Tear jerker (Forever in My Heart: The Story of My Battle Against Cancer - Jade Goody)

Member Name: carlz2001uk

Product:	Forever in My Heart: The Story of My Battle Against Cancer - Jade Goody
Date:	29/07/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy read

Disadvantages: Not one to read if you or a family member are battling cancer!

I was given this book by a colleague at work to read. Although I was not a particular 'fan' of Jade, I was saddened to hear that she had lost her life to cancer, and as a close family member of mine is currently suffering from Bowel and stomach cancer, I thought I also may learn a little of what I might expect to happen in the future.
The book is a very honest and frank version of events of what happened to Jade in the last year of her life and her battle against cancer. It was definitely a tear jerker, however I don't know if I was sad about what I was reading or sad that I thought this may be happening to my step dad in the very near future. Perhaps this was the wrong book to be reading at this moment in time!
The book is written as a diary in day-by-day format, following her prognosis, right up to her death. I found it hard to believe that Jade was writing right up to her death, as at some points she is unable to speak and eat, let alone hold a pen. I believe this book may have been better written was it penned from a family member. The diary shows just how quickly this terrible disease can take over one persons life.

It's very moving, but I think it was rushed out too quickly, and there were a lot of spelling errors, grammatical errors, etc, which is a niggle of mine when reading a published book. I feel I may be perceived to be criticizing Jade in this review, which I do not intend to do, I think what she went through was extremely traumatic, especially for her boys, and she was brave in trying to battle it in such a public way.

For a lot of the book, you obviously knew what was coming as it was so heavily publicized in the media. However, there were certain aspects of the book which I wasn't aware of, for example, when she is terminally ill in hospital, a mentally unstable woman appears over her bed with a hammer (and that wasn't Jade hallucinating!). I also found her wedding preparations a nice part of the book to read.

There is a list at the end, of Jades wishes, which was a very sad part (although saying that - none of the book was particular cheery!), whereby she explains her wishes for her two boys, for example she wants them to have Porsches for their first car, which is probably not the best idea in the world but a nice idea!

I would recommend this book to Jade fans. It is an honest account of one persons battle against such a serious disease. If like me, however, you or a family member are battling cancer I would suggest you stay clear of this book!

This book is currently selling for around £8.50 at www.amazon.co.uk and a percentage of sales will be donated to the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity, although I am unsure of the exact percentage. The remaining profits will go to Jades sons, Bobby and Freddy.

Summary: An easy read, but very sad