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A review by bibliopaat
Brave Enough by Kati Gardner
5.0
Everyone is always told to be brave. But mostly its okay to be Brave Enough!
I always fall in love with stories that have dancing or music in them. I always fall in love with stories that teach me about some disease.
I thought I knew about cancer and its aftermath but I had no idea. I always perceived it as a two-way street - you either die or live happily ever after. Kati Gardner taught me that it is not so. I had no idea you could lose limbs and that its quite common. And I bet there are people who have leukemia or lung cancer who will say that they have it easy. Just cut it off and you're alright, whats there to whine about. But this book showed the different spectrum of losing a limb. It varies from being okay to losing your whole identity. Its awful either way and I'm glad to have the chance to learn about it.
I thought I knew about addiction and coming out of it but I had no idea. First of all I liked to see a cancer patient who wasn't a saint. And showing the horrible influence of dealers and how getting them out of the street is a very important key in helping addicts recover. I would've like to see more justifying in Davis's head though. I've heard all the "But I aced this test, I deserve a prize" and "Its not healthy to stop right away or the body goes in shock, it will help me to recover if I take one hit". I somehow felt that was missing from here but to be fair Davis wasn't in the begging of his recovery, maybe thanks to all the therapy and meetings he was passed that and only one bad thought had remained in his head "Just one shot".
This is not a light read nor its heavy. Its balancing somewhere in between and I think that beautifully shows the journey through an illness - the good parts and the bad. I did find the change the mother go through a bit extreme but maybe what she went through does that
Mild spoilers:
I Looooooooved that this wasn't a romance in a "The fault in our stars" kind of way. It was exploration of relationships through rough times.
Although the book went a bit slow for me and there are lot of cliches I really learned from it a lot and it was thoroughly enjoyable.
-I received an e-ARC from Netgalley and publisher North Star Editions in exchange for a honest review-
I always fall in love with stories that have dancing or music in them. I always fall in love with stories that teach me about some disease.
I thought I knew about cancer and its aftermath but I had no idea. I always perceived it as a two-way street - you either die or live happily ever after. Kati Gardner taught me that it is not so. I had no idea you could lose limbs and that its quite common. And I bet there are people who have leukemia or lung cancer who will say that they have it easy. Just cut it off and you're alright, whats there to whine about. But this book showed the different spectrum of losing a limb. It varies from being okay to losing your whole identity. Its awful either way and I'm glad to have the chance to learn about it.
I thought I knew about addiction and coming out of it but I had no idea. First of all I liked to see a cancer patient who wasn't a saint. And showing the horrible influence of dealers and how getting them out of the street is a very important key in helping addicts recover. I would've like to see more justifying in Davis's head though. I've heard all the "But I aced this test, I deserve a prize" and "Its not healthy to stop right away or the body goes in shock, it will help me to recover if I take one hit". I somehow felt that was missing from here but to be fair Davis wasn't in the begging of his recovery, maybe thanks to all the therapy and meetings he was passed that and only one bad thought had remained in his head "Just one shot".
Spoiler
I hope every recovering addict has a "Margarite" to call them at the right moment. And of course John. If you have a friend who is recovering just take the time and call them just to say high or to grab a burger or something. This saves lives!This is not a light read nor its heavy. Its balancing somewhere in between and I think that beautifully shows the journey through an illness - the good parts and the bad. I did find the change the mother go through a bit extreme but maybe what she went through does that
Mild spoilers:
Spoiler
I did find the Camp in the end a bit cliche. But its a cliche cause its beautiful and it helps. I have so many good memories going though different camps as a kid and maybe its a good way to remind people that. I just don't find it in my heart to judge it even tough its sooo cliche.I Looooooooved that this wasn't a romance in a "The fault in our stars" kind of way. It was exploration of relationships through rough times.
Although the book went a bit slow for me and there are lot of cliches I really learned from it a lot and it was thoroughly enjoyable.
-I received an e-ARC from Netgalley and publisher North Star Editions in exchange for a honest review-