Book Review · Books

Brave Enough

Cason Martin is a professional dancer whose life revolves around her dance schedule and high school. While auditioning to get into a professional ballet academy her one leg is giving her extra pain than normal, but Cason pushes through her routine. Her mom is her dance director and expects only perfection. At the end of her routine Cason hears a sound, not realizing it’s her leg. After being rushed to the doctor she finds out she has cancer.

Why does the big C word have to interfere with her plans for greatness? Cason’s one tract mind is on dancing and having to go through treatment isn’t going to help her reach her goal. While going in for treatment she notices a classmate of hers, Davis. He seems nice and everyone seems to like him on the oncology floor. The only problem is that he’s a recovering addict. Cason’s mom nips that potential friendship in the bud.

Davis notices Cason while doing his community service at the hospital and is sad when he realizes she’s there for treatment. Will her mom ever view him anything other than an addict in recovery? Davis decides to work on befriending Cason, though her anger about her circumstances doesn’t help ease his attempts at friendship. Can Davis convince Cason to go to cancer camp for a week?

Will Cason ever accept Davis’ friendship and will she ever come to terms with her diagnosis? Can a recovering pill addict and ballet dancer become friends?

I received my complimentary copy of Brave Enough by Kati Gardner from North Star Editions and Flux, care of NetGalley. The views are mine and of my own choice. This novel was just plain sweet. If you need an impactful novel, a sweet YA romance then I highly recommend this title. The subjects involved aren’t easy to always digest, but cancer and pill addiction are two relevant topics in today’s world. I feel the author handled these topics realistically and with grace.

Book Review · Books

Permanent Marker

What would you do if you survived an almost fatal car accident? Aimee, an English teacher at her old high school, is on her way home with teens from her high school’s dance team when a young man runs a stop sign and hits her on the driver’s side. She shouldn’t have made it, but she did. Permanent Marker is her journey surviving the accident and two other life changing events prior to that night.

Surviving such a horrific event is a mental cluster f**k. It’s a lot to mentally wade through. I’m a survivor of sorts. I have survivor scars. Sometimes I think I mentally blocked them out, but one evening I truly looked at them and it was a very humbling moment. Scars are a personal momento to remind you that you won’t ever be the same as other people. They remind you that you are a fighter, who fought for their life. They remind you of grace, that you were spared when others were not. They can be beautiful and yet ugly. It’s all in your perspective.

Aimee’s memoir is blunt, raw, honest, funny, tragic and yet inspirational. She honestly talks about dealing with survivors guilt, dealing with recovering from serious injuries and figuring out how to piece her life back together after such a traumatic life event.

I received the ARC of Permanent Marker by Aimee Ross for free from KiCam Projects in exchange for my review. This memoir is short, but packs a punch in what an important read it is. If you enjoy memoirs, especially survivor memoirs then this one will get a special spot on your bookcase.