This is my first book by Kati Gardner and I was instantly drawn to the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous! When I read what the story was about I was a bit hesitant as a mother of a child with cancer. But I decided it give it a try and am so glad that I did.

This story was beautifully written. It was deep, heartbreaking, and I couldn't put it down. The author did a wonderful job of writing from both perspectives. It made me feel all the feels and I ugly cried a few times.

I am so glad that I gave this story a chance. It dealt with some really deep issues, including cancer and substance abuse, and I think it really gave an in depth look at these difficult issues. I look forward to many more books by this author. (4.5 stars)

I loved this book. I laughed, I cried and really felt for both of the main characters.

Cason and Davis have very different histories but their worlds collide in the children's cancer unit. Davis is a survivor, but nearly lost his life to addiction and is carrying out community service when he meets Cason, a ballerina who's world has just crumbled. Faced with possible amputation, all she knows is that her dream to be a dancer will be over, and no-one can understand how that feels. She feels alone, but slowly comes to trust Davis and his friends, while he battles demons of his own. Can they both be brave enough to face the future, whatever that might look like?

I loved the way the story alternated its focus on the 2 main characters and how their emotions were so succinctly
written. I could sense Cason's heartbreak and frustration as she realised her dream was over, and Davis' battle with his demons, trying to convince him that one hit would take away all he was feeling.

I ended up reading over 60% of this book in one sitting despite the fact I should have been sleeping. It's an important story with characters that many teens may be able to relate to, who have never before been represented in fiction, and I hope it will lead the way for similar books.

Brave Enough was both lovely and heartbreaking. It's hard to read about people, especially children, going through cancer. The loss of health, hair, and sometimes limbs makes it even more tragic and hard to fathom. No one should have to go through something like this, but it's a reality many people (and their families) face.

It was hard for me to understand Davis and his survivor's guilt after beating cancer. I would hope that people in his situation would be thankful for a second chance at life, and want to live that life to the fullest. I'm sure there are people that get depressed afterwards, and the author did a wonderful job conveying his erratic emotions, but it wasn't something I could personally comprehend. It didn't make sense to me. His actions following cancer created more problems than his cancer ever did. Addiction is a disease, and I fully agree with that statement, but I wish the author had explained why Davis chose to go that route. I didn't understand his guilt or what led to his choices, and I wanted to know his reasons.

I kept wanting to read Cason as Carson, and I'm really not sure why. I just know that it lasted the entire book and wasn't just a few mistakes at the beginning. Her life before cancer was also a mystery to me. The author mentioned she was a professional (she was a dancer), so she only had to attend school for her core classes. She went for half a day at the most, but I'm not familiar with that arrangement. I would have liked more details surrounding her school and work life, and how she was able to skip the high school experience in favor of training to be the best dancer (her mother was her dance instructor).

Cason's mom was awful at the beginning. Her daughter was sick, but she was too stubborn to accept it. She was selfish, mean to the staff (they were just trying to help Cason adjust), oblivious to her surroundings, and unwilling to accept the truth. She should have put her own desires aside when it became clear her child really needed her. She needed her mom and not her overbearing, demanding dance instructor. She slowly started to soften about halfway through, but the change wasn't immediately clear. There wasn't really a transition between selfish mom and supportive mom. It just sort of happened.

I think some of my biggest issues with this book were the transitions. It seemed like the characters would grow exponentially from one sentence to the next, and it felt abrupt. I wanted more details about their individual journeys, but instead felt like I was skipping crucial information about their character development. It was like a light switched on and people started acting differently, and I wanted to know what caused the revelations. More details!

There is an insta-love vibe, but I'm not entirely sure where or how it started. They were smiling at each other and making small talk one minute, and the next he's dancing with her and trying not to kiss her. I'm not sure if they were able to connect on a deeper level due to their shared experiences, or if there was just something in the air that day. They just sort of were after awhile. Cason and Davis cared deeply for one another, but I don't think they really knew anything about their new love interest.

In the end, I think the author did a wonderful job of describing addiction and what it feels like to be an addict. Davis has been sober for almost a year, and he still struggles with his addiction. It's a choice for him every single day to not use. He has to constantly remind himself why he wants to be sober, and how using will only hurt him in the end. He can taste the high, remember the feel of it, and it's hard to block those thoughts and focus on what's right in front of him. He has a good support system, but his past is always there to knock him back a few steps. It was so sad watching him struggle with himself and the people around him.

“He wanted to claw at his mind, rake his nails down the synapses and neurons as they fired, and he begged to just forget everything in his own head.”

Kati Gardner also conveyed cancer and treatments very realistically. I believe a lot of it came from personal experience, which makes the story even more emotional and bittersweet.

