It's an OK start to the book... the chapters are waay too short though. It's not keeping my interest so far, but it's not too bad. I really hope it improves though.

I was wrong. It's such a dull book that I've skipped through the last 15 chapters, so I'm up to chapter 20 now and it's lost a star because of that.

Where has the time gone at the bottom of this page?! It literally goes from Morgan going off in a strop at the end of one paragraph, to the tree being completely decorated in the next one!

I think the author/translator is confused 'cos Morgan isn't a *step* mother, she's an aunt and guardian/adoptive mother of her niece and nephew. Morgan isn't an orphan either - her niece and nephew are, not her.

Why has the female child's name changed it's spelling all of a sudden? It was spelt with an ie for the first two-thirds of the book, but now it's suddenly y... have I missed something??

And now, two pages later, it's back to the original spelling again! That's something that should have been picked up during the first round of edits, waay before it was published!

What a beautiful ending! I would happily have awarded it the full 5 stars if the backstory wasn't so dull right at the start... if it had be woven in to the rest of the story and the book had started at chapter 10 then the ending wouldn't have needed to be so rushed and the author could have gently finished the story instead of it going from the nerves of the first date to a year later, a new career, a husband and new house all within maybe 2 pages.

I'm really enjoying this book so far... was worried that it'd be a bit nerdy after the first page, but I was sooo wrong. Gonna keep reading with interest and hope it doesn't get nerdier, but it seems good so far!

Chapter 2 was almost entirely nerdy, so maybe I wasn't wrong after all?

Chapter 3 saved me knocking off a star... I loved reading this chapter, but it's time for my pills and chapter 4 now - BBS.

Yep, chapter 4 guarantees the fifth star... for the moment at least! I'm gonna read one more chapter then head to bed for the night, then re-start reading it when I come back down here at 5am while I'm waiting for the hubby to wake up lol

Had a late start this morning, but I'm back now and getting confused betweeen all of the characters... at least I know why the main character avoids fish now though!

Oooooh! Now we're getting somewhere! It's like the author has finally found their muse and they're enjoying writing the novel now.

I didn't see the end of chapter 16 coming at all!

So proud of you, Nora! I'm wondering what'll happen in the last ten pages though lol

What a great way to end the book... not sure why the 'Discussion' part is there right at the end though - is it used as some kind of educational thing or something? That would certainly explain the heavy use of fish throughout the book and especially in the early chapters! All in all (other than that early chapter) a very very good read that richly deserves all five stars!

This is my second ever memoir and it's starting off, like all the books I review, with the full 5 stars... I hope it keeps them all the way through!

I'm currently reading chapter 2 and I've already found a possible inconsistency between real geography and what the author has written lol.

Ah right, I've just been proved wrong by the hubby's quick search of the internet... apparently the distance is about right and the 18 hour days could be the time he was working as opposed to travelling, so ignore that part of the review up there ^^ lol

This is a fantastic book so far... I'm currently up to chapter 6 and I'll keep reading and reviewing it when I log on tomorrow. Goodnight for now though.

Morning! I'm about half way through the book now and I'm still enjoying it... I agree with the author's regret over not keeping a record of my achievements and mistakes since I came out of hospital... my memory is still atrocious and can barely remember 5 minutes ago, but that's a vast improvement to when I first came out of hospital and I couldn't even make it through saying a short sentence before I forgot what I was going to say and holding a conversation was pretty much impossible unless each speaker only said maybe 4 or 5 words, maximum. I can hold a very short conversation with people I know well now though which is a huuuuge improvement and the diary would have shown me just how great that improvement had been. I wish this book had been written and published 17 years ago, for that reason alone!

I'm reading chapter 10 atm and I'm wondering if mindfullness might help my damaged brain too, even after all these years?! I certainly hope so and I'm gonna try and remember to ask a doc about it during my next appointment with them. This book would have really helped me over 15 years ago after I came out of the Neurology ward!

This man is incredible! He's running now, so maybe if he can do it then I just need to find the right focus and motivation too? His was collecting up all his golf balls, maybe mine can be something similar? Tiny steps and aims but hopefully that would make things more achievable wouldn't it?

Just finished and it's been a fantastic book throughout - it should be recommended to all patients with Neurological issues and has completely deserved the full 5 stars throughout. A definite must-read.

I've read 8 chapters before lunch and it's been a fantastic book so far, WTG the author. I thought that the swearing on the first page would be a signal of swearing throughout and it'd spoil a potentially good book, but I was wrong... there *is* swearing, but it's well-placed and not just written for the sake of being written.

I'm wondering about the semi-frequent use of big brand names though, if the author hasn't got written permission from the brands to use them, then they could be in a lot of hot water if the brands find out!

Just finished this book and it definitely deserves every one of those 5 stars that everything I review starts off with. If you've got a day of boredom ahead of you, get your nose into this book and hopefully you won't regret it, I certainly don't.

This is a good book so far... the sort you can read a few pages of then close it for a few hours and be able to pick it up and get straight back into it. A word of caution though, if you don't like swearing then don't get this book 'cos there's been at least one swear word every few pages so far.

