A slightly weird read. I'm not completely sure what I read however I don't regret reading the book. I just don't know if I would read anything else by this author.

This was by far the most creative and intriguing memoir I have ever read. I don't think I have ever seen a book that mixes personal experiences, artistic analysis and scientific information in such a light-hearted, readable way. I am looking forward to recommending this title to my clients.

This is a well-crafted exploration of motherhood, disability, and what it means to live life when we are now. I appreciated Bloom's dedication both to her family and her craft throughout the book. Definitely recommended.

I could really connect with this book as a mother who feels the need to control in order to maintain peace. This was raw and eye opening and will help me change my parenting style

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC: Bloom has written an exceptional memoir about her path to parenthood and her unique experience of parenting a daughter who has medical challenges: deafness and type 1 diabetes. The title is brilliant and she explains its origins. She writes about her many pregnancies and the difficult decisions she and her husband faced with insight and compassion. Bloom is a writer, an academic and she deeply explores the history of her experiences--genetic testing, disability, technology--many technologies ,academia, literature and more. She writes almost dispassionately, but beautifully about very emotionally charged topics. In her afterward she apologizes for possibly disparaging medical professionals--but the only disparaging I felt was to a certain Ivy League University and academia in general. I didn't want this book to end--her love for her daughter is so strong that I found myself wanting to know more--how is she doing? What did they decide about technology to address her medical concerns? How is her career and her marriage? This book functions on so many profound layers that it could definitely be used in a class about parenthood, disability, marriage and more. I hope it gets the wide readership it deserves.

This is something I really needed to read as a new mother. I am really excited for this one to come out.

Absolutely lovely memoir about the complications of being a mom: first, the difficulties of pregnancy and then the challenges of raising a child with special needs. What makes this book so unique is the way it incorporates thoughtful critique and context from so many discipline. Literature, art, histories of technology and disability all get woven into this beautiful tapestry of a book.

"I Cannot Control Everything Forever" by Emily C. Bloom is a poignant memoir that seamlessly weaves together the threads of motherhood, science, and art. Bloom's eloquent prose takes readers on an intimate journey through the challenges and triumphs of balancing a demanding career in science with the joys and uncertainties of motherhood. Her candid reflections on the delicate interplay between control and chaos resonate deeply, making this memoir a relatable and heartfelt exploration of the universal struggle to manage the unpredictable aspects of life.

What sets Bloom's narrative apart is her ability to intertwine her scientific pursuits with a profound appreciation for the beauty of art. The memoir becomes a canvas where she skillfully paints the complexities of her experiences, creating a tapestry of vulnerability and resilience. As she grapples with the realization that control is fleeting, Bloom invites readers to embrace the beauty of surrender and find solace in the midst of life's unpredictability.

"I Cannot Control Everything Forever" is a beautifully crafted memoir that transcends the boundaries of its themes, offering a rich and multidimensional narrative that will resonate with readers navigating the intricate tapestry of their own lives. Bloom's storytelling is both captivating and enlightening, making this memoir a compelling read for anyone seeking wisdom in the delicate dance between science, motherhood, and the art of letting go.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This is a highly intellectual memoir combining the science of genetics and the author's personal experience.

While beautifully written, I do feel that the amount of scientific jargon in this memoir may be overwhelming to many readers. That said, I found myself continuing to read because I wanted to know how each situation related to the author on a personal level. Her experiences combined made for a roller coaster of emotions.

🧚🏻Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and author Emily Bloom for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

🤩 Many thanks to St Martins Press, NetGalley, and Emily Bloom for this advanced copy of the book!
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Thank you, Emily, for sharing your heart and mind with us! This memoir opened my mind to womanhood, career, motherhood, and healthcare. Emily gave her perspective about her life as a woman who had pregnancy complications and as a mother to a child who has multiple health challenges while also providing connections with sound evidence from research, which I loved as a nurse who cares deeply about evidence-based practice. I felt strong empathy for Emily regarding her internal struggle with juggling motherhood and career. And double respect from me that she did a lot of this during a pandemic! This is a raw, deeply personal dive into the life of a woman I did not know before reading this book but now know as someone I can refer back to for inspiration. Emily is indeed a strong woman! I highly recommend this book!

I Cannot Control Everything Forever - I was immediately drawn to the title and Emily C. Bloom's meaningful journey through pregnancy, motherhood, and being a woman in the workforce. My interest was particularly piqued due to the mention of her daughter's Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis at such a young age - while also dealing with her daughter's deafness - as my son was recently diagnoses with T1D.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. It's a gift for women and mothers, especially those helping their children navigate a difficult diagnosis.

I love the premise of the book, for me it was more accadamic than story. Very interesting from her point of view.
Thank you #NetGalley#StMartinsPress#ICanntControlEverythingForever

Emily C. Bloom's intense and deeply researched book is the most insightful and meaningful memoir I have ever read. Each chapter of her life as a young professor, spouse, and mother resonated with me at the deepest level. I will never forget the gift EB has given to her readers.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book to be published in April 2024.

