Review - Everything All At Once by Steph Catudal
I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I specifically sought out an advanced copy of Steph Catudal’s new memoir, Everything All At Once. Ever since I started using iFit on my treadmill, I’ve been a fan of Tommy Rivs, so I began following him on Instagram. Then I started seeing his wife’s writing when he’d share it, so I started following her as well. Now, she’s written a book about her life and her experience through her husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.
This book is heavy, but it is very well written. Catudal’s writing is beautiful and lyrical and honest and very emotional. She tells of her father’s terminal cancer diagnosis and his death when she was still very young. She details how that trauma, combined with her religious upbringing, led her into a pretty intense rebellion. I liked reading Steph’s descriptions of what it was like to deconstruct from her religious (Mormon) upbringing because I could connect with that on a personal level.
Steph intertwines this history with the more recent past, detailing Rivs’s diagnosis and hospitalization in 2020. This intertwining of timelines works very well in this book, and eventually the timelines meet as we near the present. These dual timelines also help the reader see Steph’s arc from rebellious and headstrong teenager to loving and devoted wife and mother. And where the story of her past involves her loss of faith, the story of the more recent past involves her rebuilding of a new kind of faith.
One unusual thing about this book is its structure. While Rivs was in the hospital, Steph took to social media to share her thoughts. The final portion of this book is made up of those social media posts, most of which has been described earlier in the book. I thought this was an interesting choice to place these together at the end instead of interspersed throughout the narrative. But I still think it works.
I’ll admit, I was emotionally invested in this story before I even got my hands on a copy. I had already heard the story from Rivs on iFit, but it was incredible to read Steph’s perspective as well. I read it in a single day, and I cried. I highly recommend it for those who enjoy memoir and who are not averse to reading about intense medical treatment and the emotional impact on the patient’s family.
Sensitive readers should be aware that this book contains adult language, drug and alcohol use, sex, and terminal illness and hospitalization. It’s heavy, but in my opinion, it’s worth it.