I was wrong. There have been occasional OK bit's, but I've skipped through a quarter of the book through sheer boredom, so a star is coming off.

I've skipped up to 42% of the way through and it's just getting worse and worse unfortunately. I was really looking forward to reading this book but now I'm just wondering why I've wasted so much time on it. Gonna give it until 50% to dramatically improve or I'm giving up on reading it.

Now I'm getting the author's religion shoved down my throat, so that's the second star gone.

Enough with the religion already... it's quoted scriptures now, which I really don't wanna read 'cos I'm not a Christian! If it was just very occasionally mentioned then that's OK, but I'm rapidly running out of things to like about this book now! If you don't mind semi-frequent swearing and lots of religion and selfishness that has nothing to do with the title of the book, then you might enjoy it, but I'm gonna stop reading and head to bed in absolute frustration now.

I've just finished reading the introduction of this book, and if the rest of it is so friendly and supportive and accepting and stuff, then hopefully it'll end with the same 5 stars that it started of with!

I've decided... from now on, I wanna be like Clemmie. She's been through more than I have but seems to have taken it all in her stride and never asked "why me?" which is what I've uttered numerous times over the last 20-odd years, but not any more. Now I'm gonna start learning from my mistakes and start trying to re-imagine myself with the mantra "why NOT me?" My Deities have obviously put these obstacles in my path so that I can learn something from them, so that's exactly what I'm gonna aim to do from now on.

I like the way Sunim thinks and talks... so much sense that I'm already thinking about how I can change myself for the better and I'm not even a quarter of the way through the book yet!

OK. Just finished the entire book in an afternoon and I can describe the experience in just one, single, word: "Wow!" It's a must-read by everyone, child and adult alike, no matter if you're homeless or a celebrity. I'm gonna try and work out how to use podcasts for the first time in my life too. Please, buy and read this book - you won't regret it.

I don't usually read a lot of non-fiction, so I'm starting this book with a very open mind and, like all the books I read and review, it starts off with the full 5 stars... hopefully it'll end with 'em all too ;-)

Woops! The author has forgotten to open the quotation marks early in the first chapter... that in itself isn't enough for me to knock a star off, but it's not a sure-fire thing with the 5 stars any more... I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt, but one more tiny mistake and the star comes off - it's at 4.5 stars right now.

I'm wondering if the author has permission to use all these brand names? If he does, that's all groove and cooly, but if not, then he could be getting himself into legal hot water with international companies who can prolly afford to take more professional legal advice than he can because he's an individually self-published author that I doubt can afford even thousands, let alone millions of dollars for legal advice.

Not only shops, but media and Hollywood stars now too, so that's almost guaranteed that the author hasn't gotten written permission, so the first star is, unfortunately, coming off.

This is a great book, other than the incredibly excessive use of full stops (aka periods for any Americans reading this) in the elipsis (there should only be three each time, but the author has used at least double that each time). In itself this isn't enough to knock off a second star, but it's struggling to keep the four that it's got atm.

Just finished reading the book and other than those niggles that forced me to knock off the fifth star and possible legal hot water from big names that he may not be able to afford to fight, it's been a worthwhile read tonight, so thank you Mr Barton and I'll try putting your advice into action when I come downstairs tomorrow morning 'cos I'm going to head to bed after I've published this review!

Every book I review starts off with the full 5 stars... not all of them leave with them all still there. I always hope that it'll be a 5 star book and this one is no different, so lets get started.

Oh dear, I'm 7 pages in and the author is already quoting the Bible at me... I hope it's not liberally spread throughout or I won't be reading the whole book. It's already lost a star and I haven't even read into the double figured pages yet!

Two pages later and the author is talking about God's plan now... I'm tempted to knock off another star, but if there's too much more Christianity I'll stop reading altogether. This wasn't sold to me as a Christian book, so why is it being rammed down my throat already?

Now the author is quoting God instead of the Bible, so that's the second star gone and I'm only up to page 9!

Page 10 and there's an error that should have been picked up in the first round of edits... not looking good so far but I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt this time 'cos they've already had two stars taken off and I'm feeling generous right now so they are getting off lightly.

Page 14 and the author is quoting the Bible yet again... I'm giving them one more chance not to quote the Bible or God before they lose a second star for that reason. If the author is such a die-hard Christian that has to quote the Bible at every opportunity, then it should have been sold as self-help *for Christians*!!

The author is just droning on and on and on and on, which is sooo boring! I can't see me recommending this book to many people and if they aren't Christian then I'll tell them to avoid it instead.

Skipped ahead to a random page in total and utter boredom, so I'm now on page 57 and I seriously hope it has drastically improved by now.

I hope the author has got permission to quote these people, and if he has then he needs to learn to quote properly 'cos it's just been quotation marks and the persons name so far.

Still boring and not a word that I would consider self-help even after skipping forward to page 119 so that's a star coming off... the author has only got one more star to lose in the next 70 pages and it ain't looking too good unfortunately. A very minor positive is that the author hasn't quoted God or the Bible since I first skipped forward, so maybe there's hope still clinging on by its fingertips??