"When I was a teenager and reading every book I could get my hands on, I was desperate for a girl that looked like me. For a girl who had cancer and lived. And it was really hard to come by. So, I wrote one."

Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on August 21, 2018.

Brave Enough tells the story of Cason Martin, a ballerina/high school student and Davis Channing a cancer survivor/drug addict/high school student.
The story starts as Cason takes the audition of her life that will make her part of a huge dance company… But as she finishes it, she can feel something break in her knee and latter learns that she has bone cancer.
Meanwhile, Chase is coming out of rehab and is sentenced to community service at the cancer clinic where he was a patient.
This is how they meet, well, meet again, because they go to the same school though they were never really in each other orbits.
We then follow their story, through their two points of view.

I enjoyed this book. It was touching.
The characters were endearing, I liked getting to know them.
The plot was well laid and interesting.
It made me feel a lot, I got teary several times.
The romance was okay, it made sense but it wasn’t the most compelling part of the book, in my opinion.
The relationship between Cason and her mother was really layered and gripping.

All in all, this book was a short, agreeable read that I would recommend.

Wow simply wow. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book because I have no experience whatsoever with cancer or drug addiction but that's what makes reading so amazing that you can pick up a book, crack it open and learn about something that you didn't know about before. It's a dazzling raw and emotional rollercoaster of a book that you simply can't pass up. Happy reading!

I adored this book. I couldn't stop smiling the whole way through, Davis and Cason were so cute. My favorite character was Cason, but I loved Davis and Mari and Heather too. I was really able to feel for Cason and what she was going through, being blindsided like that and who whole future being derailed. I was so happy when she was able to preform at the end.
These are just some of my thoughts, my full review will be up at somebooksandramblings.blogspot.com before the weekend, hopefully.

My thanks to Netgalley, Flux, and Kati Gardner for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are mine and independent of receiving an advanced copy.

So I don’t even know what to say. It has been few days and I thought if I had time to process maybe I would know what to write, but still, I can’t find the words. Giving it a 5 star rating should be enough of a clue because I don’t give those very often. This book hit all the right notes for me. It was truth all wrapped up in every chapter. I took my time reading it because I didn’t want to rush through anything and needed to feel the feelings as I was reading. I was taken completely by surprise. It is a fiction, young adult novel and I wasn’t expecting that much rawness and reality. After I read a book blurb and decide if I am interested in a book I put it on my TBR list. It can be months before I receive it as a giveaway or purchase it, and more months before I might read it. I never go back to the blurb, or read about the author. I just dive in. So to be fair, I didn’t know what I was getting into.

Let me start off by saying that I am a cancer survivor. I am just moving into the phase of calling myself a survivor and it feel weird. I have been sick for the past few years but I am in a good place now. So, I didn’t realize that it was a book about cancer. I am sure when I read the blurb that probably interested me. But it isn’t only about cancer. It is about addiction, young love and other stuff and that is also why it interested me. I have not read much in the way of “cancer” books, fiction or non fiction. I have been “in it” and reading other people’s stories has felt too much for me. Boy, am I glad I read this. I think everyone, adult, young adult, children, should read this book because it talks about the experience in such an accessible way. It lets you look at the anger, the fear, the pain and the good that can come from the cancer “journey (uchh - I hate that word but I just can’t .

I should have known that the author is also a cancer survivor. It is not her exact story but it is everyones story, in a way. There is no real way for someone to write so accurately about the experience unless you’ve walked it. It also is a story about addiction and again, how it doesn’t follow a straight line, how difficult it is, and how sometimes, you just need a miracle.

Briefly, it is a story about a girl named Cason. She is a ballerina. Ballet is her life and she is just about to go professional when the pain in her leg turns out to be cancer. While going through treatment she meets a boy named Davis. He is a cancer survivor who then became a drug addict. Their love story is cute and sweet and not a straight line. When Cason gets her leg amputated she feels like she can’t be with him anymore. I understand because when you lose a body part you don’t feel like yourself. You don’t feel worthy and a relationship can be difficult. Davis has his own problems. His ex-girlfriend just overdosed and he feels responsible. The need to use again is so strong he can’t be there for Cason. Cason has a difficult relationship with her mom, who was her ballet director and drove her very hard. This is a typical storyline of tough mother who breaks down and they become closer than ever because of cancer storyline. I didn’t buy this but knew why it was there. Family relationships are tough and they don’t always survive. The story also focuses on camp for kids going through cancer and what a rewarding experience that can be. It is a unique place that is so important for many reasons and cannot be replicated. Cason does get to go and find out for herself.

