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A review by thatlizhunter
Brave Enough by Kati Gardner
4.0
Oh, wow, wow, wow. This book is intense, and good, and so powerful. For some reason, no one told me it's an own voices story? And even though I didn't know that while reading it, I could certainly tell as I was reading it that the author has experience with the topic.
Cason is a ballerina. And not just any ballerina. The prima dancer for Atlanta Ballet. The entire dancing world is in front of her, but she starts feeling a consistent pain in her knee. That knee pain won't go away and might come in the way of the most important audition in her life.
Davis is a former cancer patient and a recovering drug addict. He's fighting to stay away from drugs, and part of that fight is volunteering in a cancer ward.
These two characters are incredible! Cason and Davis are both strong individuals with compelling stories that taught me so much. The way Cason dealt with her cancer diagnosis, her depression and wanting to overcome the diagnosis, it was so real.
And Davis fighting his drug addiction was overwhelmingly incredible. I mean, the pain, the mental fight was intense. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book, cheering for Davis to keep fighting.
Some of the side characters were super annoying or plain stereotyping. Cason's mom and Davis' ex-girlfriend were both very frustrating. I'm sure there's people like that in real life but it felt a bit forced and unreal to this story.
Overall, I enjoyed this story a great deal. My mom was diagnosed with Cancer this spring, and seeing Cason and her mom deal with the cancer diagnosis and treatment was super helpful to understanding what my mom is going through.
ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Cason is a ballerina. And not just any ballerina. The prima dancer for Atlanta Ballet. The entire dancing world is in front of her, but she starts feeling a consistent pain in her knee. That knee pain won't go away and might come in the way of the most important audition in her life.
Davis is a former cancer patient and a recovering drug addict. He's fighting to stay away from drugs, and part of that fight is volunteering in a cancer ward.
These two characters are incredible! Cason and Davis are both strong individuals with compelling stories that taught me so much. The way Cason dealt with her cancer diagnosis, her depression and wanting to overcome the diagnosis, it was so real.
And Davis fighting his drug addiction was overwhelmingly incredible. I mean, the pain, the mental fight was intense. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book, cheering for Davis to keep fighting.
Some of the side characters were super annoying or plain stereotyping. Cason's mom and Davis' ex-girlfriend were both very frustrating. I'm sure there's people like that in real life but it felt a bit forced and unreal to this story.
Overall, I enjoyed this story a great deal. My mom was diagnosed with Cancer this spring, and seeing Cason and her mom deal with the cancer diagnosis and treatment was super helpful to understanding what my mom is going through.
ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.