For a story about cancer, I found myself laughing a lot. I really enjoyed the main character and how unfiltered the story feels.

I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator excellent and enjoyable to listen to.

For a book about a running club, I do wish the book touched more on the running aspect and maybe less with her issues at her work. Her job related portion of the book seemed a little overly villainous.

Overall, I enjoyed this book!

Really enjoyed this book which is based on a true story it’s funny in places only really sad briefly towards the end. Keira runs a successful business as well as juggling a hectic home life complete with a husband and three children. In short she is a busy lady. And then life drops a bombshell when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. She needs a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and then radiotherapy. Initially she is reluctant to tell anybody and when she does, she realizes that her problems are only just beginning – most people only seem capable of seeing her as a cancer patient, not as the Keira that they used to know. Nonetheless she is determined to stay positive throughout. When her life starts falling apart around her and the cancer treatment is far harder to deal with than she anticipated, a chance encounter with Tamsin results in the start of the Cancer Ladies’ Running Club. This proves to be a crucial support network for all four of the founding members as they form close friendships which keep them going through the bad times – and believe me, there are plenty of those. The story is so very real and raw, and is both heart-warming and wrenching at the same time. The book is beautifully written and you have an instant connection with all of the characters. I was so gripped to this book, and due to the short chapters, I was able to power through it rather quickly as I did not want to put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone. With cancer being such a common disease, this will likely be relatable for so many people. I am personally impacted by Cancer from friends and family, I think this provides a good look at how it impacts so many in so many different ways. This was quite an enjoyable read about a woman who gets cancer and finds a group of supportive women in the same situation. I really enjoyed their relationships. The characters were likable. I enjoyed the narrator for the audiobook.

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Alcove Press, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book which publishes 2/8/2022

This book is so heartwarming and inspiring! It follows the main character through a cancer journey (reader know thyself-it goes all the way there with diagnosis, surgery, chemo, going bald, all the things-if this is a sensitive topic for you, skip it for now). She comes to know just how strong she is but also how nothing is more important when you're vulnerable than a strong support system. It gave great insight into how all of us can do better when one of our loved ones is having a difficult time. But also, it drives home that having new friends who only know you in the "after diagnosis" time and who can really relate to your experience is extremely vital. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me the audio version. It publishes 2-8-20!

I really enjoyed this story, but it's not as lighthearted as I expected from the cover. The written description is accurate though. It's about a woman and mother who is diagnosed with breast cancer and doesn't want to accept her diagnosis or join a support group. She starts running with a woman she met in the park while waiting for her test results, and later finds out that she is a cancer patient as well. Their running group starts to grow as other patients find out about it, and they end up becoming really close and supporting each other in all kinds of ways that are really heartwarming.
The story really takes you through all the emotions and reactions as well as the treatments and physical changes a cancer patient goes through, but in a lighthearted and uplifting way. I don't have a lot of experience with this myself but it sure gives me a better understanding of what friends and family members have gone through.

The audiobook narration by Danielle Cohen is beautifully done, she has a lovely accent and really brings the story to life.

This book caught my attention because of the theme of running and running friends as an outlet to help the protagonist get through her illness as many of the people in my running group have dealt with cancer and pulled on the running group to help them get through it. Unfortunately, this book was a major disappointment.

I really enjoyed Keira's relationship with the Bright Side Running Club and seeing how they helped each other out. Although they each had their own struggles, the overarching message of cancer patients banding together to help each other out, even in light of the outcome, was heartwarming and a rather pleasant arc.

However, that's where my praise for this book ends. Quite frankly, I found Keira to be ineffectual in just about every aspect of her life and entirely too timid - to the point that she continually allowed herself to be everyone's doormat. While a certain amount of grace is certainly owed to someone going through something as life-altering as a cancer diagnosis, I just couldn't find much compassion for her. The irritating storyline with her business partners felt like some campy Boris and Natasha rip.

If the author had focused on Keira's cancer journey and her relationships with her running group - and even how the diagnosis and her new crew affected her other relationships - that would've been a compelling book. But there was just too much extraneous and frustrating fluff thrown in and ultimately the spineless Keira just wasn't a likable or relatable character for me.