I Cannot Control Everything Forever is a beautifully written memoir. The author describes the many challenges that she has overcome with great perseverance including navigating a dual career in academics, infertility, and having a child with multiple complex medical issues. In addition to telling her own story she weaves in very well researched history, science and art. I really enjoyed this book although I felt that sometimes tangents were included that could have been more brief.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Cannot Control Everything Forever. First, I want to acknowledge how spot on the name of this book is when it comes to motherhood. Emily C. Bloom's novel about her own experiences in motherhood allows readers to take a journey with her through different milestones in her life while also delving into history.

When first starting this book I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it because although I really enjoy art, I am not familiar with much outside of the most famous works. Thankfully, this is not really what's relevant. It's the story telling of Bloom in how she sees the art, experiences it, and how she weaves in the history of art and science (and really technology) in her novel. One example of this is the life of Alexander Graham Bell and his inventions related to helping the hearing impaired. While Bloom allows us into her experiences related to hearing loss in her husband and daughter, we also get to learn about Bell's wife and mother who were also hearing-impaired.

The book beautifully explored disabilities that impacted Bloom's life including her brother Alex's intellectual disability, her husband and daughter's hearing loss, and her daughter's type-1 diabetes diagnosis. I enjoyed this empathic perspective of the daily lives of families faced with these challenges. Her reflections on decision making for your family and children really strikes a chord that I'm sure all mothers can relate to. I'm glad Bloom followed her passion to write and found a way to persevere in the face of adversity. Especially during the pandemic.

I would put a trigger warning related to pregnancy loss and termination for medication reasons (TFMR) in case anyone is sensitive to these topics. There is nothing graphic related to this, but is obviously an important part of Bloom's motherhood journey.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book! I really enjoyed it and hope others do too.

This was complicated for me due to the subject matter. It is a lovely memoir about the authors pregnancies and motherhood and all that that entails. I would love a sequel to find out how they are all doing now.

An utterly moving, deeply beautiful memoir from a very talented author. I was so touched and felt lucky that Bloom shared her story with us. It is both universal, and deeply personal and unique to her. Her genius weaving of art, science, and motherhood was something that I had never experienced before and I both learned a lot, and simply enjoyed a wonderful story about an incredible mother and a very special and loving child.

I really enjoyed Bloom's memoir, and liked how she interwove details from her own life with snippets about specific art and science that relate to her story. I also appreciate how she advocates for the deaf/Deaf and those with diabetes.

This is a literary memoir, and Bloom's writing style is lovely. My only complaint is that she really overused "the-university-one-does=not-turn-down." If I saw this phrase in the second half of the book, I most definitely rolled my eyes.

I was sad when the book ended, because I really was invested and wanted to know how Willie and her parents are doing now--I hope they are all healthy and happy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book will publish on 4/16/24.

Synopsis (From Netgalley, the provider of the book to review)
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An eloquent and intimate debut memoir about navigating the gap between expectation and reality in modern motherhood.
I Cannot Control Everything Forever is Emily Bloom’s journey towards and through motherhood, a path that has become, for the average woman, laden with data and medical technology. Emily faces decisions regarding genetic testing and diagnosis, technologies that offer the illusion of certainty but carry the weight of hard decisions.

Her desire to know more thrusts her back into the history of science, as she traces the discoveries that impacted the modern state of pregnancy and motherhood. With the birth of their daughter, who is diagnosed with congenital deafness and later, Type 1 diabetes, Emily and her husband find their life centred around medical data, devices, and doctor’s visits, but also made richer and fuller by parenting an exceptional child.

As Emily learns, technology and data do not reduce the labour of caretaking. These things often fall, as the pandemic starkly revealed, on mothers. Trying to find a way out of the loneliness and individualism of 21st-century parenthood, Emily finds joy in reaching outwards, towards art and literature–such as the maternal messiness of Louise Bourgeois or Greek myths about the power of fate–as well as the collective sustenance of friends and community.

With lyrical and enchanting prose, I Cannot Control Everything Forever is an inspired meditation on art, science, and motherhood.

Motherhood is not for wimps... and NO ONE that I know has ever said “This is what I expected” but almost everyone has said, “This is so much harder than I thought that it would be!” I love the expression the author uses “EXCEPTIONAL CHILD” – no special needs. Not different. Not difficult.

Motherhood seems to be about science these days --- tests our mothers never dreamt of occurring (ultrasounds, which are like a $2000 a pop blob-baby photo and not needed in most cases but are now expected to be the norm) can bring results that require hard questions and answers.

IT DRIVES ME CRAZY WHEN SOMEONE SAYS, “I DON’T CARE IF IT IS A BOY OR A GIRL ***AS LONG AS THEY’RE HEALTHY***!” – I got into a huge argument at a baby shower over that comment as I asked the person what they would do if they got a child with medical issues … did they not want them then? Did their child have to be perfect? Could they handle a child that wasn’t Instagram-ready-perfect??? ……COULD YOU DEAL WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL CHILD??????

This book will incite a lot of questions in you whether you are pre-children, pregnant, a new parent, a parent of older children or well past having children and questioning YOUR MOTHER and her actions and behaviours. This is a STARTLING BOOK – all I can say is read it and expect your mind to be blown.
#shortbutsweetreviews

I'm so glad Bloom wrote her memoir about motherhood. I always enjoy that genre and was pleasantly surprised at how good this story flowed. Bloom writes in a very open and honest way. This drew me in and I was invested in what she had to say. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Love the title and the cover as well!