This is a difficult book to explain at first. It’s about cancer, but it’s neither saccharine nor depressing. It’s about transformation, but it’s not a lifetime channel inspirational tract. The best I’ve come up with so far is that it is an unusual Cinderella story, in which cancer is the prince. Whatever it is, it was a moving and powerful read, that also made me laugh.

Lara Blaine isn’t easy to like at the beginning of the story. She’s had a rough early life and it hasn’t left her friendly, approachable, or all that interested in others. She’s driven when it comes to her work, and impatient with incompetence in others. She has trust issues. She’s prickly.

So, when she gets a diagnosis of cancer, she isn’t very well equipped to deal with it. She doesn’t have a circle of family or friends around her, and her personal resources are limited as well. But, in dealing with her illness and her treatment, Lara grows, makes friends, and finds herself.

In that way, it’s kind of like a post-apocalyptic story, where a character is burned in the crucible of severe life challenges and their true self is formed or revealed.

I recommend this one to readers interested in stories that focus on the main character’s inner journey.

About The Reviewer:

Samantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/