Lots of people have challenges that they must overcome in life. I was a musician and am no longer able to play. Losing something that is so much a part of who you are is heartbreaking. But you have to move on and find a new way of living. This book talks about hope and how important it is to have that feeling of hope. It also focuses on being brave enough to take that step towards something, towards a new life.
It’s time for me to be Brave Enough. I have recently decided to change my blog to a new domain named "pink, purls and prose". This will be a place where I will not only talk about books and knitting but also about my cancer experience and what I have learned along the way. Someone I respect a great deal has encouraged me to open up and now seems like the right time for me. It will premiere September 4th. I would love for you to come and check it out and don't forget to say hello.

Brave Enough by Kati Gardner is a phenomenal book, one that I am so glad to have been able to read. It follows two teenagers, Cason and Davis, who have both at one point been diagnosed with cancer. It follows both of their stories right after Cason’s diagnosis, and you see their lives far beyond their cancer. You follow Davis as he battles his addiction, and you follow Cason trying to cope with what is happening to her. Cancer wrecked all plans she had for her life, yet she was still able to overcome all of that and have some semblance of hope. This book made my cry. The voice was so authentic, and both Cason and Davis seem so realistic. I cannot personally vouch for the disability and addiction representation in this book, but I sure hope that it is perfect. Brave Enough is a beautiful story following teenagers just trying to live their lives in a new and heartbreaking setting. I wish we had more books like this in the world, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.

Brave Enough is a heartwarming, encouraging story about facing adversity. The book follows Cason, an aspiring ballerina who has just been diagnosed with cancer, and Davis, a former cancer patient recovering from drug addiction. Both characters were well-written, strong, and inspiring. Both of their stories were full of ups and downs as we followed them on their journey. I loved how the author didn't shy away from the hard stuff concerning both diseases; she realistically portrayed Davis' struggles of battling addiction as well as Cason's battle with cancer. Brave Enough is an enjoyable book with a powerful message about being courageous and maintaining hope through life's hardships.

There are so many layers to Brave Enough that I couldn’t get enough of. Davis and Cason are such compelling characters on their own. Seeing both of their perspectives was really like the icing on the cake. Their stories and struggles are more than meaningful, they’re tender. Davis is struggling with guilt, recovery, and trying to piece his life back together. While Cason is also struggling with grief, the necessity for adaptation, and her relationship with her mother.

Even in these two sentences there is more to this. There’s Davis’s group of friends who are mostly cancer survivors and the different ways that their recovery process is effected – the ways society treats them. In Brave Enough there was really great discussion about person first language, about recovering after recovery, about the psychological toll, and about the ways people treat them.

4.5 stars.

Young Adult Fiction is usually not a genre that I read but the summary of this book interested me with two teenage daughters who just happen to be dancers.

This is a quick read that I found enjoyable but also hard to read with the topic of childhood and adolescent cancer. I could tell from reading the book that either Kati Gardner had done her research well or she was a cancer survivor. The author notes at the end of the book answered this question.

I have never read anything by this after previously but will be looking for future releases.

This book reminded me a modern version of the Lurlene McDaniels books I read as a teenager. But, even better! The story of a ballerina dealing with cancer meeting a boy who had cancer could be a sweet and cheesy story, but the challenges that are faced and the alternating voices telling the story keep it fresh. Our main character Cason is not just a dancer, she is going to be a prime ballerina and her whole world changes with one word, cancer. There is authenticity to this novel that is missing in many that deal with cancer, and that is no doubt due to the fact that it is own voices with Kati Gardner being a cancer survivor. I knew about the dancing and the cancer when I went into the book, I was not prepared for the second voice in the novel of another teen who dealt with cancer but also had newer demons he was struggling with. This secondary storyline and the intertwining of the two is what made this book something new for me as a reader and what truly made it feel like I was reading about real people.

This was not what I expected, but I absolutely loved it. This book tells the story of a young girl, Cason, that is looking forward to pursuing dance after high school, until one day she is auditioning and the pain in her leg is something she cannot 'push through', and the next thing she knows she is in the hospital being told she has a tumor in her leg and it is cancerous. This is the story of her journey, the friends she meets and makes along the way, and how the people closest to her are affected. The novel also tells the story of Davis, who is a cancer survivor and recovering addict, also in Cason's class that volunteers at the hospital as part of his community service and crosses paths with Cason in a good way. This was a very touching story, although I was expecting an extremely sad story, and was pleasantly surprised at how the author, a cancer survivor herself, addressed the topic of cancer, disability, and how it affects not only the patient themselves but those closest to them. This is definitely a YA novel, but I found myself loving every bit of it and in fact highly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this book to review.

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.

I would highly recommend this book. Please read it, because it's super good.

I think This book is really a must read book. Its my first netgalley book I read. I will recommend this book to my friend. May be My review is not so good as lack of time, I have written this review in hurry.

Brave Enough is a really touching story about life, loss, and acceptance. It deals with topics many people experience but most don't like talking about, which is one of the reasons this book is so important. The truth is teenagers deal with addiction, cancer, and death more than we would like to think about. Teenagers also deal with low self-esteem, first love, and discovering who they are. Brave Enough covers all of these topics and then some. Personally, I thought the writing style was a bit lacking and it didn't do much for me, but the content of the book and the characters were so well done and really stuck with me. I don't really see YA books that talk about the realities of cancer and addiction like Brave Enough does, and for that reason I am definitely going to purchase it for our library.

First of all I have to thank the author of this book who was „brave enough“ to talk about such a difficult and moving topic!
While reading I just knew that the author must have had a personal encounter with cancer and reading the acknowledgement made me close my eyes in honor!
The story of Cason and Davis around having cancer, following your dream, being an addict AND righting your wrongs was so wonderfully written, I adored it until the last page. I cried and laughed with the characters and it made me think a lot about how we often don’t appreciate the life we have as it is.
The strong and fearless Cason left me speechless, her character was so round about good and relatable it broke my heart in pieces when her life and her dreams shattered. And then there was her mother which I hated so much in the beginning, but Kati Gardner wrote such a good Character development that I fell in love with her later. Sometimes things have to get broken to built the up again. That’s what describes Cason’s mum the best in my opinion.
And then there was my strong, golden boy Davis. Gardner created a character, that was so good and yet so torn apart that it made me die thousand little death and I wanted to scream at the book, to throttle him sometimes, but I loved him anyway.
I don’t want to tell you too much about the story itself, only that Davis and his friends made me grow and feel alongside Cason and in the end I understood a lot better.
I guess that a healthy person won’t ever really understand the depth of this book, but I can tell how much heartbleed and pieces of herself Gardner must have put into the lines and it made me cry sometimes. Because this book is not only a book. It’s reality for thousandth of people out there. Life is never gentle or fair, but this story showed me, that even in catastrophes there is light and you can find something for the future in the loss of the past and present.
The story was roundabout wonderfully written, heartwarming and - wrenching and I would recommend it to every lover of contemporary, stories about friendship and love and especially for all those kids out there who are brave enough to fight against the beast called cancer.

As a kid, I had a thing for Lurlene McDaniel books. Do you remember them? Girl gets terrible disease, girl falls in love with boy, girl usually dies, tragedy and heartbreak abound. That was the definite, general theme. And I got them out of my elementary school library every chance kind Mrs. Wisinski would let me. Then my sister honed in on my book love and suddenly loved them even more. Which was both annoying and fine, because they were basically the only things she read by choice until Harry Potter happened and I have book love for all the books.

I digress.

Kati Gardner’s Brave Enough is like Lurlene McDaniel’s books, and I wonder if Gardner read them too. Not they’re copies or too similar and not unique. Brave Enough is rather fantastic all on it’s own.

It starts with what is typical for contemporary YA novels - a talented girl has dreams beyond the place where her life currently is, a boy is a little damaged and trying hard to be good, the girl meets the boy, the girl is determined not to like the boy…

There are things in the story that sometimes seem a little extreme, a little forced. Cason, the talented ballerina with dreams of dancing in New York City, gets a very extreme cancer and Davis, the damaged boy who dealt and took a lot of drugs after surviving cancer, are a little, I apologize for using the word again, extreme. But these things happen.

Also, I have never been addicted to drugs nor have I dealt them. I have not survived cancer and I don’t know anyone who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma as Cason is. Those things being said, I have to let Gardner be my guide on what is right and appropriate for Cason and Davis. Even when things get a bit repetitive, I trust in Gardner that the struggle she describes is real.

Cason’s mother, Natalie, undergoes the most profound evolution in the story, She goes from being the micromanager of the Atlanta Ballet Company and a ‘momager’ who would give Kris Jenner a run for her money to someone who learns that she is a mother first and that no mother can endure the burden of a sick child alone.

While Cason and Davis, with their budding and inevitable romance, are fine, it really is the cast of supporting characters that make Brave Enough work. Heather, Dr. Henderson, Mari, Jase, Noah, eventually Natalie… they come together to make sure that Cason and Davis have the support system they need to survive and endure. Maybe that’s the most important lesson to take away from the book - be brave enough to both rely on your friends and to let your friends rely on you. It’s the only way we might get from this day to the next.

(I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.)

Beautiful book that handled and discussed some hard topics (cancer and addiction) while still managing to find the happy and hopeful notes. The middle had a few lagging chapters, but the beginning and end were strong and gripping. Highly recommend.

Wow, super inspiring! Such a cute story and I'm glad that they didn't die because that would have been very sad. There were a few F- words that I thought weren't necessary but other then that it was a good book.