A memoir from journalist & advocate for people with disabilities, Lucy Webster, which examines how sexism & ableism are intertwined when it comes to disabled women. From dealing with education, finding work, & trying out dating, the experiences of disabled women are often not thought of, let alone considered. Webster brought up some aspects that I had never even considered such as the barriers disabled women face when attempting to access basic healthcare such as smear tests as many GP surgeries do not have hoists as standard. Or the military-grade planning it takes just to be able to have a night out with so few fully accessible transport options, & where pubs market themselves as accessible but fail to provide a ramp to negate the presence of a doorstep. Or where shops use accessible changing rooms to store old mannequins. All in all, it made me think that as a society we really pay lip service to disability access. There's so much more that could be done. There are times when it feels more like you're reading an academic article than a memoir but given the author's job, it's no surprise. It's definitely worth a read if you want to understand just how deep ableism still runs in modern society. My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, DK RED, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

So much of this book resonated with me. I could feel it. An eye opening , empowering lesson as Lucy shares her life in a deeply impacted way. It's made me think of my own disability and outlook in a new light and I believe everyone can learn from this book, disabled or not. I too blamed my body and hated my body for being like this but this has taught me, it's not me, its society. I also HATE asking for help and will keep going and going until I brake. Prime example, I've been laid up in agony for 2 day and I still made sure I went and did some activity for a charity activity that im signed up to do. People aren't even sponsoring anymore but I still have something to prove ! Why do I do this? How much thought and planing do you put into finding a shop you can access just to buy a t-shirt? Do you need to do interviews over and over for someone to help you every day with everything? HELLO, WE ARE HERE !

A powerful insight into the lived experience of disabled women. Challenging, reflective , emotional and upsetting in equal measure. As a disabled woman myself there was nothing new here for me but for those without lived experience of ableism I think it would be an illuminating read.

As a disabled woman this was a great, easy read - the writing was impeccable, normally non-fiction books take me ages to read but I sped through this one - it was really interesting to see the differences for those with higher support needs but also the millions of similarities we all face My favourite quotes were: It also allowed me to accept that bodies do matter, because the ways in which they are or aren’t accepted and accommodated shape how our lives turn out. Mostly, this is because other people still think of disabled bodies as the problem, conveniently absolving themselves of any responsibility to do anything about ableism and inaccessibility, which they take as the natural state of affairs.

I started the book and thought 'What a lot of blah!' But I read it anyway. And the blah continued right to the end. Whinging and preaching and rattling the can all the way through. It seemed like it was a moan about the entirety of her life being destroyed by ablist society more or less. Even the positivity was squashed with the trailblazers rhetoric. I found it hard to read because of the style of writing, it just grated on me. I wanted to be 'behind her', yet couldn't place myself there. Something underlying in the telling made me want to close the book and just leave it behind for good. Yes there are good examples of where a disabled person is disadvantaged, such as lifts not working curbs not dropped, doors too narrow, steps barring access, and more. But I see these examples as I access the internet. I know that algorithms make such examples appear more for me, but I do see things that I have no interest in as well, which means that 'able people' too will see them. Admittedly they may ignore them, but then they are not likely to read the book either. And just for balance on my opinion, the examples I mentioned, are things that I experience too, meaning that this is not an ablist review. I don't know that I would recommend this book. However I wouldn't dissuade anyone from picking it up either. It was a good attempt I guess. I am thankful to DK RED and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book for free.