For fans of: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Laurel Braitman’s memoir gripped me from the start. In What Looks Like Bravery, she writes about grief—anticipatory and after-the-fact heartache—with refreshing candor. Braitman’s father was a larger-than-life figure who taught her to be the kind of woman who would never need a man. After his terminal cancer diagnosis, he taught her to be a survivor. Now, she revisits her childhood to untangle the threads of love, stubbornness and independence he instilled in her. This is a story of raw pain and hope and a reminder that even a life without a happily-ever-after can still be deeply good.

This memoir has the potential to help so many people who have lost loved ones to cancer, especially if they were children of a terminally ill parent.

Laurel Braitman’s life appears very adventurous in this book, but what I found most compelling were what some people might consider the slower parts of her story. Braitman herself seemed to be speeding (at times literally) away from these quiet moments of reflection on life after loss.

And while I couldn’t relate to all of her extreme impulses, I still saw aspects of my own grief journey reflected in hers. It’s strange and funny how grief can be both individual and universal in turns. Anyone who is willing to share this much on the page is brave in my book.

I received a digital advance reader copy from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully written memoir about big losses and how difficult it is to overcome them. Though I still have both of my parents, and had a completely different upbringing, I found myself relating to Laurel's story. Her story is emotional, yet hopeful. I would definitely recommend this book.


“I wanted to set myself free of my body, all the pain my skin was trying to hold in.” - What Looks Like Bravery, Laurel Braitman

Stunning. I loved it the way I’ve loved The Glass Castle and Educated. It was devastating and hilarious and just so incredibly human. The subtitle is “An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love,” and Laurel Braitman’s road has been nothing short of heroic. I am so glad she has shared her story with the world.

I’ve not suffered the loss of a parent, and this fact gave me pause as I started the book. I wondered if I’d be able to relate. But so much of Laurel’s story resonated with me. As I read about her struggles to feel her feelings and make her way through romantic relationships that ended in heartbreak and confusion, I was struck again and again–so many highlighted passages!–by the ways in which I empathized with her.

Thank you, Laurel Braitman for this beautiful, beautiful book. The prose, the storytelling, the revelations… I am blown away by this memoir.

Excellent. So well written and interesting. Easily readable, but with subtstance. I hope to read more by this author.

It is very hard to write this review through my tears because so. many. tears.

I really loved this book but love doesn't seem expansive enough, or maybe it is just the right word to describe how parts of it made me so sad (thinking about my own dad's illness and death, and the mortality of my mom), and also thoughtful, and also transcendent with joy (the descriptions of nature and animals and avocado trees).

If you are a human person, if you have a heart beating inside of you, I recommend this book to you. We will all one day, if we haven't already, have to deal with grief. We are just so lucky that Dr. Laurel Braitman takes us on her hard journey through grief because the way she describes it is so beautiful and meaningful. That's the kind of hand-holding I need through something as difficult, specific AND universal as grief.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

Braitman has written a beautiful and thoughtful memoir about her personal journey through grief which is less about the grief than about the people she meets and lessons she learns along the way. Her early life was idyllic in so many ways, thanks largely to her father, who sadly died when she was a teen. She ignored the warning signs that she wasn't ok until she couldn't She takes on board that she's repressed her emotions and sets out to understand them, learning that there's more to life than she's recognized. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Great read.

What Bravery Looks Like is a poetic punch to the gut. I was captivated by this memoir and absolutely could not put it down. The first 100 or so pages dealing with Braitman’s early life on an avocado farm in a small town in Southern CA with an airport was my favorite part, partly because of my familiarity with the location but mostly because it was so beautifully written. When Braitman gets to her father’s passing, her family and voice are already so well developed that the event is devastating; I had to take a break from the book at this point.

This was such a gorgeously composed memoir and at times so intimately written that I almost felt like I should be asking permission to read it further. This book will stick with me. Outstanding!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Laurel Braitman the author, for the advanced copy to read in exchange for my honest review.

This book is definitely outside of my worldview - and included choices and actions I would not make. If you are a Christian, be aware that this author writes about abortion and spiritual practices that you will not agree with. I had to have a little chat with myself after the first hour of the book - and I decided to forge on.

That being said, I read this book and wanted to understand where Laurel Braitman was coming from. She comes from a place of great love for her family, and a great desire to understand herself and her place in a world that began with the loss of her father. No matter how hard she strived, achievements and accolades couldn’t fill the emptiness.

This book is her journey of understanding and discovery, and while it looks nothing like my own journey, it was interesting and well written. Yes, I want to tell her the answer to all of this is Jesus, but that’s not for a book review. 😉

I am glad I read this book and thankful to have this insight into an obviously caring and intelligent author.