A melancholy but hopeful undertone story with characters that touched my heart in such a personal manner it was hard to shake them off. Brave Enough does not simply speak of cancer and addiction, but it delves into the concept and the everyday battles and torment one faces when plagued by one or both these conditions. The characters, Carson and David hold my heart, and I am not complain because I love them so much and I feel so much for them. This story shows the reality of the ugly and hope of what it is to undergo such a tremendous change in one's life.
As inspirational as this story was, I cannot give it the five stars it deserves, for the missing plot and the writing are the downfalls of the novel. The plot was slow and hard to enjoy because more should have happened but it did not. And, the generic writing added boredom to the sluggishness of the plot.
Overall:
I highly recommend to those who prefer developed character over plot and have a box of tissue at hand.

I think that this book is absolutely excellent. Learning how to cope with illness while still being your own person and changing the expectations that people hold for you into something that you are more comfortable holding for yourself. A book of strength and weakness woven together, you should go get you some.

Sweet story and great representation. I think it was the only novel I've read that has been this honest, and I loved that it was an own voices story as well. The characters and development were great, but the writing was lacking.

Brave enough was a good read. It gave me lots of insight on cancer kids and how their life is. The author is cancer savoir so it was realistic.
The story was good not confusing, there are parts were you will root for the Main character and want to tell them not to do something. And it was short.
The character development was there and it was good to. This story just got to me in a way. Give this book a read you will like it. And be Brave enough!!!

This was a great book. I really enjoyed it. The story feels real and I had so many feelings. I really recommend it.

This cover is gorgeous! I had no idea what to expect but turns out that this book topic is someone with cancer and it is so realistic.

3 1/2 stars

As a parent, I’m always looking for a book that I can read with my teens and have meaningful conversations. This is one of those books. This book will make you laugh, cry and think. It has many layers that will open the door to talk about those difficult things with your teen that you may not know how to bring up. I would definitely recommend this book.

This was an interesting concept, and I love how it dealt with cancer and a love story. I also really enjoyed her being a ballerina.

*RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY

This book was super cliche. It was the classic person who has her life planned out then BAM cancer hits and it ruins her but she somehow finds a way to do what she already did before but slightly different. The cover is gorgeous, but it did not match what I thought this was going to be. The mom was a total dick and did not see what was happening to her daughter until the very end and that made me so irritated. I also feel like Davis's need for drugs was a little bit too much (I have/never will do drugs) because in almost every chapter that he is in he mentions that he needs the drug. And I can understand because a lot is happening to him in the book but at the same time, tone it down.

The beautiful cover drew my attention and ballet has been something fascinating to me in recent years. The author drew from her personal experience with cancer to create this story which gave it an authentic feel. What held this book back was the usual YA insta-love story. There was also more telling than showing in this story and while most of the time I critique a book being too long this particular novel felt too short.

This went exactly the way I thought it would, which was a bit annoying. I enjoyed the writing overall.

This is equal parts sad and uplifting, and fair warning, you'll probably turn into an emotional cabbage by the end. It's about a ballerina who gets bone cancer...and a cancer-survivor boy who's struggling with addiction.

And you could really tell all the heart and love that went into this from an #ownvoices cancer-survivor author, and I just think it's awesome people get to share their stories. There's SO much detail of what Cason goes through with the treatments and therapy. The only thing is the writing style didn't quite work for me and I was struggling to be engaged in the story with the quite flat tone.

I know lots of people got burnt out on "sick lit" but I think this one does stand out! And I love how it focused on healing as well + discussed disability and how it's ok to grieve, but it doesn't mean you're broken or your dreams are dead.

Also hEY AT THAT COVER IT IS GLITTERY MAGIC.

I loved this story. It was meaningful, unique, and touching. This is the type of variety the YA community has desperately been needing.

I wasn't expecting to cry while reading this, but Kati Gardner's writing holds nothing back. The story is raw and harsh, more then once I had to put it down in order to catch my breath! A story of struggling, fighting and finding the strength to continue!

Compassionately composed, Brave Enough is an honest journey from heart-ache to hope that deftly demonstrates the strength, resilience and adaptability of our youth.

