While I feel badly about what this poor girl endured, I didn't particularly like this book. I just didn't think it was all that well-written and I had a very hard time getting into it. ( )

This book was fascinating read. Gregory in very plain language explains her childhood, from the point of view of a child. Others have criticized that the ways in which Gregory's parents have abused her are not made explicitly clear by the book, but what makes Sickened such a powerful memoir is that it is written from Gregory's point of view, and therefore all along the reader is left equally in the dark as Gregory herself as to what is actually wrong with her, versus what is inflicted upon her by her parents. Gregory's slow realization that she is, indeed being abused is both the turning point and the most poignant part of the book. ( )

It wasn't explicitly bad, but it really wasn't good, either. The writing itself was really unremarkable and the story, while interesting if this were a news article, was dragged out for no reason. In theory, the medical records that she included were a good touch, but I couldn't actually read most of them and the ones I could read weren't very interesting (they just said things along the lines of "patient's test was normal" or "patient has heart issues"). It was a fast read but not a good one. I also thought that she spent too much time repeating the same story and then sped through things I would have liked to know more about. I don't want this to come across as cold-- I really do feel for the author. But I also can't rate a memoir for its story-- I have to evaluate it as a novel, and as a novel, it wasn't good. If this were fiction, it would be one star. ( )

This was a fast and simple read, definitely a page-turner, I read it in two sittings.
If this book had been fiction I would have expected more depth, but it wasn't. It was as life usually is for the majority of us, quite flat and simple. The difference being, in Sickened, there was added terrible child abuse.
Sickened has short to the point chapters which gave me the feeling I was reading a diary.
Parts of the book were paced too fast. I would have liked to have found out more, especially towards the end.
All in all a good read and solid 3* ( )

This is the most disturbing account of child abuse that I have ever come across. Growing up, the author was a victim of abuse and neglect from her mother who suffered from Munchausen by Proxy, which meant that as a child her mother believed her to be sick and even tried to make her sick. It is unbelievable that the medical community went along with her for so long and that it was so hard for Gregory to make an escape. Harrowing but fascinating reading. ( )