I wanted to love this so much, but apart from the fact that formatting issues made it virtually unreadable, omitting 'th', 'ff', and other letter combinations, so I had to concentrate hard to fill in the blanks, the text itself was incredibly dense. I might have been able to cope had the prose been more approachable, but unfortunately, it wasn't.

It's hard giving a book which is about such a personal, difficult subject a poor review and it really goes against the grain, but I just can't see who this book would appeal to, even with the typos sorted. (Which I presume they will be in the finalised version.)

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

An interesting and tragic read which is hard in parts.

Everyone can relate to it in some way and it highlights a side of cancer that you just don’t normally see.

You can tell the author is a poet and a skilled linguist as the language is beautiful even with the dark subject matter.

It is a book that I really wanted to like and enjoy. However the edition or format of this book is quite simply terrible. Sadly is it not writing it plain English which made it almost impossible to understand

I found this a difficult read. It was rather academic. Lots of facts and figures and allusions to books and people I haven’t read and don’t know. I had to re-read in places to make sure I had understood things. For me it was too much like hard work. It’s not that I was disappointed because it wasn’t a misery memoir. It was that all the things I didn’t know, had to look up etc meant that I couldn’t get into flow with the book. Everyone deals with cancer in their own way and this is what the author needed to write. I appreciate that, and for some readers it will be exactly what they need to read. Not me though.

I have really tried to read this book. Unfortunately the copy is so badly formatted, words with missing letters, so many missing that it’s incredibly hard to read.

What I did manage to read was interesting and I probably will buy a copy of this book to actually be able to read it.

Because I couldn’t read it due to formatting I can only give three stars.

That’s to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

This is an appalling edition of an advanced copy. I implore the publishers to read the first few pages and then answer how they expect anyone to enjoy reading this for an advanced review. Sentences aren’t finished. Spelling errors. Random words - Half finished words. Will not finish this.

The Undying is not a book to dip in and out of. Boyer's writing is so dense it demands your full concentration (and rightly so). It takes a little getting used to, but once you get into the flow of it, it's totally absorbing.

There are times when the writing becomes too dense, occasionally even teetering on hopelessly overwrought. It's frustrating to lose sight of the meaning in myth and metaphor. But thankfully, those passages are overshadowed by the brilliance of other sections. I highlighted so many phrases where Boyer hits a nerve. She explores her intense physical and emotional experience in a way that is both intimate and universal.

As well as taking us on a traumatic journey of recovery, Boyer also offers a fascinating and impassioned take on the profitability of the cancer industry. Her own experience is contextualised in the political and the economic, echoing the voices of women who have walked through the same fire.

Poetic and profound, The Undying is a clear-eyed and heartwrenching account of cancer and its treatment.

Agree with the other reviewers that the missing letters from many words in the text made this impossible to read. Or review sadly.

Ann Byer has written an honest raw look at her breast cancer diagnosis her life survival .She shares with us her emotions her fears her fight to survive.A brave story of fighting for a cure.#netgalley #penguinuk

The copy of the book I received is essentially unreadable. There are letters missing from words in almost sentence which mean I won't persevere on this occasion. From what I can tell of the style it's well written but a very difficult subject to read about. I'm not entirely sure who the audience would be for it.

This book was impossible to read as letters were missing from many words. I therefore couldn't read beyond the first page so have given it three stars as for all I know, it could have been very good.

I'm not sure about this book as there are so many out there written by people with cancer. I think it is really aimed at people in a similar situation as the author, and also at the beginning of their journey.

Not an easy read. Just a brutally honest account of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. This is Anne Boyers account of her feelings. As a friend once said to me it’s like being on the “cancer conveyor “