"This was not a novel feeling; my sense of safety being demolished in the amount of time it takes to utter a sentence. You have leukemia. The treatments are not working. You need a transplant. You need more chemo."
 It's often said it's difficult to review a memoir. A person's journey can put a reader at a loss for words.
 Luckily, author Suleika Jaouad has a beautiful way with her words.
 Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for my eARC for review.
 In her debut book Between Two Kingdoms, she takes us inside her heart-wrenching battle with leukemia; diagnosed at the young age of 22.
 This is an enlightening and difficult read, nothing held back with Jaouad's struggle. At an age where her peers were in school, seeking careers, forming relationships and starting families, she was on an entirely other path. 
 We are taken into the shock of diagnosis, of treatments feeling worse than the disease on one's body and spirit, the isolation, frustration and loss of independence and identity in the healthcare "machine"; of fellow patients made into friends, then lost.
 Most notably, Jaouad puts a face to the condition. So many of us are not aware of all that is involved in fighting cancer and her story is such a readable, emotional eye-opener. I can't say enough good about it.
 The author began her writing career with a blog, then columns with the New York Times. Between Two Kingdoms, as an extension of those writings, is absolutely recommended.
 Released on Feb. 9.