Cancer. The very word can act like the disease itself and worm its way through our bodies, eating at us from the inside out. It is a word which strikes fear in our hearts to hear it pronounced as a diagnosis. Science is slowly finding answers, cures for some variants even, but far too many people battle this disease...and lose.

It is a rare thing to find a person whose life has not been touched by cancer in some way. It is prevalent, dreaded, deadly. As such, cancer is something we can relate to, it touches us, it is personal. I grew up with cancer, not that I had the disease, but have lost too many friends and loved ones to it, including my father. And timely as ever, am dealing with a cancer diagnosis once again as I read Megan's Way. This time cancer struck one of my dogs, and while she is doing fine now, I know the time will come when we have to make the decision.

As you may have guessed, cancer is a major theme in Megan's Way. Megan Taylor is not a newbie to cancer. She has contracted the disease and battled it before and won, or so she thought. Prior to the opening of the book, Megan learns the cancer has returned and buried itself deep in her bones. She won't survive this skirmish. The best she can do is prolong life by a few months, but at what cost? The cure in this case, is worse than the disease, and she has death to look forward to no matter which way she turns.

But Megan does not only have herself to think about. Her fourteen-year old daughter, Olivia depends on her as her sole parent. What will happen to Olivia when Megan passes on? Much of Megan's Way is spent in the point of view of Megan and her thought process for making her decisions about what to do for herself and Olivia. The following is a moment when she is coming to grips with what the disease is doing to her.

When had age crept up on her, like a flower that had bloomed, vibrant and beautiful, and quickly browned around the edges, struggling to simply keep erect. There is no going back. Gone was the energy that once revolved around what could be - wants, desires, and aspirations - and it was replaced with thoughts of what was best, what had to be.

Her small, veined hands felt cold, and she rubbed them together. Her olive skin had lost its sheen. It was slightly more wrinkled than what she had believed it was, what she had envisioned and held onto in her mind for the past few years. Her legs, she knew were no longer strong and lean, but wilted and frail. The reality was like a weight in her heart. She had chosen to ignore it for so long that the realization hit her fast and hard, like a punch to the gut. She had truly thought she could beat it, age gracefully, and maybe even glow.

Megan is not the only one who is keeping secrets. Each of the inner circle of life-long friends has a skeleton in the closet, and each one feels their secret could rip the friends apart.

Melissa Foster does an excellent job describing the physical deterioration of cancer. As the novel progresses, you feel Megan fading physically while striving desperately to stay strong for Olivia. And Foster also masters the confusion and rage of a teenager who knows she's being lied to by her parent. Down to committing a rash act which puts her life and her mother's in jeopardy. She also draws the circle of friends well - life long friends all there for one another, banding together in times of sorrow, celebrating as one in good times.

There is much to commend this book, but there were also parts which I felt didn't work as well as they should have. For example, during the funeral ceremony friends spoke of Megan in terms which as a reader we had no context. We never saw Megan as lighthearted, free spirited, and accepting life as it happened. Granted, when dealing with cancer those things are difficult to achieve sometimes, but they do happen and come with acceptance. The personality described during the funeral service would have savored the moments of life she had rather than wasting them in trying to distance herself from her loved ones to help ease their pain.

Melissa Foster's strongest character in Megan's Way is Olivia. Her depiction is consistent throughout and Olivia grows through the experience. She knows her mother's love for her is absolute, and they share a special bond, even beyond the grave.

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review