This book takes you on a journey that is emotional,raw, honest and so real.
This book shows the hard side of living with this awful disease.
I was in tears while reading it

Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days by Andrea Wilson Woods is the true story of Adrienne and her experience of liver cancer told by her sister and legal guardian. It is an unflinching and heartfelt tribute to Adrienne and her life through memories before and after her diagnosis.

This is Andrea’s account of her sister Adrienne’s cancer battle plus bits and pieces about their lives before. Andrea was more than just her sister but Adrienne’s legal guardian and were very close and sometimes the roles were blurred when she referred to herself as “parent”. It’s always a tragic thing when anyone loses their life especially young people who should have had their whole lives ahead of them. This book is quite long and it took me much longer than usual to read. Maybe the lists of drugs, side effects etc shouldn’t have been included given that this happened in 2001 and no doubt new drugs/treatments have long superceded those mentioned here, making them irrelevant now.

My heart is now a little bit broken, but my brain is telling me to live each day and find beauty in the small things.

This is the true story of Adrienne and her experience of Liver cancer. Told by her sister, “Sissy”, who is her guardian. The book unveils a complicated family dynamic as well as a tumultuous 147 days of cancer treatment.

This reads almost like diary entries, and indeed some of Adrienne’s personal diary entries are included. A beautiful young girl, so clearly free spirited and loved took her diagnosis with cancer in her own way and danced it to her own tune. I found particularly poignant the passage that talked about the reduction of meds and how it was hoped this would be a significant step towards improvement, instead it is as a result of decline.

Thank you for sharing this intensely personal story, a reminder to embrace life in all is glory.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Better Off Bald is a memoir about a girl with cancer and her journey with her sister. The book is raw and heartwrenching. It's beautifully written and honest in everyway.

You won't regret reading this book, I promise.

Poignant, honest telling of the battle the author and her sister waged against cancer. Heartfelt narratives of the many ways these sisters connected during their life together. The author shares everything: happy times, sad times, struggles, perseverance over what can't be changed, and ultimately the strong and sweet bond built on a foundation of love, trust, and respect. Adrienne was an amazing person who fought heart and soul to her last breath. Extremely well written.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book to read and review. Opinions expressed in the review are my own.

Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days by Andrea Wilson Woods is an unflinching account of the author's experiences becoming the guardian of her little sister who then becomes terminally ill.

This is the story of Adrienne and girl diagnosed with cancer as well as her sister who is also her gaurdian Andrea the author. This book touches you. It makes you laugh and cry. I cried a lot. This is also a story of a girl who wouldn't give up and fought on her own terms. This is about s beautiful soul gone to soon. We are taken through hospital visits and dreams come true. This is a book worth reading if only to get to know the beautiful soul of Adrienne.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This book is hard to read -- lots of tears slowing me down -- but worth reading. It is a very emotional memoir of the author's sister's last days.

As you would expect, this is not an easy read.
147 days is the time from the cancer diagnosis of a teenager until her death. Any hope her and her family may have throughout the treatment – we know it won’t work, we know it’s already the start f the end.
Adrienne had less than six months between her diagnosis, which just started with a bit of pain, and her being reliant on oxygen, with a central line in place for some medication, her sister injecting her other medication, and discussing different chemo drugs as naturally as though they were fruits at the market.
While is it a sad read, and we know the inevitable ending, what makes this book is its honesty and openness. It has been over ten years since Andrea Wilson lost her sister to a rare liver cancer. Now that she finally tells her story, she tells is all: the good, the hope, the happy moments, the incredible character her sister showed throughout the 147 days, the bond between her and her sister; the bad, the endless list of medications, the worsening diagnosis, the friends who fail to show support as Adrienne deteriorates, the mother who abandoned them; and the reality of how quickly one word uttered by a doctor can change your life. Seemingly overnight, Andrea Wilson became more than just her sister’s guardian. She was a nurse, she learnt more about drugs and treatments than some doctors, she learnt about blood counts, cells, heart rates, injections and other illnesses related to the cancer.
Wilson describes a seesaw, trying to balance the medication Adrienne needs to fight the cancer, with the medication to fight the side effects. Her writing is similar, trying to balance the happy memories of a unique teenager, with the reality of how the illness changes the life of everyone affected.

A heartfelt and very detailed book on terminal cancer and a beautiful tribute to the author’s fierce and creative sister. I started Better Off Bald in a flight back from Paris, not realizing how much it would touch me. Although it’s quite a long book, I felt the urge to keep reading. Andrea has a brilliant style and, as someone who has been in a palliative care unit taking care of a loved one with terminal cancer, I found myself relating to Andrea’s feelings and experiences so much.
A truly poignant memoir.

This biography written by the sister of Adrienne Wilson about her sister is heartbreaking, as Adrienne was a suicidal teen before being diagnosed with stage IV liver cancer. She decided at that point she wanted to live and
make the most of the time she had left, which turned out to be 147 days. Andrea writes about how she obtained custody of her sister and of their final days together. I highly recommend this book.

OMG! Well written, SO EMOTIONAL!
I have no words. This is not pity, this is me being emotional. This is raw, good, well written, it gets to you... if you have a heart and soul!

You have to read this!!!

ARC received through NetGalley. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow what a book. You are taken on a journey that I can only describe as brave yet raw, honest, positive and real.
Two sisters Andrea and Adrienne have a unique, special unbreakable bond. That bond is tested to the max when Adrienne is diagnosed with cancer and as expected Andrea is right there by her sisters side throughout. Yet it is Adrienne who shows everyone reads included of her inner strength, her zest for life and her determination to fight this horrid illness to the bitter end,

Here is a book that offers so much to every reader. It is a very sad emotional read and it does not gloss over the dark parts of someone fighting this horrid illness