This was really well done. The writing was fabulous and it really made you feel what was going on. But the stories jumped around so much that it made it hard to fully get into the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dundern Press for providing me with an eARC of this memoir in exchange for my honest review.

Publication date: 8/29/23

I was drawn to this memoir since I too have been through chemo for lymphoma. I kept a blog during those years and experienced many of the same feelings as the author.

There were sentences that blew me away with beauty and truth. I did feel, however, that there were many sections that were too descriptive/lengthy/wordy, and I felt like the things being described were only story-adjacent. For example, the author writes about working at a deli counter. Pages and pages of description follow about the meat slicing process, the mess on the floor, random employees and their personal histories... I always felt such relief when the author would come back to his own story and experiences surrounding his cancer treatment while being a young adult. There was too much filler with descriptions of people and events that really didn't add much to his memoir.

While I am usually good with a story that jumps around in time, I did sometimes have a hard time with how the author went back and forth without it being obvious to the reader. I also felt like chapters would've been useful here--the lack of them makes books feel slightly overwhelming to me.

This is ultimately a very honest and raw memoir, and I commend the author for telling his story. I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy memoirs about illness/young adulthood/families. While I do think the author can write beautifully, there were just too many drawn out sections that made me want to skim. For that reason, I'm giving this a 3.5 rating.

I will post on Goodreads closer to publication date.