Official Review: Letters to My (Dead) Brother

[Fazzier]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Letters to My (Dead) Brother" by Ann O. Nymous.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Letters to My (Dead) Brother is a poignant memoir written by Ann O. Nymous in memory of her brother, George, who (prematurely) lost his fight to pancreatic cancer. After her brother succumbed to pancreatic cancer, the author was greatly affected and kept asking herself many questions. She wondered why death took him so early, a humble, focussed soul who still had a lot to achieve in life. Why couldn't he just live to realize the promised age of seventies, and even more? Why did he lose the fight that early? Is there nothing doctors could have done to make him live more? So, as a way of mourning him, the author composed a series of letters to reminisce about the time they spent together and muse how the brother could have acted differently not to accept cancer diagnosis as a death sentence.

I enjoyed Letters to My (Dead) Brother and liked how well it was written. The author's prowess as a story-teller is apparent, and this caught my attention just from the start. Besides being a short, fast read, this memoir is deep, transparent, and emotion-charged. To clarify some in-text issues and give background details, the author uses footnotes, and this enabled me to understand this story better. She also included some family pictures, thus enabling readers to visually connect with the narration. I also liked how the author aptly captured her deep, inner emotions, as this made it easy for me to understand the amount of emotional burden she was grappling with after the brother's death. Most importantly, this writing opens eyes to the need for hope after a major health diagnosis (even if doctors believe a way out is impossible) and the need to cherish life with loved ones when they're still with us.

My favorite aspect of this book was the author's courage to come out and transparently share this personal story. I believe it must have been therapeutic to her, and besides that, it will also help those who have undergone the same– lost a loved one to cancer or other serious health diagnoses.

However, when I started reading this book, there were some moments I found disturbing. An example is the instances where the author directly accuses God of killing her brother and wishes, several times, that God should have, instead, killed her or some other family member(s). These utterances are unusual and absurd, and it was only easy to understand and forgive her for such appalling wishes after learning she's bi-polar. In fact, this additional revelation made me admire her more for coming up with such a terrific memoir. Even with that, some of the author's utterances should not be taken for it before critically assessing them.

All in all, I couldn't find anything objective to dislike about this book. I believe it was professionally edited since I found no single error. I'm, therefore, glad to award Letters to My (Dead) Brother by Ann O. Nymous 4 out of 4 stars.

This book will appeal to anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer or any other major health diagnosis, and so I highly recommend it to them. It is also suitable for people who have a major health diagnosis and feel like there is no hope. As to erotic content, this book contains none, although I noticed a few instances of non-borderline profanity. However, they're so rare that they cannot make me caution any reader from picking this.

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Letters to My (Dead) Brother
View: on Bookshelves

[Sararob06]

This story sounds deeply personal. Hopefully the author worked through their grief and anyone working through a similar situation may find solace in this book.

[Di52]

Well .... Ofcourse the writing this book must have been a therapeutic experience for the author but most importantly, I think, this encourages one to open up and talk to their friends or their close people. This thing would not only help in healing oneself but also would let other people experience vicariously how you face this world everyday and maybe there's someone who can help you in making that healing all the more better and faster. Review was well written. Thanks

[KMGR70]

Wow, the title of this book alone makes me emotional and I was hesitant to read the review but am glad I did. I have lost both siblings after extended illnesses, a brother at 33 and my dear sister at 54. It has affected me so deeply, I can not even type this without becoming emotional. Everyone handles death differently, grieves differently, and leaves them with different perspectives or outlooks on life. "Friends", family, and co-workers expect you to "get over" it and move on because obviously the world just doesn't stop for us. Anyway, I could probably write my own book...hmmm. Thanks for your insightful review!

[Jennifer Aldo]

The first thing that caught my attention was the book title and the author's name, "Anonymous". Quite the pun. Thanks for the great review. I hope those suffering from grief and loss would find a little solace in the book.

[Nqobile Mashinini Tshabalala]

There is healing in writing and I trust this book contributed to the author's healing process. Thanks for the review.

[Chigo Nwagboso]

I understand how it hurts to lose a Blood relative to sickness. Thanks to the author for her courage to write this book. Great review.

[Eddy E]

The title of the book just at the first glance is sincere and it just drew me. I applaud the author for coming out to share her personal experience and come out and ask the questions that is on everyone mind.

[Shahina C A]

I seems to be very emotional read. I must try this out. Thanks for the great review