Thank you to WaterBrook & Multnomah, and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very personal look at life - and the end of life - by a neurosurgeon. Many of the patients he deals with, and whose stories he tells, are afflicted with a particularly virulent type of brain cancer and the title refers to the almost foregone conclusion he reaches when he is confronted with evidence of the disease when setting his diagnosis.

The descriptions of testing, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease are fascinating. The author's struggle with faith, not so much. Although I can understand and accept that the author is grappling with questions that are existential for him, and his personal belief in God, I found the constant references to his faith too preachy. I also felt it could have done with a bit more stringent editing, in parts the author kept circling and repeating himself, rather than getting to the point.

However, regardless of where we stand spiritually, this book reminds us that no one is immortal, and that the end is sometimes much sooner than we would like.

I'VE SEEN THE END OF YOU: A NEUROSURGEON'S LOOK AT FAITH,, DOUBT, AND THE THINMGS WE THINK WE KNOW.
BY W LEE WARREN

THIS NON FICTION ACCOUNT HAD SOME VERY INTERESTING INSIGHTS INTO HOW PEOPLE DIFFER IN THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARDS GOD, IF IN FACT THEY BELIEVE IN HIM, HOW SOME PEOPLE GRAPPLE WITH FAITH OR DOUBT WHEN FACING DEATH THEMSELVES OR THAT OF A LOVED ONE. W. LEE WARREN IS A NEUROSURGEON WHO FOR MOST OF THIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT DIFFERENT CASES HE HAS TREATED HIS PATIENTS WITH GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME, WHICH IS A BRAIN TUMOR THAT HAS A FATALITY RATE OF ALMOST 100 PERCENT. HIM AND HIS SECOND WIFE HAD THEIR OWN MEDICAL PRACTICE , BUT MOST OF THE CASES HE WOULD OPERATE ON FROM THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT AND MOST OF THE CASE HISTORIES HE RECOUNTS IS GETTING CALLED IN EITHER BY A COLLEAGUE AND THE PATIENT WOULD HAVE A GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME. THIS DOCTOR WHO IS TRAINED IN MEDICINE BY THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD SEEMED TO BELIEVE IN GOD BECAUSE HE WOULD PRAY WITH SOME OF HIS PATIENTS. HE WOULD ALSO OFTEN THINK TO HIMSELF THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK, "I'VE SEEN THE END OF YOU.

THIS DOCTOR WOULD LOOK AT HIS PATIENTS BRAIN SCANS FROM MRI'S AND VIEW THE GLIOBLASTOMA AND HE KNEW AFTER REMOVING IT THAT IT WOULD GROW BACK AND THAT IS WHEN HE WOULD SAY TO HIMSELF, I'VE SEEN THE END OF YOU. FOR MOST OF THE BOOK WHICH WAS WRITTEN IN SHORT CHAPTERS WITH QUOTES FROM FAMOUS PHILOSOPHERS OR BIBLICAL VERSES IT WAS FASCINATING BUT SAD TO READ ABOUT HIS PATIENTS DYING. WHEN THIS DOCTOR HAS A LIFE CHANGING EVENT---ONE THAT IS EVERY PARENTS WORSE NIGHTMARE HE STRUGGLES WITH HIS FAITH AND HE WRITES ABOUT HIS STRUGGLES HONESTLY.. IN THE END THIS BOOK WAS INSPIRING AND I AM GLAD THAT I READ IT. IT CAME DURING A GOOD TIME IN MY LIFE SO I AM DEFINITELY GOING TO READ IT AGAIN. THOSE WHO ARE AGNOSTIC OR DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD PROBABLY WOULDN'T LIKE IT. FOR THOSE WHO DO BELIEVE IN GOD OR UNSURE WOULD FIND THIS IS ACCESSIBLE READING AND INTERESTING.

Thank you to Net Galley, W Lee Warren and Waterbrook of Penguin Random House for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I've Seen the End of You is a very challenging read, as the author, a neurosurgeon, wrestles with his Christian faith as he diagnoses and treats patients, most of whom in the book face glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). GBMs are uniformly fatal, and fatal quickly. Reading about his patients was incredibly difficult. It's a good memoir, but be prepared for feeling both lucky and nervous.

ARC provided by NetGalley, opinions in my review are my own.