Adding insult to injury, the narrator of the audiobook just made the narrative more grating than it had to be. Perhaps it was her attempt to come across as whiny as Keira, but it was a struggle to listen to her voice through the entire book.

I truly thought this was going to be a relatively light and easy but enjoyable read that I could recommend to those going through similar situations. In the end, it turned out to be a book that I just can't recommend.

The actual Bright Side Running Club was joyful, real and refreshing. Every time that the storyline wasn't directly involved with them though, I was left feeling stressed out and unsettled. I definitely didn't go into a book about breast cancer excepting all warm fuzzies, but I didn't expect the level of frustration I felt with everything else going on in her life. Besides that, I didn't appreciate that everything in her life was shite constantly...until it wasn't and it all perfectly and magically resolved at once. Sadly this book just wasn't for me, but I hope it finds it's people.

Wow this is a powerful story! First of all this can be a difficult topic to read about and triggering to some people. I myself lost my grandmother to breast cancer at an early age so reading about what Keira went through was heartbreaking at times.

I really appreciated how the author approached the different aspects of cancer from diagnosis to treatments. I actually learned a lot from the book just about the different procedures and post op care of people living with breast cancer.

I could not stand the obvious gaslighting that was happening by Keira's coworker and all the added stress she had to deal with while undergoing chemo. The silver lining is that she found herself a group of strong women who were going through similar situations and they could lean on each other.

I will say that the butterfly necklace bit had me choking up, I cried some happy tears at the ending, but came away feeling more hopeful. This is overall a very beautiful story of love, friendship, health and survival.

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced audiobook version of The Bright Side Running Club by Josie Lloyd.

The book was a very uplifting, hopeful book about the sad reality of breast cancer. I loved how this group of disparate women came together. Seemingly they had little in common but a cancer diagnosis. I appreciated how the main character, Kiera, THOUGHT she was going to be able to get through the process with just herself and her husband, Tom, but ultimately found that it was so much easier going through it with her new tribe.

The side story about Kiera's business partner seemingly using Kiera's illness as a way to sideline Kiera from the business was a frustrating part of the story, not just because of the ugliness of someone who is supposedly a friend doing that, but also because Kiera was WAY too oblivious for longer than necessary before she even noticed.

Books I have previously read about cancer have tended to be quite heavy and emotional. The Bright Side Running Club did an excellent job of removing much of the heaviness without diminishing the impact of what cancer disrupts in a person's world. The author did a really good job getting inside a "typical" woman's head and heart as she goes through the process from diagnosis and treatment.

The Bright Side Running Club was a fantastic novel about friendship and trials through medical illness. It starts off with the main character, Keira, and her new diagnosis of breast cancer. Throughout the course of her diagnosis and treatment, she finds a group of dear friends in the form of an impromptu running group which holds her strong despite difficulties in her work and home environments as she navigates her new diagnosis. This book wrote about friendship so beautifully and how friends can carry you through the hardest parts in life, as Keira navigated a serious diagnosis and treatment with the support of her friends going through something similar. Additionally, as a runner myself, the beauty of running and running with friends shone through. One of my favorite quotes from the book was “that’s why I run - to spite it all” as it highlighted how running can really help you focus on something that isn’t the difficult world around you at times. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a beautiful story of friendship. It was a quick listen and I looked forward to every time I had a few minutes to listen to it.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thank you not NetGalley and publisher for the ARC and early listen. What a great story. Uplifting and emotional. Loved all the characters and the little mystery the author wove into this story. When reading this I thought the author was either a doctor or went through this personally considering all the medical terminology and the treatment that Keira went through. It was all so thorough and detailed . At the end even though it is a work of fiction the author does say she was diagnosed with cancer.
The narrator did a great job! This pertains to the audiobook.

My favorite book of the year!

There were so many moments to grieve and cry, but the moments I’ll never forget is how hard the characters who had cancer fought for their lives. The Bright Side Running Club found each other through happenstance. They really picked each other up and had each other’s backs no matter what. I’m so glad that Kiera was able to find her tribe and find her peace as well.

