the obvious reason of birth control, but then for other reasons that had nothing to do with birth control but for which the pill seemed to be the answer from my doctors). Every single version and every single time I used it, it made me either crazy, sort of depressed, too emotional, or just incredibly u...

I only read the intro and chapter 1 of this book, and that was enough for me. I expected it to be propaganda for or against birth control, but it turned out to be propaganda of a different kind. Apparently women (despite the note saying there are many ways to define a woman) are defined primarily by the size of their gametes and reproductive viability. Does your body make eggs? Then you are a woman! And the only type of woman worth discussing (if you're heterosexual). There is a disclaimer for w...

Brilliant summary of current evidence about what being on the pill does to your body that is extremely needed - however I would want readers to bear in mind this is how one person explains their (well researched) interpretation since, as someone with a scientific background, there are many points in the book I would be more critical of the evidence and therefore the interpretation. Not all scientists think evolutionary biology/psychology is an explanation for everything, which the author does no...

This book was so freaking interesting. It should be required reading for anyone on birth control - not to scare anyone - but because better information leads to better decision making. I learned a lot from this book that can explain some of my experiences on hormonal birth control, and that information will likely help me make good decisions if I ever decide to go back on it. My one complaint about this book is that I thought the author generalized a little bit too much about women’s experiences...

Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed by this book. I was expecting an informative book on the pill, hormones, and how they affect our bodies, but was presented with a book that was deterministic, sexist, heteronormative, and many other things. I've tried to condense my main issues with the book in 5 points, but honestly there is so much more I could mentioned that did not sit well with me. - Someone who writes a book on the pill, the female body, and sex, should avoid euphemisms such as ' yo...

This kind of book is a must read for women on or planning to use birth control. It tells you all the changes that are not on that enormous information sheet that comes with the box but instead are far more likely: psychological side effects. It opens your eyes to all the things that may have changed in your life that you attributed to anything but the pill. Having said that, there were a few things I didn’t like about the author’s communication style. For one, she treats numbers as if they were

4 starsI was both excited and nervous to read this book as being someone that suffers from endometriosis and is on a combined pill for treatment (and which massively helps me cope), I didn't want to be completely put off taking it! But I am a scientist at heart and so I wanted the information anyway, as we all should.Dr Sarah Hill is a brilliant writer and the book is split up nicely for different areas the pill can and does affect. I like to think myself well read within everything gyaecologica...

A fantastic, must-read for all women on and off birth control. Not only is this book chock full of information about the pull, birth control in general, and the effects of it; it is also PACKED with information and facts about sex, hormones and women in general. I won this book on a goodreads giveaway and it is my favorite won book thus far. Non-fiction books are not typically my style of reading, but a book like this practically begs to be read. I ate up every word, soaked up the information th...

This book was hugely disappointing. I should have looked at the author’s credentials as an evolutionary psychologist before reading, given that the entire frame of the book is built on biological determinism (e.g. “you are your hormones” and not much else) and the assumption that humans are driven almost entirely by sex-driven, reproductive-seeking behavior. Evolutionary psychology is essentially a theory and yet it is used to no abandon in this book to interpret data related to research on the

DNF @ 56% I really wanted to like this book or rather, I was looking forward to reading it. I was looking for a book that would give me a neutral perspective - benefits and side effects of taking hormonal contraceptives. And what impact these pills have on anxiety in the long-run. But I couldn’t get through it, I tried it as an ebook and then wasted one valuable Audible credit on the audiobook :( This book caters to one kind of relationship i.e. heteronormative (male/female) relationships. It h...

This book should be in every counseling center - chocked full of factual affirmations, opening one's eyes with paradigm-shattering data. This book provides an even-handed, science-based understanding of who women are, both on and off the pill. It will change the way that women think about their hormones and how they view themselves.The truth about how the pill can affect women is hidden but crucial and only starting to be known. No researcher wants to be on record as the person who took down hor...

*Note: Despite the star rating, this book should still be read by anyone who's ever taken birth control for extended periods of time.*I'm glad this topic is being talked about, but as the author states, more conclusive research is needed.Yes, there are many unknowns when it comes to ingesting birth control, and much of this I think I've already gathered throughout my years. When I lived in Asia, I stopped taking birth control as I really didn't trust getting it in China where "controls" and "sta...