Wow. This book is so wonderfully crafted. Dr. Warren takes you through his faith journey by way of a series of neurosurgeries in part one. It makes you want to laugh and cry. You get to know a variety of people that Dr. Warren worked with, and each mini-lesson has so much depth.
In Part 2 he experiences a family crisis that the reader (and he) didn’t see coming. It adds a crucial element and in the end he admits how much it really contributes to finally moving forward with the publishing process on this book.
In part 3 and the epilogue it wraps up all the struggles he experienced with faith, that other people experienced, and take away lessons.
The entire book is sprinkled with wisdom; from the Bible, other authors, and life lessons.
If you question faith sometimes, have an interest in neuroscience, or want a great non-fiction read I 100% recommend.

I would’ve read it in less than 24 hours had I not been getting headaches from reading on my phone. (Also don’t recommend headaches when reading about brain tumor/cancer)

What a wonderful, thought provoking book! It's partly a memoir of a physician and the brain cancers he treats, partly a meditation on faith and how he reconciles his faith with his work. Uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, it gave me lots to contemplate about what faith really is.

I don't know why I requested an ARC copy of this book because there are two categories of books that I often avoid: nonfiction and religious genres. I love nonfiction books, but they usually take me a few months to read and I don't enjoy them the way I enjoy reading fiction.

This book took me less than 3 days. I couldn't sleep because I had to read more. And then once I finished reading it, I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. This book goes over so many topics: outlook on life, faith, loss and grief, anger, and more. I read this book everywhere I had a spare minute so I was basically crying in public for three days. At the gym, at the checkout stand in line, in the parking lot of my son's preschool... this is a sad book, but it is so much more than that.

Dr. W. Lee Warren blends his experience as a combat surgeon, a neurosurgeon, a husband, a father, and a man of faith. As a neurosurgeon, he often has to deal with patients with incurable brain cancer. Much of the book is about his patients- his relationships with them, his sadness and frustration at seeing their brain scans and realizing that he sees their almost inevitable death, and his observations as his patients deal with the news that their time is very limited. Dr. Warren also delves into his own story of personal loss and grief that is heartbreaking and yet hopeful.

This book is suspenseful- in this sense, it was an easy read because I wanted to know what happened next. It was also very thought provoking- we can't know how we would react to the death of a close loved one or the news of terminal cancer unless it happens to us. Yet, this book makes the reader think about it.
Thank you for writing this, Dr. Warren. This is a much needed book and your story, along with the stories of your patients and your family are important.

Highly recommended to anyone, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not. One of the best, if not the best non-fiction book I've read. Thank you Netgalley and Waterbrook for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book! It is thoughtful and dares to go beyond the current American culture to avoid facing death, for ourselves or another, at any cost.

This book made me cry on an airplane! Repeatedly!

Warren’s life story, both personal and professional, and his push and pull between faith and science, was more complex and deep than I’d anticipated. His experiences as a neurosurgeon, in the war, with his divorce and his remarriage, his beloved blended family, and his unimaginable loss all inform his explorations of doubt, resilience, hope, and joy as related to his faith. Watching his up-and-down, sometimes wonderfully messy self-discovery take shape through this book was a beautiful thing. I wondered if his answers would be too easily reached or too pat, but Warren digs deeply into the realities of doubting his faith, God, his life’s work, and his vision of an afterlife.

Warren admits when he’s a mess, and instead of simply telling readers how to find their way out of tragedy and keep going, he shows us the zigzag of a route he himself took, admits that there are many opportunities to feel defeated, and bird that it’s easy to understand doubt and rage and disbelief in the face of enormous pain and tragedy.

There was just a little bit of repetition at times, but I read an ARC, so this has likely changed.

I can think of several people to give this book to immediately upon publication.

I received an advance copy of this book from WaterBrook and Multnomah and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of I've Seen the End of You.

This was a wonderfully written memoir by Dr. Warren, a former combat surgeon, Christian, father and husband, and neurosurgeon who grapples with his demanding career and the high mortality rates and a God who would allow such tragedy and devastating illness to exist.

Dr. Warren's faith is tested when he and his family suffer an unimaginable loss, the worst a parent can imagine and struggles to find the light and humanity in his life once again.

I really enjoyed Dr. Warren's memoir; as much as a book about death, disease and war can be enjoyed. But it's also about second chances, miracles and love.

His life changing experiences with some of his patients were among my favorite but it was the compassion, warmth and sincerity in which he writes that really drew me in.

Dr. Warren's love for God shines through in his words; he is never preachy or condescending. He is a man of faith, no matter how much pain and suffering he has seen, and that is what has helped him through his darkest times.

His expertise as a medical professional is made stronger through his belief in God, and the integrity and humanity he brings to his work. He listens to his patients, he hears what they are not saying, and even if this was just a memoir about his experiences as a neurosurgeon, I would have enjoyed reading that as well.

