Thank you to Netgalley and Princeton Architectural Press for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Body Created a Human is a lovely memoir about one women's experience with pregnancy and motherhood told in a graphic novel format. I haven't experienced those things for myself yet (though I hope to in the future) and I'm very interested in the vastly different experiences that women can have with pregnancy and motherhood.

I enjoyed reading about Emma's thoughts and feelings during her experience. It was raw and honest, and though it was only one women's experience, it's a valuable addition to the plethora of written experiences.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the focus on climate change. I know that this memoir was about a specific person and it's relevant to her, but it felt odd to have it amidst the babies and breasts in the comic strips. I know that I'm worried about a lot of things in preparation for having my family, but climate change isn't near the top of the list. Of course, it's a memoir and that means that it's about Emma's experience and we as readers aren't always going to connect with everything in them. I recommend reading My Body Created a Human (and memoirs in general) to gain insight into the lives of others.

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley and Princeton Architectural Press for sending me an e-arc in return for an honest review.

Emma Ahlqvist builds a beautiful and raw depiction of her experience in giving birth and becoming a new mother. To me as another new mother it was lovely to see how other mothers experiences have been, as my experience with pregnancy and motherhood as been quite different than Ahlqvist. She brings up the questions and worries she went through, and her experience of stressing about climate change, which for me as a new mother has never been the thing I have stressed about, which I do like seeing how her concerns of climate change affected her about bringing her son into the world. One thing that did stand out to me was her comment about how new moms talk always about the difficulties of motherhood, and that is true. Personally though for me, I fall kind of in that category.

Some of the things I would like to address for future readers is one I do recommend if you start reading this graphic novel, expect a lot of nudity, as it does deal with giving birth, change in breast sizes, and breastfeeding. If you are uncomfortable as a reader seeing quite a bit of nudity, then I suggest you don't read it, but do remember it is not sexual at all. Another thing I would like to address is remember this is Ahlqvist's personal experience becoming a new mom, partly it was hard for me to get through the graphic novel as I don't connect with her on a lot of things she experienced. I hated pregnancy, as I was extremely sick all the time, I hated the changes in my body, and I couldn't wait for my son to be born, as pregnancy was an immensely difficult time for me. Becoming a new mom with severe postpartum depression is also another difficultly, so compared to her I have faced a lot of things that are different. So for anyone who is becoming new moms, just remember this is her personal experience, and don't let yourself think you are wrong if you don't have the same experiences, or feel bad because you felt you experienced better.

Review to come early September to blog/goodreads.

I saw this book on Netgalley and just had to have it just for the cover! After that I was checking to see what the book was about and found it out was a book about pregnancy and parenting and was a graphic novel, well, then it was a complete I need this book!

In this book we see the writer get pregnant (and about how she thought she would have moved out of the city before that, that house was so cute) and then we get the pregnancy (when to tell people, how moms always know, various things that happen during pregnancy from big boobs to exhaustion to questions on if it was really OK to get a baby (given climate change and all that) to why people complain so much when they are parents). After that it is on to those first moments with a baby which was just so adorable. I don't have a kid myself, but I have seen plenty of new-borns and indeed, how are they so tiny. After that parenting, figuring out boobs and giving milk to how the body changed to being a new mom and all that comes with it. Stress about working, about doing things, is she doing enough. About being an artist. At times I just wanted to step into the book and give her a book and tell her she is doing a good job. Hope it doesn't sound too strange, haha.

The only thing I wasn't a fan of, was the climate change stuff. I get that she is stressed but I find it ridiculous that she is going to be telling her kid sorry for ruining the planet. Like wtf. It is not as if you single-handedly ruined the world. I am sure you are doing enough. You don't have to go full monk, you are allowed to purchase things, just be mindful of it. Plus, I am just tired of seeing climate change appear more and more in books. I already see enough about it on social media, internet, and newspapers. And yes, it is important I get that, I am doing my best, but seriously, it is also fucking depressing.

The illustrations/art were pretty good, though there were moments I didn't want to see. Like I don't need to see a kid being pushed out of a vagina. Thanks. Or see a cord come out of your vagina. No. No. No.

All in all, this was a good graphic novel about pregnancy and parenting and being a mom. I had fun reading it, it was very interesting, plus I am happy that the font was easily read (sometimes with hand-written font it isn't too easy, but this one was great).

As a new(ish) mother, I had high hopes for Emma Ahlqvist's "My Body Created a Human".

There were many portions that resonated with me. Like how did I create this human? Breastfeeding is hard. And also I don't really know who I am sometimes postpartum.

However, I didn't love it like I wanted to. I

I’d like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I love graphic novels that are written about the author’s life so I knew I wanted to read this one right away. It’s witty, raw, and an emotional read about the highs and lows, ups and downs of being pregnant and a new mom and how your life changes in even the most minute ways.

“My Body Created a Human: A Love Story” by Emma Ahlqvist is a short, graphic novel-style memoir about the experience of becoming a new mother. It doesn’t give parenting advice (there are plenty of books that attempt that already). It instead gives a glimpse of the highs and lows of being pregnant, giving birth, and taking care of a baby with illustrations and captions.

I appreciate that Ahlqvist discusses and depicts motherhood in realistic way—she talks about her parenting anxiety and frustration and not just about her love of being a mom. However, I feel like I should note that she presents a very specific point of view that will be more relevant to some than others. For example, she has the wonderful fortune of being white in a first-world country and raising children in a two-parent household; she frets about climate change and her and her family’s impact on the environment. And while I agree climate change is an important issue, it’s not exactly top of mind for households dealing with other matters.

That said, I do like that this book exists. I wish more women could share their personal experience as a new parent so we all could feel a little less alone on this motherhood journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Princeton Architectural Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. My review was posted online on May 31, 2022 to Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4756133740.

This was cute, in its own way.

I like a few points. The worrying about climate change is something I think most parents don't worry about, which is a shame. So nice that that's there (this coming from a climate conscious parent). A few other points were relatable.

Personally, I found that this was drastically different than my pregnancy and parenting experiences, which is important to realize. As either an up and coming parents, new, or not new parent, I think we forget that a lot of people have different experiences, so that's nice too. There were a number of things that irked me though, but that may just be different parenting styles and priorities.

Either way it's cute, but if you're a new or future parent, just be aware that this is one person's view of it all, and it might not match yours, and that's okay.