zoë ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗'s Reviews > Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

ੈ♡˳ rating: 5 out of 5 stars


ੈ♡˳ summary:
in everything is tuberculosis, john green takes us on a personal, historical, and global journey through the world’s deadliest infectious disease: tuberculosis. blending memoir, public health education, and fierce advocacy, green highlights the stories of those affected by TB—both historically and today—and shines a light on how inequality, pharmaceutical greed, and global neglect have kept this curable disease a crisis.

ੈ♡˳ thoughts:
this book was not what i expected from john green, but it was everything it needed to be. i was honestly shocked at how many reviews tried to drag this book for “pushing a racial agenda”—like be serious. if you think talking about african countries struggling with healthcare access is controversial, maybe take that as a cue to reflect and read more, not less.

green never said tb only affects african nations. he literally talked about european royalty dying from it, the u.s. public health response, and even how tuberculosis played a role in his own family history. what he did do was emphasize the fact that a huge percentage of TB cases and deaths still happen in countries that have been economically exploited and underfunded in healthcare. and he didn’t shy away from calling out big pharma either. honestly, the way he laid out how pharmaceutical companies hoard patents and prevent affordable access to life-saving drugs was infuriating—and something more people need to understand.

this book is as much about the disease as it is about inequality. and i love that green used his platform to center global health justice without turning it into a white savior story. it felt like he was genuinely learning and sharing as he went, not trying to be the voice of anyone else's experience.

also, can we talk about how he made all of this readable? like somehow it’s both deeply informative and still very “john green” in its storytelling style. it reminded me why i loved his writing in the first place.

if you’re into public health, social justice, or just want to learn something important while feeling a million things—this is worth picking up.

ੈ♡˳ fave quotes:
➼ “this is a book about tuberculosis, but it is also about how we understand the world around us—and how that understanding might shape the world for the better.”

➼ “the problem is not that people with tuberculosis are poor. the problem is that people are poor, and that poverty makes them vulnerable to tuberculosis.”

➼ “if you can be cured, you should be cured. that is the simplest moral proposition i know.”