Book Review: Necessary Arrangements by Tanya Michna

Necessary Arrangements by Tanya Michna

From goodreads.com

Asia has always been the serious, got-it-all-under-control Swenson, who protected her sibling from childhood scrapes. Lucy, six years younger, made up for her mishaps with her infectious smile and enthusiasm. Now, giddily in love and about to be married, Lucy has never been happier-until she learns that Asia's breast cancer is back. How can she get excited about planning her future when her sister is fighting for her own?

Friends and family mean more than they ever have to Asia, and lately, her charming co-worker Brandon Peters has been popping up wherever she goes. Talk about timing: could Asia be falling in love for the first time in her life? With Lucy's help, she's going to seize each day-losing herself in giggles and adventures, opening herself up to new relationships and deeper connections. And nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop her from walking down the aisle as her sister's maid of honor.

My review:

This book was not what I had expected. It, too has been on my shelf for quite some time. I hadn't picked it up for whatever reason, but I am glad that I did.  This book details the struggles of a woman with cancer and her sister who is feeling guilty for being happy that she is getting married. 

The book starts out with Asia learning that her cancer has relapsed and worse than before and Lucy getting engaged.

I found this book very heartfelt.  The writer did a good job of keeping the story very real and true.  She mixed humor in with sadness, very much like I think would be in real life.  Her story-telling was well done, and by the end I felt that these people were relatable and similar to people in my own life.

I wouldn't say that this was a life-changing book for me, and I often wonder why a lot of adult fiction deals with cancer in young women (this is the second book I have read with this theme in the last two months). But I think that the story was well written and I would recommend reading this book.  While the subject matter is heavy, I felt that the story had enough happy points and enough laughter that I was not left depressed and down by the end, but hopeful.

The story was told in third-person (not my favorite), but we were given multiple "viewpoints." The story chronicled both Asia (the sister with cancer) and Lucy (the sister who was getting married).  It was interesting to view the story from two different angles like that which would have been more difficult if it had been written in first person.

I enjoyed this book and I would be curious to see if Michna has written other books to see if she writes the same in all of her books.

Overall Rating: 8/10