Marzie's review Sep 08, 2018 · edit
liked it
bookshelves: arc-net-galley

3.5 Stars

Brave Enough gives us the story of Cason and Davis, two teenage cancer survivors who help each other survive and thrive. Cason, a talented ballet dancer, dances through pain to complete weeks of training and an audition for the American Ballet Theatre. After many days of telling herself the terrible pain in her leg is just a strain, she collapses during the audition, her femur crumbling, and finds out that she has Ewing's sarcoma. Cason had thought kids with cancer was merely a trite plot device. She finds the reality shatters her world, not just her femur. Davis is in recovery and not just from cancer. He's been released from rehab and is attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings because he's become addicted to pain meds, an ugly reality that we seldom hear about with respect to cancer survivors of any age. Davis struggles in recovery, lurching from wanting "just one hit" to striving to make his family, friends and doctors proud of his commitment to sobriety. He is plagued by an ex-girlfriend. Alexis, who is still and addict, and their dealer, Ethan, who menaces Davis in multiple ways. As part of Davis's recovery and juvenile sentencing, he is ordered to do community service at the same cancer hospital he worked out. The lure of stealing some of those pain meds is balanced with the personal knowledge of just how much the children in the cancer ward need their pain medication. Davis keeps pushing Ethan and his demands away. It's here that he meets Cason, in treatment for her cancer, who attended his same high school. They had always been in different circles (Cason was in barely any circle since her entire life was about ballet) but now their lives overlap because of their cancer experience. They provide support for one another and hope for their futures.

Gardner is herself a Ewing's Sarcoma survivor, though she was younger than her protagonist Cason when she was diagnosed. She brings authenticity to the patient experience but where I struggled in this book was the lack of depth and insight into the abusive relationship between Cason and her mother, Natalie. Although we see Cason snarking about her mother being more artistic director than mother, and there are passages where Natalie finally seems to come to terms with the fact that Cason has cancer and will never dance as she did before, the unhealthy dynamic felt glossed over. It is hard to believe that years of such a controlling relationship could be resolved in the months that this book covers in Cason's life. This is a parent who had her daughter dancing through indescribable pain, as her femur turned to mush. Who controlled every corner of her daughter's life.

The value of this YA book lies in promoting empathy in young people. Cason, Davis and all the other kids' lives have been upended by cancer. You can substitute any other potentially fatal acute or chronic health condition that roars into a young person's life and leaves them forever changed.

I received an ARC of this book from Flux Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn to Kati Gardner’s Brave Enough due to the cover, after completing the book it is clear the cover isn’t the only thing that stands out about this story.

I loved the fact Brave Enough was written based on the author’s own experience with cancer, and this aspect gave the story more authentic feel to me. I went into this novel thinking I understood cancer and its aftermath, but I was so wrong and I am thankful for the additional understanding I gained through reading Gardner’s novel.

Brave Enough is a heartbreaking-coming-of-age story told through two POVs: Cason and Davis. Cason’s story was inspiring to read. Going from a talented ballerina with a promising future, to being suddenly diagnosed with cancer and losing a limb. Through Cason’s journey she not only allowed herself to grieve for what she lost, but pushes through her pain/fears/anger and came out a stronger person. Davis was also a great character, though his cancer didn’t have much involvement in the story besides the connection with Cason, his story was inspiring in its own right. The way his struggle with addiction is depicted has a very raw and authentic feel to it. The secondary characters were fantastic and gave more insight to how cancer survivors of all types cope with their experiences.

There were some small issues: the story felt rushed in some areas, and lagged in others; and there was also a few occasions where the dialogue lacked backstory. Overall this is a great YA debut novel, and I would recommend it to all.

This one didn't exactly start on a high note for me. There were a few things I appreciated. There's no miraculous recovery. Cancer is a constant struggle. loss and change. It's about finding new dreams when everything you use to define yourself is taken away. The turning point with her mother happened sooner and more completely than I expected. It's sudden and not entirely in character but opens up space for the rest of the plot. Additionally, the addiction plot isn't simple. It too is an ongoing struggle. Even the conclusion isn't life on the mend. It's struggling, treatment, and fear.

I did not know about the novel but when I saw the cover, but I had to see what the story was about! It must be said that the illustrator did a very nice job! Well, I think I read the synopsis too quickly because I thought at first that it was the story about an injured dancer. But it’s true that finally, it was much more than that!

Cason had her destiny all drawn. Since childhood, dance is her life and her mother encourages her and forms her to be the best in this field. But then, during a big audition and while she hid a wound she thought benign, she collapses on stage at the end of the program. But what she thought was something curable is worse than expected … cancer. Davis is a former addict, but even though he is sober for 7 months, the temptation is ubiquitous and his fight is much more difficult than people think. Thus, during his community service, he meets Cason, a girl from his high school he never spoke to. Together, and by helping one another, they will try to move forward, to progress and to rebuild. However this path is not linear and it will have many ups and downs. Something very difficult to achieve, but together, maybe they will do it.

It’s a very beautiful and touching story. Everything is not rosy, everything can not work out in a snap of a finger but they will have to accept what is happening and try to override it so they don’t sink. I really liked the author’s aptness to make us understand that what they do on their own is like an insurmountable ordeal, that they have decided to fight and we hope that in the end they will succeed.

Now today I am so excited to share my thoughts on not only a new release last month but a debut author as well. Brave Enough by Kati Gardner. The cover was so beautiful it made me click and then the summary just touched my heart and that was it for me I knew I had to get my hands on it. I was lucky enough to snag myself an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review so here goes.

Rating: 4 Stars

Cason Martin is a prima ballerina at the Atlanta Ballet Conservatory. The best. She has spent her life at dancing t was never a choice with her mother being the artistic director making all of her decisions. Cason is dedicated and willing to do whatever it takes….even pushing past pain and injury. Though it is much worse than she imagined. On the flip side Davis Channing is struggling in his own way, having beat cancer and living with his drug addiction that nearly killed him. Staying clean isn't always easy when your past is always there in front of you. Cason and Davis hardly know of the other but their worlds collide that all changes.

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't super plot / action driven but more a journey story and I can enjoy those. I could tell as I read, even before reading the authors note, that this is a very personal story for the author wanting to see people like herself represented in books. They way she writes it shows this depth of understanding and authenticity which is pretty great. There were some things happening which I thought were awesome as the story moved along quickly for me but it felt more like a misplaced. Not bad just felt a bit odd story wise after, like a too soon climax. This also happened a few times when a chapter would end and we'd time jump. Sometimes we didn't immediately know and it was from things mentioned or things happening around them that made you think you missed something then "it's been "x" amount of weeks since my audition" so you realize they jumped. This was okay and again the story went by quickly just at times it was a smidge jarring. It also took away some of the moments between Cason and Davis and while I totally loved them together it was a bit sudden.

Cason and Davis are both struggling with major things. Things I don't see as much in my YA reading and I was happen to have it front and center. I loved the idea that just because of cancer or drug addiction the struggle of being more than that label. How you might have described yourself one way, now the first thing someone sees is something else, something you can't control. Understanding from both of their heads what it is like in their struggles from small things that are their new every day to the larger more complex issues really came through. However, while I enjoyed them as characters I thought they could have been a bit more developed. Like they did that to themselves as well, confining themselves to one thing. With Cason it makes sense before she was a dancer, that was her sole focus in life, making things that much more real for her. But with Davis we don't learn much about him aside from cancer and drugs. I would have liked to know more about him as a whole before the drugs. I got enough of him and his character to adore him and want things to be better for him but still a bit more would have rounded him out more.

I found the story pretty uplifting overall and again I really flew through it. I enjoyed it and was smiling for a vast majority of the time reading it and yes I admit to tearing up as well at times. Things can get dark but that is the nature of life. I really enjoyed this story and while there were a couple small things I think could have made it even better nothing I "disliked" as it were turned me away from the story just made me want more and that is a huge yay because who doesn't want more of what they like! I would recommend this for sure! This journey was one I am glad I was along for the ride.