I had so much fun listening to Danielle Cohen narrate for the different voices, I laughed so hard at Josie Lloyd’s lines, she really brought her A-Game!

Truly a book I will never forget and will want to reread again and again.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC.

#TheBrightSideRunningClub #netgalley

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy to review. This was quite an enjoyable read about a woman who gets cancer and finds a group of supportive women in the same situation. I really enjoyed their relationships. The characters were likable. I enjoyed the narrator for the audiobook.

This is so entertaining while at the same time super informative and inspiring. I listened to it all day while I went about my chores, etc and I really enjoyed my time spent with Keira and the Club :)
Keira is a mom and wife using her 40s who is content with her life and doesn’t want anything to change. She owns a small boutique that her grandfather and her father before her ran. All is well in her world until she goes in for a routine check up and mammogram. She finds out that she has breast cancer and her world turns upside down. The story follows her journey through treatments but it’s told in a way that while it’s clinical, it’s not stiff and boring. She meets Tansin one day in the park, who is also going through treatment, and they start to jog together as a time to get together and talk and share their experiences and emotions as only someone going through it all would understand. Then more women from the cancer clinic join and they become the Bright Side Running Club and they become the best of friends and amazing support for each other.
The story is based on the authors life and that adds a whole other dimension to the story.
The narration was spot on-I could listen to the accents all day!
Thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my review.
Publication date: February 8, 2022

I am so greatful for being approved for this ARC the story sounded so great and the cover is so cute. Sadly this one did not work for me. The narrator was great and really enjoyed it but the story just didn't grab my attention like I wanted it to 😔
I will be skipping this one but would love to see what else the narrator has narrated. Two stars for that

The Bright Side Running Club by Josie Lloyd and audiobook Narrated by Danielle Cohen is an excellent contemporary fiction that is about not letting a diagnosis define who you are and how you want to live. I loved this book!

I loved this story of a group of women (normal women by the way) that are brought together due to all being victims of cancer. Each are in different positions within their diagnosis and treatment, each have their own inner and external struggles. Each are trying to accept, work through, and overcome their own trial.

I loved the eternal bonds and friendships that were forged from such horrible beginnings, but by seeing something so honest, so raw, and so beautiful develop…it gave such a sense of hope and promise that even if a cure isn’t promised, that they had one another and would not have to fight it all alone. The Bright Side Running Club is a perfect name for this perfect collection of women.

Keira is the main character, and to see her own internal struggles with her body, her family, her business, and her symptoms and medical experiences left me changed and speechless. I felt that she is a kindred spirit, and I was right there with her the whole way. There were mistakes, laugh out loud moments, moments I teared up, and moments I smiled and cheered.

I loved the pacing, the plot, the character cast, the narrator, and I loved the bittersweet ending. It was just perfect.

5/5 stars enthusiastically

Thank you NG and Dreamscape Media for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 2/17/22.

This book was so good! Not only was it relatable as a woman, but the plot and the authors writing was perfect! I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I loved this uplifting book. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Keira is blindsided and doesn’t want to claim cancer as something that’s happening to her. Sitting in the park waiting for test results, she sees a woman running nearby who gives her some words of encouragement. Later, she sees the same woman getting treatment and is amazed by her strength. Keira ends up joining the woman, Tasmin, running in the park and meets another woman battling breast cancer. Eventually, their running gang has grown 4 strong and learn to lean on one another throughout their different stages of cancer treatment.

This book has such strong, supportive women and is a beautiful book. I love how the author used her own experiences with breast cancer for the book, and it feels real and raw while remaining rooted in optimism (while nodding to how hard that is during such change). I loved the dialogue between the characters, the reality of the strain cancer has on relationships, and the strong friendships that are formed.

4.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a tear jerker. As someone living with a parent with an illness it was moving to see sickness through someone else’s point of view. This book follows how Kiera navigates through the highs and lows of breast cancer. The audiobook was very well narrated and I was truly captivated by the story.