Review of Mary’s story
Posted: 29 Mar 2022, 11:21
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mary's story" by Rebecca Foreman.]
Mary’s Story by Rebecca Foreman captures the true-life story of the author. The resilient Rebecca Foreman was born and bred in Melbourne, Australia, as the last child in a family of three children. However, sometimes life throws the toughest of experiences to the strongest of us, and this exemplifies what the story of Rebecca Foreman, aka Mary, centers around. After over two years of experiencing constant headaches after a misdiagnosis, she was finally properly diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. In true Mary fashion, she would not give up on herself and would approach this condition with a positive attitude despite the glaring deficiencies in the healthcare system that was supposed to detect the condition early and treat her properly. The author, in the most selfless of acts, hopes to employ her tough, negative experiences with patient care to shine a light on a failing system that must be improved upon to help patients properly.
The book is both an exposé and an autobiography, as, besides the author's central aim of writing the book, we follow her story from childhood and experience her influences and moments with her family that would shape who she would become. I very much enjoyed how she presented her story in this manner, as it gave me the opportunity to connect with her as a person, and she had several qualities that readers will love, from her selflessness, which I mentioned earlier, to her adventurous nature that would see her take us on different trips and explore new opportunities to grow, Including engaging in kundalini yoga that will pique readers' interest in regards to improving awareness and health. This was why it became quite a difficult and emotional read for me while she took me through the events leading up to her illness and beyond.
At 107 pages, the book is a concise read, and Mary's writing is straightforward since she doesn't delve too much into discussing the full impact of these experiences on her and her family, which I did not particularly like. Nonetheless, the pictures of the experiences she included throughout the book did well to give more insight into what was happening in those periods. She even includes letters, test results, and diagnoses to illustrate her point that the healthcare system is deficient in regard to patient care.
The importance of family was also highlighted in the author's story, as we saw how her mother, most of all, stood strong for her and took care of her. The author also passes several insightful lessons revolving around the significance of spirituality, the power of our words, and the value of supporting each other.
Nevertheless, the book was not properly edited. I encountered too many errors that distracted me on every page of the book. This was what I disliked the most about this read. Employing the services of a professional editor will greatly improve this aspect of the book. All things considered, Mary’s Story was an emotional eye-opener, and I must applaud the author and her family for finding the strength to share this story. However, the book's editing greatly affected the book's quality. Therefore, I rate this book two out of four stars. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy impactful autobiographies.
******
Mary's story
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Mary’s Story by Rebecca Foreman captures the true-life story of the author. The resilient Rebecca Foreman was born and bred in Melbourne, Australia, as the last child in a family of three children. However, sometimes life throws the toughest of experiences to the strongest of us, and this exemplifies what the story of Rebecca Foreman, aka Mary, centers around. After over two years of experiencing constant headaches after a misdiagnosis, she was finally properly diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. In true Mary fashion, she would not give up on herself and would approach this condition with a positive attitude despite the glaring deficiencies in the healthcare system that was supposed to detect the condition early and treat her properly. The author, in the most selfless of acts, hopes to employ her tough, negative experiences with patient care to shine a light on a failing system that must be improved upon to help patients properly.
The book is both an exposé and an autobiography, as, besides the author's central aim of writing the book, we follow her story from childhood and experience her influences and moments with her family that would shape who she would become. I very much enjoyed how she presented her story in this manner, as it gave me the opportunity to connect with her as a person, and she had several qualities that readers will love, from her selflessness, which I mentioned earlier, to her adventurous nature that would see her take us on different trips and explore new opportunities to grow, Including engaging in kundalini yoga that will pique readers' interest in regards to improving awareness and health. This was why it became quite a difficult and emotional read for me while she took me through the events leading up to her illness and beyond.
At 107 pages, the book is a concise read, and Mary's writing is straightforward since she doesn't delve too much into discussing the full impact of these experiences on her and her family, which I did not particularly like. Nonetheless, the pictures of the experiences she included throughout the book did well to give more insight into what was happening in those periods. She even includes letters, test results, and diagnoses to illustrate her point that the healthcare system is deficient in regard to patient care.
The importance of family was also highlighted in the author's story, as we saw how her mother, most of all, stood strong for her and took care of her. The author also passes several insightful lessons revolving around the significance of spirituality, the power of our words, and the value of supporting each other.
Nevertheless, the book was not properly edited. I encountered too many errors that distracted me on every page of the book. This was what I disliked the most about this read. Employing the services of a professional editor will greatly improve this aspect of the book. All things considered, Mary’s Story was an emotional eye-opener, and I must applaud the author and her family for finding the strength to share this story. However, the book's editing greatly affected the book's quality. Therefore, I rate this book two out of four stars. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy impactful autobiographies.
******
Mary's story
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon