This is a biography written by Julie as she lives her life with cancer. It’s extremely moving and I also found it to be uplifting. She tells us about her very poor background in Vietnam suffering from severe cataracts; how she survives despite her family wishing her dead, indeed making an attempt to poison her. She then chronicles her move to the USA and her very successful academic record and subsequent prestigious career as a lawyer.

But it’s the very emotional telling of her journey towards death and how well she prepared for this, providing a clear path for the future for her husband and two little girls, that really has impact.

It’s an unforgettable book that I recommend to all.

An honest and compelling memoir from a woman who was utterly resilient in the face of tragedy after tragedy faced in her life. Born in Vietnam with only limited site, she narrowly escaped being killed by her grandmother because of her disability (sorry, I cannot even contemplate using the word ‘euthanasia’ for something so stark and brutal). She ended up as a refugee arriving in America, one of the infamous ‘boat people’ who suffered so terribly as they attempted to escape the traumas in their home country. In the USA, her sight was partially restored and, despite her unpromising start in life and ongoing problems, she ended up completing studies, becoming a lawyer, marrying and having children. Then, with her two girls still very young, at the age of 37 she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She faced this with courage and, in the process, wrote this memoir – primarily, she said, for her two girls to have when they grew up, but also as a testament for others.

I don’t want to compare this to similar works as such a memoir is such a personal experience for the reader as much as the writer and as its so subjective, there will always be readers who find one that ‘clicks’ with them while others leave them cold. I did not personally find this a terribly easy read – not because of the emotive subject matter but rather because I found it did not really touch me in the way some other people’s stories have. There was a lot of factual stuff about medications and treatments, which was fine by me as I have a medical background but might be more than some people want. I did find the account a little clichéd in places and perhaps it was that which put me off somewhat … but for whatever reason, I did not really connect with Julie.

In summary, then, a book and an account I didn’t really connect with but I think this is probably a very subjective experience and Julie’s memoir will most definitely resonate with many people as she faced her life experiences with candour and courage.

I don't like not finishing books, especially those I have received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. But this book has triggers for me and I am finding it a very upsetting read. Also I dislike the facts and stats, the nasty name given to the poor person who might become the second wife and step mother to her children. It may be a cultural thing bearing in mind the attitude of her grandmother to her as a tiny baby but I can't read anymore. Abandoned at 17%.

Honest, raw and heartbreaking. This is Julies account of her life and how she feels about cancer and dying. It is written with raw emotion and honesty and deserves to be read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is the first book I have received from NetGalley that I couldn’t finish. I thought this book would be about Julie’s harrowing childhood how her Grandmother wanted her dead because she was almost blind, and her struggles of growing up in Asia and her travels to make it to America. The book touches on this but it is mainly about Julie’s life in America when she is diagnosed with cancer. I started reading this book just before Christmas and I found it too depressing to continue. I normally relish memoirs and love learning about people’s lives and experiences but I just could not get into this memoir at all. I got very confused with the medical language and it just seemed so cold and didn’t engage me t all. I feel awful giving this book a bad review as she had a very hard life and overcome so many struggles and hardships which is so commendable and I think Julie was auch a brave person. But unfortunately this memoir was just too depressing for me to continue reading.

Julie Yip-Williams has a very interesting story to tell in the 37 years before her colon cancer diagnosis in 2013 but this story is rarely mentioned as the book concentrates on the tests, treatments, clinical trials, pain and side effects she’s endured from diagnosis to her death in 2018. She lists all the different cancer drugs she’s had or considered with a lot of detail about the results of ongoing blood tests, MRI, PET, CAT scans, CEA levels, etc.

I feel very bad about giving such a review about someone’s memoir who has died but I did struggle with many things she had to say but mostly her many references to ‘Slutty Second Wife’ such as

“I understand that if I die, Josh will need companionship and my girls will need a mother figure, and I’m okay with that. But I will state here for the record and to get this off my chest, any woman who encroaches on our relationship while I am still living will have to answer to me. And to her and the Slutty Second Wife (if she is not the same person), I promise you this – if you screw with Josh and my children, either while I’m alive or after I’m gone, if you find a way to get around my ironclad estate planning and take assets from my children in your grubby little hands, if you otherwise harm any of them, I will haunt you from the afterlife and I will hurt you.”

Yes, I can understand her complete frustration, anger, bitterness and a myriad of other emotions I cannot conceive as I am not in Julie’s situation, but I cannot ever condone writing these words down and then publishing them for the world to see. I have two close friends who have lost wives to cancer and who have remarried. Both men have dealt with this with completely sensitivity to their late and current wives and have been marvellous and inspirational in how they have brought the second wives into the family and friends group while loving and honouring the original family unit at the same time. This is a very difficult path to tread for everyone involved and bereaved men and women need the love and support of all around and not huge guilt trips laid on them when they find love again. Being a step-mother or step-child is already a minefield without your birth mother making it a war-zone while still alive. I try and get past my frustration at Julie writing this by hoping that she is joking but she refers to it several times and even use her Slutty Second Wife phrase in an email to a music teacher asking her to be proactive in her daughter’s music future when she dies.

For me the main interest in this memoir was the author’s life before the 2013 diagnosis. She was born in 1976 to a Chinese family living in Vietnam. A few weeks after her birth her family realised that she was blind. Her paternal grand-mother insisted on Julie’s parents taking her to a herbalist some distance away to be given a potion to kill her. The grandmother’s reasoning being that Julie wouldn’t be able to walk around the house without bumping into things. When her periods started “She’ll bleed all over the place, dripping like a wild bitch” and she’d end up on the streets like armless and legless people. Fortunately the herbalist refused to have any part in the dirty deed asked of him. While I wanted to know more about Julie’s early life this whole section was implausible as she described the bus journey to the herbalist in great detail including what the other passengers were doing, what passersby were doing, the crops in the fields, the weather. I very much doubt her mother could relate all this thirty or so years later when Julie was told of ‘the secret’.

Around age four, Julie and her immediate family escaped on a boat to Hong Kong and then onto USA. In L.A. an ophthalmic surgeon was found who restored some sight to Julie although she was still legally blind. All of this is very quickly glossed over and I didn’t have a sense of how much she could or couldn’t see throughout the book. She went to University and then to Harvard Law School but that is only mention in passing.

There is a lot of clichéd writing and no sense of timescales in the book. Since finishing it I have learned that it was actually a series of blog posts which explains the disjointed writing. It’s crying out for a ghost writer to heavily edit it and instil some sense of chronological understanding in the book.

The clichéd writing is very irritating. Julie makes so many assumptions about those around her “happily ensconced are they in the unblemished perfection of their own lives”. She makes comments likes this time and time again seemingly oblivious to the fact that no matter how much good health, wealth or success a person has no one has an unblemished life. Yes, most do not have to endure the challenges and traumas that she has but no one’s life is perfect.

She describes times of rages when her husband feared for his own and the children’s safety. Her husband, in an honest epilogue, notes that they came close to divorce on occasion. She talks of her 5 year old daughter loving to watch documentaries about wild animals killing each other. And how that same daughter loves watching endless TV shows with her father about airplane crashes as the father is obsessed with these sort of programs. I truly fear for the mental health of those innocent children who were only 6 and 8 when their mother died after almost 5 years of illness. I just hope that her husband and two young daughters are as resilient as Julie thinks they are and they have a lot of love and excellent care surrounding them to get over the traumas they have faced these past 4/5 years. And indeed, future traumas inflicted by the permanence of the writing in this book on their lives. What mother states for the world to see that the moment she married her husband or held her new born children was not one of the happiest moments of her life. Best unsaid if that is truly what you think.

