April 2018, Zaffre, 432 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Summary from Zaffre
Ailsa Rae is learning how to live.
She's only a few months past the heart transplant that – just in time – saved her life. Life should be a joyful adventure. But . . .
She's only a few months past the heart transplant that – just in time – saved her life. Life should be a joyful adventure. But . . .
Her relationship with her mother is at breaking point and she wants
to find her father. Have her friends left her behind? She's felt so
helpless for so long that she's let polls on her blog make her decisions
for her. She barely knows where to start on her own.
Then there's Lennox. Her best friend and one time lover. He was sick
too. He didn't make it. And now she's supposed to face all of this
without him.
But her new heart is a bold heart.
She just needs to learn to listen to it . . .
Nayu's thoughts
I've always been intrigued by how transplant
patients feel about their new organ(s), mostly because I watch the BBC drama Holby which has them, plus I've seen a few on hospital shows so reviewing this was an obvious
choice for me. I liked how Ailsa delved back into her pre-transplant
days which are emotional and perfectly capture the trials of living
with a limited amount of energy. I loved the part where she talks
about working out if she had the energy to do something and whether
it was worth making herself a bit worse because I do this many times a day as part of my own non-transplant needing condition.
I liked how her friend didn't
have a successful transplant in the sense that all sides of
transplants were addressed. There's the obvious change of having a
chance at life which Ailsa has to get her head around, the grief and
guilt of knowing someone didn't make it when she did, and the perhaps unthought of relationship change obetween Ailsa and her
mum which brought more heartache then either of them expected.
Seb's
presence brought Ailsa a new perspective on life along with a lot of
laughs and a few tears, it was a sweet relationship that Ailsa
cohldn't have had before her transplant, and at times struggled with
because of the negative aspects from being with someone the public
see as a celebrity. The fact that Ailsa blogged was fun to read
because I also blog, although I felt sad that she relied so much on
other people's views of what she should do in life. I wished she had
more self-confidence to make both big and small choices on her own
without public opinion, but she slowly learns that through the
mistakes she makes and advice her friends give.
It's always good to
remember that there people in worse situations that you, that ill and/or dying
people can have a bizarre sense of humor, and that everyone is trying
to find their way in a complex world that Aisla can explore more
fully with her new heart.
Note: only by putting this post together have I just found out the reason why everything is so realistic is because Stephanie has dealt with cancer herself. Google her name to find information on this including a Youtube interview/clip thingymajig.
Be sure to keep up to date with Stephanie on Twitter.
Suggested read
I've got two reads for you: another that touches on cancer is The Sisters Club by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, 9/10E)
and for a true tale of fighting cancer with all the highs and lows check out Tea and Chemo by Jackie Buxton (Non-Fiction, Memoir, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)
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