A wonderful, sad, happy, heartbreaking look at fertility. I loved it as well as everything else by Lucy Knisley.

As a fellow millennial who has followed Knisley's career and works, I was looking forward to this one. Knisley discusses her traumatic experiences with fertility, including traumatic miscarriages, a near-fatal delivery, and the difficulties of early motherhood. Laced between these visually personal moments are statistics about fertility, things I was unaware of until now. What makes Knisley's book special is that it invites conversations about what we keep silent about and the universality of pain and joy when it comes to motherhood. And coming from someone who is choosing not to have children, this book was still an important read for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Lucy Knisley’s graphic novels are like comfort food in that they are all simple enough to be relatable but are profound in their own right.

Kid Gloves should be a prerequisite to having children. Read this, then watch a natural birth video and then you are all set. In addition to being slightly traumatizing (never ending morning sickness, depression, miscarriages) it is informative, entertaining and emotionally supportive. It resonated with me (4th time mother) and I think it will resonate with others whether they are parents or not, want children or not.

I love graphic novel memoirs and this one did not disappoint.

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos captures the graphic memoirist’s experiences with pregnancy and childbirth — which went about as not smoothly as you could fear, since she almost died during the process.

From reading her previous autobiographical graphic novels, I knew she’d dreamed about having children for a long time. As she says in her illustrated introduction, the book covers two years of “what I learned, what I wish I’d known, and what little I know.” (And the impression that she’s still a little sleep-deprived, deservedly so.) That approach is what makes Knisley’s graphic memoirs so wonderful — she tells her story in a way that puts the reader right there in the moment, but she also brings in plenty of context, making the subject about more than just her.

I love Knisley’s simple lines and comfortable colors. Her art is straightforward, as suits a factual subject, with well-chosen images and moments to put the reader into the same emotional space. One small moment, about cartoonists having dinner together, leads her to realize the importance of reading comics by women who are mothers, a lovely bit of awareness.

In this case, her own experiences are interspersed with thoughts on the history of sexism when it comes to treating and understanding women’s bodies, myths about miscarriages, the biology of conception, and how “America’s maternal mortality rate is the highest in any developed nation”… and rising.

This memoir does exactly what it should: shows me what someone with a different life from me thinks and feels. I got to experience an alternate existence from the inside out, the ability which I love about comics. Plus, cool history lessons and infuriating facts made it about more than one life, but a plea for change and understanding. And a warning.

Knisley does it again! Graphic memoirs are always personal. Knisley's have always been amusing and entertaining, but this one is a more personal look at her experiences from sex education until giving birth to her son. She does not shy away from talking about her experience with birth control, miscarriages, and the complications she had during pregnancy and childbirth. Sprinkled throughout are vignettes about gynecological history and misconceptions about pregnancy and miscarriages.

By the end of this book, I have a newfound respect and admiration for Knisley.

Ps. If you are not following her on Instagram, you are missing out.

The author begins her story by stating she just had a baby four weeks ago. This simple statement becomes enormously significant as she unfolds her tale. The troubles with getting pregnant, the miscarriages, her heartbreak, and her journey make for such a compelling story. I read it in a single sitting. She points out early in the work how she shared her misfortunes with other graphic artists, Leela Coleman, and Thi Bui are just to name a few. In between each section, sh reveals a little pregnancy research and demonstrates how much we know comes from such barbarity. The speculum was invented by experimenting on slaves using spoons. Natural childbirth came ouf of a desire for women to feel pain in childbirth as part of the punishment for original sin. she juxtaposes this research with her modern medicine experience and finds too many similarities. Ultimately, her doctor's dismissive attitude towards her symptoms lead to pre-eclampsia and her almost dying. It's definitely a call to examine how women are treated by modern medicine. (I also read this right before reading Invisible Women so that will really upset you.)

It isn't all hardship as she adds her humor and kindness throughout the story. It seems that this is something that should be read along with What to Expect When You are Expecting and to remember that one should be kind to oneself and treat yourself with kid gloves.

My favorite from Knisley so far. She captures the complex emotional labyrinth of motherhood. Will have a broad appeal.

Loved this book! Lucy Knisley never fails to bring me joy with your graphic novel memoirs. I love getting a glimpse into her life, whether the picture painted is happy or heartbreaking.