The story opens with a harrowing statement from Julie Yip-Williams and I was in tears, something that would continue to happen throughout this book. Each chapter an honest account of 5 years of her life and how her moods changed, her hopes and fears for her family and preparing her husband and little girls for the times she wouldn't be around anymore.
Within a couple of weeks of Julie Yip-Williams being born the chances of her living a healthy, happy or long life didn't have good odds. Julie was the third child to be born to her Vietnamese parents in Vietnam, and the second to have cataracts, except Julie's were much worse than her sister's had been. The grandparents, well grandmother's solution to Julie not being a burden on the family was to have her put to sleep, never to wake up.
Julie escaped that fate and a few more before at the age of 4, leaving her home with her parents and siblings and heading for the USA where surgery managed to restore limited sight to her. Julie didn't do things by halves, studying with bottle bottom glasses and magnifying glasses but she went on to achieve a Harvard law degree, a top position at a prestige firm and a fairy story romance that in the future would be tested beyond any natural limits.
At 37 years old Julie was happily married to Josh, she had a career and two little girls, Mia and Isabelle, before she was swept off her feet again when she was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer. There are no holds bared in this story as she goes through so many different stages of hope, determination, realisation and desperation and how it affects all of them.
There are so many tremendously brave chapters but one particularly really got to me, a scene at one of her daughters schools and she really looses it, not in a shouting way but in such a tender moment, the little things that we all take for granted. The kindness of people sometimes just wows me and this was one of these times. Even now I have tears rolling down my face thinking of this.
Having said all that, Julie's life really is one to celebrate. Her courage throughout her life is tremendous. If there had been a way to beat this disease then she would have done it. A truly remarkable woman with a remarkable husband and daughters. The final chapter has been left to Josh as the last couple of weeks leading up to her death were impossible for her to continue. A very touching and frank ending and new beginning for him and their daughters to move forward.

To be honest, I am not entirely sure how to review a book about someone's journey through sickness to death.

How do you judge someone's life story?

I'm not sure you can.

So I'll keep it simple and say that without a doubt, this is a beautiful, moving and powerful memoir about Julie's fight with cancer.

Julie Yip-Williams was just thirty seven years old when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Married, with two young daughters and a career in law, she spent five years coming to terms and knowing that eventually her illness would lead to her death. Yes, that the circle of life that we all revolve on, but no one wants or expects to die young! Julie's parents lived in. Communist Vietnam. When Julie was born, she had cataracts and her grandmother begged Julie's parents to take her to a herbalist., to get a tonic that would make Julie die. Her grandmother believed that Julie's survival would only be a burden to the family. The family escape to Americawhere Julie receives the medical treatment for her eyes. She was declared legally blind due to her poor vision. But being blind did not hold Julie back. This is an open and honest memoir that will resonate with many readers.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and the author Julie Yip-Williams for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First diagnosed in 2013 with Stage VI colon cancer while on holiday in LA to attend her brother's wedding, The Unwinding of the Miracle chronologically follows's the life of Julie Yip-Williams, originally born in Vietnam to Chinese parents Julie had an unconventional start to life as her family feared how her future would be affected by her very poor eye-site.

Its not spoilers to mention Julie passed away five years after her diagnosis and this book is lovingly finished by her husband Josh; Julie leaves behind two young daughters and I think one of the most remarkable things in this book after Julie's determination and honesty is the reaction and attitude of her daughters to her illness and some of the most heartwarming moments for me were when her young children offered up their words of support and comfort.

Cancer is a sensitive topic and has touched pretty much everyone's lives either directly or indirectly so some may find this difficult reading and this is a raw honest account of the years following Julie's diagnosis scattered with flashbacks to events in her childhood, its one of those books that's painful to read but you struggle to put down; think When Breath Becomes Air; and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys non-fiction.

The Unwinding of the Miracle is due for UK release on 14th February. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for early access to this in exchange for an honest review.

To say that I am ambivalent about this book would an understatement and you would be correct to ask "how can you be ambivalent?" when this is, indeed, a beautiful, moving and extraordinarily articulate book about a person's battle with Stage IV cancer.

The book is, without a doubt, a worthwhile read and Julie Yip-Williams is lucid in her explanations and her stories, if, in my opinion at least, a little overly free with the expletives. One admires her approach to her illness and her "support structures" but tales of what can be achieved when you have these "support structures" led me to my ambivalence.

Whilst Julie Yip-Williams had the support of family and friends and what appears to be an abundance of money and that all important medical insurance, I am severely challenged by the fact that 36,000,000 plus people in the US have no medical insurance at all and even more have no access to money and that makes me wonder what quality of life there is for those unfortunates should they even find themselves with Julie's unfortunate condition.

So, please read and "enjoy" the book and see how you feel at its end. I have scored it 5 stars but would have preferred to score it 4.5 stars as I wished to mark the level of ambivalence this book has elicited in me.

I was drawn to this book because of its slant towards chance and statistics. Published posthumously, Julie was almost a victim of infanticide when she was born blind in Vietnam. Despite surviving a journey to see the herbalist who was supposed to end her life, she was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer in her thirties.

