In "Resurrection Lily" Amy Byer Shainman, brings compassion and faith to the discussion of breast cancer. It is science forward, as the the subtitle, "The BRCA Gene, Hereditary Cancer & Lifesaving Whispers from the Grandmother I Never Knew" tells. While, the science here is clear and up to date, the main focus is on family, emotional survival and faith.

I received this book for free right here on LibraryThing. It is truly a must read for all woman. It is packed with emotion along with extensive research. I have already recommended this book to all of my close female family and friends. As a librarian I will be recommending it to my local book groups as I sincerely believe it should be on every book groups to-read list. I was pleasantly surprised to also receive a face mask that matches the cover of the book. It is beautiful and has sparked many conversations about the book each time I wear it. All while promoting the cause at the same time. I can't speak highly enough of this book, it is absolutely my favorite book i've read all year so far! ( )

In this book, Amy Byer Shainman has approached the topic of the BRCA gene and breast cancer from a personal angle. She tells the story of friends and relatives who have battled the disease. But she also details her own story of taking preventative measures when she discovers she has the BRCA gene.

This book may seem to have too much information and details for the casual reader. However, for someone who has recently been diagnosed (or loves a person who has), this book will be a valuable resource. ( )

This was an ok book. The parts were ok, but the organization was...strange and I couldn't really get into it. It was not a particularly memorable book. I started it 3 times before I got past the first chapter, and frequenly other even non-fiction titles got more attention than this one. The only thing I felt when I finally finished was "Oh thank god I'm done". I liked individual bits but most of them weren't really enough to make up for the rest of it.

I do wish it was better. Breast cancer is kind of a scary topic and it doesn't get a lot of specific coverage. ( )

I have had to put down this book a multitude of times. Since I have gotten to page 100, it has been easier to read and stay engaged with.

While there is a decent amount of information, information I did not have before reading this book, I do believe it could have been better streamlined. She covered things she wished she had known prior to getting some of her surgeries and gave helpful suggestions for questions or things to look into for others. There’s even a resource guide and informational statistics located in the back of the book. It’s very apparent that she is passionate about the topic and wanting others to know and be informed about BRCA.

The reason it’s been hard to stay fully engaged with this memoir is it’s rather joltingly put together. There are three different font types found within the book. When the author is narrating, emails, and quotes from other people. Frequently there is more than one font type on the page. This breaks up the passage and draws the reader out of the book. At times it got frustrating for me to keep getting thrown off by this. Furthermore, the author seems to repeat herself on a few plot points, more than once. This just adds unnecessary passages to the book and it’s just repetition that is not needed.

Another drawback is the fact there are so many quotes shoved in here. Not all of them are necessary or add to the narrative. When there is one on pretty much every page or every other page, it gets to be a bit too much. It makes it less of a memoir and more of a half memoir, half other people’s quotes on a subject. Some quotes are useful, truly they are. Others…not so much.

While the author is insightful to the BRCA gene and hereditary cancer, there are a few times where her ignorance shows. One such time is when she is talking about resigning to the fact she can’t have anymore kids. As someone who is adopted, I found this a bit insulting. Adoption is a viable option. Just because you personally are unable to birth kids doesn’t mean you can’t have more. They just might not be genetically yours.

There are a few graphs and photos of her medical paperwork in the story, however, not all of them were really legible. I couldn’t really make out what was said in a few of them and thus, just kind of glossed over them. I wish they would have been larger and/or clearer for the reader’s benefit.

TL;DR I believe the author had the best of intentions while writing this book. It is certainly informative and you can feel the writer’s passion in the words she writes. I just feel like the writing could have been streamlined a little better and some unnecessary quotes taken out to make it more digestible for the reader.

(*Note I received this book in exchange for an honest review from either GoodReads Giveaways or LibraryThing's Giveaways. I honestly can't remember which site.) ( )