Page 136 and Proverbs has been quoted, so that's the final star gone and me stopping reading. A hugely disappointing book that was nothing even remotely approaching self-help.

I wanna start off by saying two things before I forget: First, every book I read starts off with the full five stars and this book is no different. Second, I'm a nosey parker so the title of this book really piqued my interest so I bought it straight away... let's hope it doesn't disappoint me now lol

Just finished the first chapter and I'm already fighting back the tears. I was a bit confused by the first few pages, talking about the authors trip to the garden centre and what on earth it had to do with a GP and his patients. I was tempted to knock off a star but I'm so glad I didn't now... still a firm 5 stars, thankfully.

Nosey parker question one - the author (who's a newly qualified male GP) has just had to examine a lady "down below" who agreed to a chaperone - all fine and dandy so far yeah? Here comes the nosey parker bit - does the chaperone have her back to the doctor, reassuring the patient, or does she face the doctor to make sure he's not doing things he shouldn't please? I've never had a chaperone in any of my examinations (they've been offered, I just haven't felt the need is all) so haven't got a clue what actually happens with them is all and now seems like the ideal opportunity to find out lol

Up to chapter four now and those five stars are still firmly in place. There was a 3 year old patient with a rare heart problem and the doc wanted to get to know more about her medical issues so that he could keep a better eye on her in the future... I'm wondering if it's like that with my GP too, 'cos I've got two rare illnesses (one neurological and the other with my mental health, fortunately not with my heart), so does my GP rub his hands in excitement each time I contact him, or am I just another patient?

Oh no! Chapter 6 must have been so hard to write and emotional to re-live!

The end of chapter 9 made me sooo grateful... it must be things like that which make it so worthwhile for doctors and the people they manage to persuade their patients to contact.

Chapter eleven is quite gross, so don't eat or drink anything you want to keep down when you read it. The doctor has an amazing way of making even the grossest things sound normal and even, dare I say it, fun and humorous! If only more doctors were like him!

We're onto painkillers and the new advice being to reduce/stop them but that there's no other way to stop the pain atm. I swear by TENS machines - it takes a bit of trial and error to find the right one for you and they are pretty expensive to buy, but they are an awesome painkiller and literally the only thing that stopped my Endometriosis pain! If more doctors prescribed those instead of painkillers then surely it'd be cheaper and healthier in the long-run??

Just finished the last page and those five stars are so well deserved... there hasn't been a single reason to knock off a star and I am heartily recommending it to everyone. Medical bods are under a huge amount of pressure every day at work and the corona virus has added even more pressure. Next time you use the NHS, please don't hesitate to say "thank you" and maybe consider sending a thank you card too. Thank you for opening my eyes, Dr Khan and thank you for caring so much about your patients during this awful time!

out of 5

All the books that I review start off with the full 5 stars and this one is no different.

I've got the Kindle version of this book and I've only read a few pages, but I'm already confused with the dratted book... it goes straight from the copyright then literally on the next line, the story starts with no warning or even a chapter number or even a blank space... unless it improves rapidly I'm knocking the first star off unfortunately.

I'm even more confused now, 'cos there's a number 1 a page or so later, so what was the jumbled mess at the start of the book then?? According to my Kindle I'm only 1% of the way through and I've yet to find anything positive about the book, so the first star is coming off already :-(

I'm 2% in now and the text is all over the place, almost like the author has hit enter/return at the end of every line in her software as soon as she got to the end of a line instead of just letting the words flow from one line to the next naturally? There are frequent one or two words on a line which is really starting to wind me up already, unfortunately.

The emails are all mushed up together instead of being set out as properly aligned To and From and the subject... so that's the second star gone already - I was really looking forward to reading this book, but after only 2% it's already lost two of its five stars!

I hope the author has got written permission to use all these big celebrities and brands, otherwise she could get herself into really deep, hot water. The last couple of emails improved though, so that star is just about clinging on for dear life atm.

There's just been a phone call that was as jumbled as the emails, so that star has just lost its grip and fallen into the ether. Oh dear... 5% of the way through the book and it's already lost 3 stars :-( I've got 95% of the book left to read and there is only one star left to lose... it's not looking good, is it :-(

I'm in a positive mood, so the extra space within a word won't make me knock off a star at 8% and there's been 3% since the last mistake, so maybe, just maybe, I'll get beyond 10% before I knock off the final star and give up on the book??

Chapter four was good... a couple of little bits that should have been picked up in the editing before publication, but considerably better than the first couple of chapters!

Oooh! I'm liking chapter five... the best so far in terms of content, but there's still some little tweeks that should have been picked up during editing.

Chapter six has been good too... a few more minor mistakes, but they don't stop the flow of the story, thankfully, so I'm not taking a star off - yet.

Chapter 7 was good - the author is really in their stride now. Can't wait to keep reading the rest of the book now.

After a really good few chapters that had rekindled my hope for a good book, the first page of chapter 11 has let me down, so I'm knocking off the final star and giving up after only 26% of the book. Sorry. It has potential, but there are lots of things that could and should have been picked up with the first edit, waay before it was published.