A frank and honest novel, I found it difficult to understand Julie's optimism and the things she took solace in despite knowing that she would not see her children grow up. Her optimism was inspiring but heartbreaking. This book documents Julie's journey through terminal cancer, and at times it felt too medically detailed and a little disorganised. However, I am glad I have read it and it was refreshing to see someone else's positive outlook on facing a nightmare.

I tried very hard with this book and it is clearly someone's memories. It is disjointed and does not flow freely like book normally do,
. Sorry not for me

This book is about Julie, born blind and who avoided being put to sleep by her parents then at 37 develops cancer. Her story of the next 4 years is so open, recording the ups and downs , the raw facts and honesty on her journey. Hard to put down you feel for her every step of the way. A hard read but an enlightening one on doneone facing their own mortality

The Unwinding of the Miracle

By Julie Yip-Williams

I must start by saying that it was the shared author’s surname, almost, that caught my eye when it appeared on Net Galley but after reading the description I discovered that this story is one that I know I will be eager to read.

Born blind in Vietnam Julie’s life is destined to be a struggle. Following her Grandmother’s order her parents take Julie to a herbalist to end her life. Fortunately the herbalist refuses and so Julie’s life begins.

Seizing an opportunity her parents take her to America where hope is renewed and after operations to restore some of her sight open up a wealth of opportunities.

Fast forward to Julie at the young age of 37 years she discovers she has colon cancer and so her battle with begins.

This truly open and honest account is at times difficult to read yet Julie’s brave, strong and courageous mind-set had me hooked all the way through. Not only does this story tell of her own thoughts and endurances but also that of her family as she sets about planning her death and the future she wants for her children and husband. This moving account of one woman’s determination in the fight of terminal cancer that will stay with me for quite some time. My thanks to Net Galley for the digital ARC.



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This book reminded me a lot of When Breath Becomes Air, which is unsurprising given they are both written by authors with terminal cancer diagnoses and published posthumously. What is surprising is how i failed to connect with this book when i did with When Breath Becomes Air. By all accounts, i should have, given the author and i both have law degrees, and two young daughters. I think perhaps i would have connected more had a heavier hand been applied to the editing, it jumps around a lot, with diagnosis not even being dealt with first up. The letters to her daughters and husband could have been grouped together for greater impact, too. I understand appealing to the reader was not the point of the book, but rather as a record for her family, but it is intended for publication to the wider world, after all.

I did deeply appreciate the honesty that Julie wrote with though, and her sharing of her journey is exceptionally generous. My favourite passage which exemplifies this is as follows:
'I vowed when i started writing my way through this calamity that I would endeavor to be honest about who i am and what it is for me to battle cancer, that i would strive against my very human egoist tendencies to prop up some persona of myself as perpetually inspiring, strong, or wise. Why was this so important to me? In part, because if this writing were to become the principal means by which my children would come to know my innermost thoughts and feelings after my death, I wanted them to see my real self, a self that, in addition to experiencing many moments of joy, gratitude, and insight, was often tormented by fear, anger, hurt, despair, and darkness. I also made that promise because i disliked tremendously those bloggers who always presented in the face of a life-threatening illness images of pumped fists and unending positivity and determination. To me, such portrayals were disingenuous, an insult to the intelligence of readers, and above all, disorienting and potentially harmful for those like myself who were newly diagnosed and felt more darkness than light. I wanted to detail and explore that darkness, to let others out there who i knew experienced a similar desolation and lonely darkness know that they were not and are not alone. There is a natural, intuitive fear of darkness; people who are gripped by it are ashamed to speak of it, while those who are free of it for however long wish to run from it as if it were a contagious plague. If the cost of my brutal honesty about my darkness is a highly unflattering picture of me that repels, so be it.'

A true story of an amazing journey of survival as a baby born blind in Vietnam and then a devastating cancer diagnosis. The author guides us through her life story, it’s emotional yet uplifting, she is so honest and manages to draw you in, which is why it’s so unputdownable. A must read for all

It is a very dark subject memory.
It is based around love, life, family , illness and dying experience
Not a bad read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Randon House uk for my eARC for my honest review

A memoir about the immigrant experience, motherhood, family, living with serious illness and facing up to dying.