Killer Boobs, a memoir of how my breasts tried to kill me...

This was a wonderful book! It may seem strange to say that about a woman's memoir of her breast cancer diagnosis an subsequent 250 days of treatment, but it was a well-written, compelling account. The author's positive attitude, her humorous and somewhat irreverent approach, and her very personal writing style make it seem like a conversation with a friend. While most of us have clinical understanding of chemotherapy side effects (nausea, fatigue), we may not know it at a personal level. I found this book to be informative and heartwarming. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand breast cancer treatment from a human perspective.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Although my review might be a little too honest at times.

It is very difficult for me to review this book. As the topic deal with the author’s experience going through breast cancer treatment, it seems cruel-hearted to have anything negative to say as only the author truly knows what she experienced and how it made her feel.

Supplying additional information about the medical details would help improve the book. Everyone knows about breast cancer and has a broad understanding about the treatment; yet, few people understand all of the “science” stuff that is involved. Also, we do not know what the side effects of some of the drugs are or why they are even taken. I think show more that if Valentine (even if in an appendix) more detail about the medical aspect, that would tighten up the book… actually I think that has the potential to do a lot of good. This might not be something Valentine put in her blog but putting it in the book would be a plus.

Also, if there was a little more honest emotion, the book would be stronger. At present, Valentine is so overwhelmingly positive and glosses over a lot of detail that other people would be interested in. How does Valentine remain so positive? How does her relationship with her children change? Why does she allow herself so little time to rest and recover? Does she think that not letting cancer slow her down is one of the reasons she went through treatment so well? Tell me more about the funny cancer shirts. Did any food or drink help her through the experience? Did she make friends with anyone undergoing the same experience? Why should we read her book about her experiences? I know that this book is basically her blog, but it needs fine tuning and development if it is going to be successful in the mainstream non-fiction genre. Ultimately, Valentine’s book feels like it provides a glossy summary without any of the ‘gory’ details… almost like using Cliff Notes to write a book review instead of actually reading the original.

As stated earlier, this book has a lot of potential but lacks depth and raises more questions about her experience than answers. She does have an additional book in the works which I hope is stranger than this one. show less

Easy to read. Witty and serious. Very courageous account of her battle with Breast Cancer. I am anxious to read the next installment, and pray for her to live long and healthy! Every woman should read this.

I received a Kindle version of this book for free on LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.

This blog format book is at times sad, humorous, happy, and sobering. What stood out to me is how helpful the practical things, like cooking, can be to someone fighting an illness and his/her family, even if it doesn’t feel like it does to the one who is helping. I appreciate the author sharing her journey so honestly and openly.