Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I'm afraid this was a DNF for me...not sure if it's the timing not being right but I just couldn't do it. I don't like giving ratings to books I don't finish but don't have a choice.

** spoiler alert ** I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com for an honest review. Thank you HarperCollins Publishers Australia, it is always a pleasure to read one of your titles.

3 stars.

My Year Of Living Vulnerably by Rick Morton is a new release non-fiction title of his journey from writing his best-selling memoir One Hundred Years of Dirt. I had not read One Hundred Years of Dirt before I read this book and I don't believe I needed to. I knew that it would be a must-read due to HarperCollins Australia always producing great, trustworthy memoirs. I very much enjoyed One Last Dance: My Life in Mortuary Scrubs and G-strings from this publishing house.

I also partially listened to a copy of the audiobook while I was completing a sewing project. Morton narrates this (is there anything better than when the author narrates his work?).

Morton has a fascinating repertoire of knowledge about the world around him. He summarised fascinating studies of childhood development and I am proud to know more about fish. These vignettes link back to his honest reflection of himself. There were sections of his memoir that almost bought tears to my eyes which may be a trigger to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Personally, I felt a connection to my childhood growing up in rural Australia and enjoyed thinking vulnerably about my past with relationships with my parents.

I do believe that the title was a bit deceiving as some of his most powerful anecdotes are from his childhood and his life as a new adult. Throughout the opening chapters, it's a patchwork of collective stories throughout his life living in rural, remote Queensland to bustling city life. Morton has a strong voice about his development as a new adult and his journey through understanding his friendships, family, and romantic connections. However, this is made prevalent at the end of the text. If I had my magic, fairy wand I would change the text to be in chronological order. This affected my ability to alter the rating to a 4 star read as I became confused at some parts and I would put the book down for a while.

Congratulations to Morton and I look forward to reading your backlist. I am particularly interested in 100 Years of Dirt and I adding it to my TBR as I speak.

As always, Rick Morton shows himself to be an honest, piercing and brilliant writer. Like One Hundred Years of Dirt Morton faces his family history, his trauma and his mental health head-on. He doesn't shy away and at times is obliterating in his honesty.
The book traces Morton's experience with his complex PTSD diagnosis and how he is opening himself up to love to help him work through past traumas. It is a thorough, well-researched yet searingly personal examination of who we are in our selves, in the world and in relation to one another.
The only thing I would change about my reading experience of My Year of Living Vulnerably actually has nothing to do with the book. I wish I had have paced myself a little more gently and not read it so quickly. I should have given myself pause between chapters, or even between thoughts, to really sit with them and allow my brain to process it all. It did feel a bit like a turbulent whirlwind reading it all in the course of a week.