Book Tour Review: May Cause Love

First of all, I’d like to thank TLC book tours and HarperCollins for sending me this book in exchange for a review. I’m so glad I own this one now, because I really loved it.

The full title of this book is May Cause Love: An Unexpected Journey of Enlightenment After Abortion. I chose to read and review this book because of my own story of losing my son to stillbirth at 30 weeks gestation. I thought that there would be parallels between her grief and my own, and there definitely were.

Kassi Underwood discovered she was pregnant at the age of 19. The father was addicted to drugs, she had no money, and knew that having the baby would alter her ability to get what she wanted out of life (an education and a career). Although she was terrified of having an abortion, she felt it was the only option.

For the next 6+ years, Kassi experiences a deep grief over the loss of her baby. She’s traumatized by both the experience, and by the way society handles her. She wants so badly to talk to other women who’ve experienced similar trauma, but because of the societal blaming that happens with abortion, she couldn’t find anyone. Feeling alone and crazy, she goes on a spiritual journey of healing.

She visits several different people across the country who promise different kinds of healing. There’s the Japanese water baby ritual, the Catholic weekend retreat, the Buddhist healing – all contribute to her journey to healing. She learns to grieve her grief, instead of push it away and try to “forget about it”. I put that in quotes because, well, that’s not something a person can do! Something so traumatizing can’t be forgotten, or simply moved on from.

Kassi’s writing is frank, it’s funny, it’s straightforward but moving – she has a wonderful voice for a memoir. I loved reading her story, I loved taking a deep dive into her most private of thoughts. I love her tenacity, her eagerness to fix the isolation she felt for other women going through abortion trauma, and her bravery for trying all methods of healing in a spiritual journey. What she learned isn’t only relatable to abortion, but to any sort of grief, including my own with the loss of my son.

I don’t often give books the full 5 stars, but I don’t think I can hold back this time. I loved this book ❤️ 5 full stars, and a huge recommendation from me! Put this on your TBR list right now!

Joli

I'm currently a full-time writer/content strategist with an English degree living in Minneapolis, MN with my husband, young daughter, and black lab mix. I created Literary Quicksand to feed my love of books, writing, and community.

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