I tried reading this book years ago but I just couldn’t get into. Now that I’m trying again I can’t fathom why. Wrong timing I guess but this time I was absolutely gripped from page 1.

This is a deeply emotional book. A family has a 20 year old son (Jesse) and a 16 year old daughter (Kate) with leukemia. They found out their daughter was sick when she was 2 so they had a test tube baby (Kate) to supply stem cells, blood and bone marrow. Kate is now 13 years old and gets a lawyer because she wants it to stop. She doesn’t want to donate her kidney.

This is such an interesting story because I can understand everyone’s perspective. There are no clear answers. No right or wrong. Everybody hurts. Nobody wins. This family is beyond screwed up. I would like to discover God’s view. Imagine if Francine River’s could write something like this. I wonder if we are ever allowed to preserve self. Many families have situations where one child gets more attention than another. “The squeaky wheel gets all the oil” situations. How best to deal with that?

I really liked being in Anna’s mind. I admired her courage and determination.

“My father, a closet astronomer, has tried to explain black holes to me, how they are so heavy they absorb everything, even light, right into their center. Moments like this are the same kind of vacuum; no matter what you cling to, you wind up being sucked in.”

The writing is incredibly beautiful. Anna’s relationship with her father is so precious. A part of him agrees with Anna but he doesn’t have the courage to say. Leaving her to fight the battle alone. The father’s love and pain got me crying.

Terribly heart-breaking book. But I think it’s healthy and cathartic to go through the grief with the characters.

Excellent book. 10/10.