As a spiritual person, I enjoyed Dr. Warren's honest look at how he struggles with his faith in the worst of times. There is nothing wrong with doubt, as he says. As long as you have faith. I agree completely.

Highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. You don't have to be religious to relate to and learn from Dr. Warren's empowering message of hope and faith in times of great suffering and sadness.

A very sad book involving a terrible cancer and a doctor. Years ago in our area someone published a booklet about the way doctors affected by illness see them and the ways they they are in grade of coping with them. This one is absolutely immense.

A well-written account of a neurologist's thought processes when dealing with glioblastoma, a type of tumor that has proven itself to be a guaranteed killer. The presentation of the testing, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease is fascinating. The struggle with faith, not so much. If you identify closely with belief in a god, you will most likely appreciate the almost constant references to faith and questioning. Those of us who are avowed atheists will most likely find it tiresome. I know I did. Then again, the book description includes mention of the physician's/author's grappling with his faith. . Just be forewarned that it can get a bit preachy.

No doubt an excellent doctor. An excellent writer as well.

A wonderfully honest yet sometimes harrowing account from an eminent brain surgeon.
This is an often sad, yet inspirational book, and very well written.
It is impossible to read it without remembering that none of us are immortal.
A great read.

The science, as utterly painful as it is, fascinates. Where the disease comes from, why it is so tough and implacable. How tough is the responsibility of the doctor in these horrible situations.

Like others, as sympathetic as anyone can be, it is only truly through the experience that a true concept can be understood. This doctor has to experience this.

The God stuff is heavy handed; and while I am thrilled that the doctor has found his way with his faith stuff, and it took away from the other aspects of the story.

The journey I'm on involves my best friend of thirty-five years, Everyone truly has their own story and ours has involved oncology, cancer, neurology, pain, and loss. Then, there is the reality of trying to find our way. I look for something positive or helpful in all of it. I believe our energy can truly make a difference. It's a difficult journey at times and I appreciate the thoughtful comments and stories within this book.
The details in "I've seen the End of You" clearly awaken the reader to your journey as a army surgeon, a neurosurgeon, a father, and a partner. I appreciate the depth of your memoir, hesitate at times to even turn to the next chapter. Thank you for the energy and strength.

I read through this book in just a couple of days. I have kind of been on a non-fiction kick and I have been flying through them all, but none like this one. It really resonated with me. It was refreshing to read a book both about someone who can believe in both science AND God and who admits that sometimes his faith waivers. Sometimes it is difficult when we go through hard times and feel like we have to still be this pillar of faith and it is refreshing to see someone say not only is it okay to waiver in those moments, but that it happens throughout the Bible too. It doesn't mean that we give up hope or our faith, it just means it is okay to not understand why something happens or even to not be happy about it, and I think in the end most times that I go through periods like this, in the end my faith in God ends up renewed and even stronger than before. I am thankful to Dr. Warren for such a vunerable look inside of his very difficult profession and personal life. I thought this was an excellent book. I recommend this book to anyone really.

For author Dr. W. Lee Warren, death is a constant companion: He stares it down daily, previously on the front lines as a combat surgeon during the Iraq War and currently as a neurosurgeon specializing in GBM, glioblastoma multiforme, a lethal brain tumor.

In his latest book, I’ve Seen the End of You, A Neurosurgeon’s Look at Faith, Doubt, and the Things We Think We Know, Dr. Warren grapples with questions of religious faith as a practicing Christian and medical doctor. The novel chronicles his conundrum—equal parts an existential crisis and an ethical dilemma: How can he give hope to his patients who are destined to die from GBM? How does he believe in a God, when his faith is constantly tested as he witnesses the cruel, unfair, indiscriminate and senseless way death comes for people in their prime—children, young parents, professional luminaries. The essence of the author’s crisis of faith is the question we all ask ourselves at some point: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Faced with so much tragedy on a regular basis, the author feels at once relieved and a bit guilty at his good fortune. He is happily married to the love of his life, Lisa. They share a blended family of five children and they work together in his private practice. She manages the office and is his emotional confidant and rock. It all seems so perfect until it isn’t.

The novel progresses as a series of patient stories that Dr. Warren shares with the reader. He examines their brain scans, performs biopsies and frequently sees the end of their lives in the form of a glioblastoma tumor. He struggles with how to give his patients hope when he isn’t convinced God is listening to all of those prayers. He begins to find praying futile; no matter how much he believes in God, no matter how much he prays, he feels powerless to stop death’s forward march on his patients.