Kid Gloves is a moving story about the process of trying to conceive and have a baby. It covered aspects of female reproductive health that I don't remember ever being told about at school (had to find out about them myself as an adult) in a straightforward way. I liked the illustrations too. Unfortunately the format made the text a bit hard to read - I had to zoom in to read the text then out again to go to the next page, which made for a stilted reading experience. I imagine that's probably better with the version you pay for.

My favorite graphic memoir from Lucy Knisley! It's emotional and funny, personal but accessible; with the occasional addition of history to broaden the context of an otherwise individual story. The visual storytelling is clear and charming, so I hope a lot of non-graphic novel reader pick it up - I know they'd love it if they did!

This isn't a subject I'd put a lot of thought into, apart from the obligatory health class in high school and the complications a few close family members experienced. Much like Knisley, I had sec ed that was pretty one dimensional, focusing on preventing pregnancy and no real mention of any complications. We were taught to view a woman's body primarily as a receptacle for a fetus. So I honestly learned a lot more about pregnancy and a woman's reproductive system from this book than I ever did in school. Her story is a frank depiction of her experience, not overwrought.

Although I do not have children myself, it was hard not to connect with the author. She told an honest story with levity to make it both informative and entertaining. It is a serious subject, and it belongs in the growing canon of graphic nonfiction. I would recommend it to anyone--with or without children.

I'm not a graphic novel reader, so I can't speak to how this book compares to other books in that category. But I've enjoyed every one of Lucy Knisley's graphic memoirs, and Kid Gloves was by far my favorite so far. Perhaps because I found it the most personally relatable, and it was an incredibly open and personal story that Knisley told in this one as well. I loved her incorporation of science into the story as well!

As a new mom, this book was very welcome. Everyone has a different birth story. Everyone's labor is unique. This book is raw, and real. I can see how it may scare some pregnant women, however, it also can be used to educate. I plan on buying it for our collection.

What a wonderful graphic format book about the female fertility/maternity journey! I love her style and her honesty. The book chronicles this couple’s baby-making story, from the decision to “not try not to” have a baby, to struggling through the emotions surrounding miscarriages, then all the various struggles and anxieties of pregnancy. In between all of these parts of their story are medical segments documenting women’s health through history. This is a great book for anyone has had babies, wants to have babies, is wondering about having babies, or is just curious. Much like pregnancy and parenthood, it’s not sugar-coated and not for the faint of heart, but it’s worth it!

Love all of her books! I waited to read her Something New wedding book until after my wedding in case there was anything in it that would stress me out. I think I probably also should have waited to read this until after I have kids. Her story has me a bit freaked out for what’s to come in the future, but I still loved it! It was a fun mix of memoir and pregnancy facts, and I loved that she included photographs as well.

Bonding moment: She signed a book for me at Book Con 2016 while very pregnant (month before she had “Pal”).

Kid Gloves looks like another cutesy book about pregnancy, but it's a lot more than that. It also features myths and facts about pregnancy, some interesting history regarding how far obstetric medicine has come, tidbits about medical struggles, and most notably, a long section on infertility and miscarriages.

There's a point Lucy makes at one point that really resonated with me, as a fellow miscarriage survivor: If 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, why aren't 25% of media portrayals of pregnancies acknowledging that? Instead, we live in a world where people are made to feel guilty, ashamed, and/or tragically alone after a miscarriage, and we have to do better. It isn't fair for anyone to suffer these traumas alone.

While it got a bit boring at times, overall, I thought Kid Gloves was an interesting pregnancy memoir. I'm not sure I would give it to an expectant mother, because I think it would have terrified me to read about Lucy's emergency c-section and pre-eclampsia in such vivid details, but it was still fascinating to read about and heart-warming to know that everything turned out okay for Lucy and her little family in the end.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a unique way to show an undiscussed topic! I've never read a whole graphic novel before, but this was a nice shift in my normal.

I, too, realized the truth that fertility is a privilege and gift, rather than a guarantee. I could relate with the author's story and the hilarious takes on the little lessons along the way.

Well done! I'll look for more!

I reviewed this on my blog and will provide details in the next stage when I can give my opinion directly to the publisher.

This was an honest and moving account of the author’s experiences while trying to conceive and while pregnant. Punctuated with bits of pregnancy research (some reassuring and some quite frightening practises from years ago) Knisley shares her own story of grief, illness, loss and joy in the way she best knows how, through pictures and illustrations. I really enjoyed this account and smiled and cried along with her, though if I was pregant or trying to conceive it may have terrified me a little!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me access to a preview copy of this book via NetGalley.