After graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was excited to enter "the real world" with a job in Paris and an amazing new boyfriend. But an itch turned to a diagnosis of leukemia with only a low chance of survival. Jaouad spent the next four years in the hospital battling cancer and writing about it for The New York Times. Yet, once she was cured, she felt even more lost than ever. So she embarked on a road trip across the country to find herself in this bestselling nonfiction book.

Jaouad's memoir is a startling first-hand account showcasing how cancer can eat into more than just our bodies. Jaouad honestly describes how her illness affected her relationships with friends, family, and even her faithful boyfriend. Reading it, you learn how modern medicine does a great job keeping you alive but fails to look at the entire aspect of a person, both the mental and the physical. Jaouad's journey back to "normal" is a stark reminder that the post-cancer transition can be just as hard as the throes of chemotherapy.