Dr. Warren’s skill at writing with empathy, raw honesty and introspection captures the humanity, dignity and despair of each of his patients. I found myself becoming emotionally attached to each dying patient, experiencing some of the same emotions as Dr. Warren—outrage, frustration, sadness and loss. As the reader, we witness how people can go through their darkest hours and still hold on to their faith. Their deeply touching experiences remain with me even as I write this book review.

Just as Dr. Warren believes his battered and bruised faith can’t possibly stand anymore, he suffers a very personal tragedy that brings him to his knees. “I realized that I was standing on the deathbed of my shattered faith.”

As the novel progresses, Dr. Warren confides in Pastor Jon, a hospital chaplain who encourages him “not to see prayer as an act of bending God’s will but rather an act of bending us to God’s will.” This only serves to confound him more as he tries to explain to Pastor Jon: “That’s awfully convenient, isn’t it? To fall back on the ‘God has a plan’ platitude when things are hard? That’s exactly what is bothering me right now, Pastor. I see somebody who’s going to die: I know they’re dead when I look at the initial MRI. But I’m supposed to pray for them, encourage them to have faith, believe they can make it, when I already know.”

Dr. Warren’s faith has been tested before, on the battlefields of Iraq where death, war and catastrophic injuries overwhelmed his makeshift hospital. It was 2005 and Dr. Warren was working a surgeon at the Balad Air Base in Iraq, often praying that God would deliver him through yet another attack.He struggles to defend his beliefs to his atheist friend and surgeon, Aaron. Back then, he admits “Something was nagging at my soul in the darker places I didn’t let myself look into often. Did I really believe, or did I believe I was supposed to believe?” He struggles to reconcile his duality as a man of faith and a man of science.

After returning to his practice in Alabama, the answer to his struggles slowly crystalizes: “My work had to be about learning how to live—in a painful world but still somehow be able to have faith.”

Through his spiritual and emotional journey, Dr. Warren discovers a profound truth. It’s only then that he can begin to reconcile his faith with the reality of tragedy and death. “My happiness cannot depend on my life being pain-free.”

At its essence, the novel is about accepting life as both a painful and poignant journey and being at peace with what we can not know for certain but believe with conviction. Dr. Warren sums up his writing as “a book about faith, doubt, and the things we think we know.” To doubt and to question the things we think we know doesn’t make us non-believers, it makes us better humans. We will never understand why “Bad things happen to good people,” but we can be at peace with the randomness of life and learn to cherish the beautiful moments.

Very inspiration and a great view from an actual doctor who has been through this.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC.

This book is definitely one for people with faith. It’s all about how important faith is in the healthcare field. It’s about learning how to balance faith and the reality of a fatal disease. The doctor writes about his growth as a Christian and how his relationship with God changes as he learns through his patients.

To be honest, I was dismayed when I discovered that this book is all about people who had an incurable brain tumor called glioblastoma. How depressing, I thought.

Then to my surprise, I found myself reading the book from cover to cover. It is so well written and the stories are all so compelling. Dr Lee Warren is an excellent writer! He is also a compassionate and caring surgeon, making reading about his work with his patients something that is pleasant, rare and very touching.

What is it about those patients that even while they are dying, they come alive. What is the secret? That is what this book is ultimately about.

Thank you Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This is Lee Warren's memoir about keeping the faith in God when we are surrounded by death and decay in our lives. It's easy to believe in a God when nothing life-threatening is happening but when you receive news of fatal brain cancer, can you still hang on to that faith?

It's a very pertinent question. Not all adversities are created equal and the small bad things happening to you, like falling down and just getting a bruise or not getting that big promotion, do not usually shake your faith. But when something difficult comes along, not only is your faith tested but sometimes it just vanishes.

What you do when you are faced with life's difficulties is what determines the level of peace you will have during those circumstances. Your belief in God will not change one fact of your life - life will be full of adversities. It will be a few happy moments mixed with a few sad moments. Your faith will help you be strong enough to live this life but it will not change that life. Would you still pray if you know God won't listen to it?

Very beautifully written. This book talks about a lot of patients that the doctor treated and their accounts were such well written that I wanted to pray for them, years after their death. I am sorry for Warren's loss and hope his faith carries him over. I also hope that Eli lives a long and happy life.

I wasn't ready to say bye to this book. The way the author writes, it's like a suspense novel, you just can't let it go. And to think that he was advised that he should have gone with a ghostwriter *shudders* We need his voice and his work.

A beautifully written book. A must read.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley.