A review by historyofjess
What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You—a Guide by Heather Corinna

funny hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5

Hell, yes! When I started looking into learning more about perimenopause, I quickly found that I was side-stepping a lot of the minefields that come with tackling any "women's" subject matter and this book jumped out like a diamond in the rough. No, not just because of the title or the catchy flames on the cover, but the prospect of a book about peri written by a queer person that did not identify as a woman, sounded like the exact angle that hadn't been addressed by all the myriad of volumes touting the same old advice that people with vaginas deal with regardless of what stage of life they or their bodies are at.

Corinna tackles peri and all its accompanying uncomfortable aspects as not only a nonbinary person, but also as a person with a disability, a neurodivergent person, a feminist and someone for whom peri has been extra. And they manage to do all that with a bit of a sense of humor, as well. To top it off, they have many years of being a sex educator behind them, so they know how to talk about the female sex organs in a no nonsense way and are very prepared to give you advice on how sex and sexuality may be altered during peri and after menopause.

I was also heartened that Corinna just seems to know and listen to all the right people. Throughout the book, they quote and reference folks that I've looked up to in the feminist, disability justice and fat activist spaces, not to mention the owner of my favorite sex toy shop in Chicago.

This is just a really refreshing book that I can't recommend enough and I know I'll be returning to it as my own journey through peri continues.