Ten Steps to Nanette

 Book 12 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from February 2 - 23

Ten Steps to Nanette

by Hannah Gadsby

My Opinion

3 stars

It hurts.  Even knowing she's alive and seemingly happy and successful, I'm so sad for the bewilderment and loneliness she felt for such a long time. I'm not a hugger and neither is she but I wish I could go back and give that little kid a hug.

It was a tough read (for subject matter, not for writing) and I had to keep reminding myself she finds diagnoses that help her cope, she finds a group of acceptance, and she seemingly finds happiness.

She herself said it best - "I wish more than anything that I had known about my ASD when I was a kid, just so I could've learnt how to look after my own distress, instead of assuming my pain was normal and deserved. There is no one to blame, but I still grieve for the quality of life I lost because I didn't have the key piece to my human puzzle. But until someone unlocks the riddle of time travel, little me will have to flail and fail their way through the world for thirty-odd years."

I think that's the part of reading her words that is the hardest.  She presents her struggles as something inevitable or deserved.  

Overall I'm rating it 3 stars because it was a bit long, especially the last few steps.  It makes me want to rewatch her shows though.