Mercy Lily by Lisa Albert
Release Date: October 8, 2011
Publisher: Flux
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Summary: A poetic, moving story about a teen who must make an unimaginable choice
Mom has slowly been losing herself to MS. After traditional treatment fails, she takes bee sting therapy, administered by Lily, to alleviate her pain. Lily is trained as a veterinary assistant, so she can easily handle the treatments. What she can't handle is what happens when the bee sting therapy fails and it becomes clear that Mom wants to die.
One beautiful spring day, Lily's mother asks her for the most impossible thing of all—mercy. They live in Oregon, where the Death with Dignity Act allows a patient to make the decision to end their own life.
While navigating first love, friendship, and the other normal worries faced by high school sophomores, Lily also has to choose: grant Mom's request, or cling to Mom's fading life for all it's worth.
My Thoughts: I kind of didn't want to even read this book because I knew it was going to be sad. But every once in a while, we need to read books that shed some light on subjects and really effect us. That make us feel things and make us want to cry.
That was how Mercy Lily was for me. A few friends recommended it to me so I decided I would read it.
We are introduced to Lily who is a trained veterinary. Her mom was also a veterinary. She lost her father a few years ago and it's just been her and her mom since.
Her mom has MS and Lily is only 14 years old. This is far too young to have to deal with this stuff. Her mom wants Lily to help end her life. She was also giving her mom treatment for MS by bee stinging. She would actually catch and collect the bees and sting her.
There are also a few other characters throughout the book, like Jed. Jed was the neighbor man and then there are Lily's friends. I liked most of her friends and I thought Jed was an interesting character. He actually did care about her.
I finished this book even though at times I didn't like where it was headed. It really bothered me she had to go through so much at a young age. Part of me thinks her mom was selfish for asking Lily to do this instead of getting professional care. I understood that Lily would do anything for her mom but why did Lily's feelings not get taken into account?
This book was just ok for me. Yes, it was heartbreaking and I got emotional a few times but I didn't love the story like I hoped. This is such a great story but I had trouble connecting with the characters like I wanted too.
Overall: Probably more of a 3.5 for me. It wasn't a bad book, will probably just be a hit or miss with fans of books that are based on sick characters. Yes, I felt frustrated at times for Lily but I also wanted to finish so I could read something more "happy." I usually just don't read books like these. Maybe you'll like it more than me.
Cover: I do like the cover! It's very pretty.
Release Date: October 8, 2011
Publisher: Flux
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Summary: A poetic, moving story about a teen who must make an unimaginable choice
Mom has slowly been losing herself to MS. After traditional treatment fails, she takes bee sting therapy, administered by Lily, to alleviate her pain. Lily is trained as a veterinary assistant, so she can easily handle the treatments. What she can't handle is what happens when the bee sting therapy fails and it becomes clear that Mom wants to die.
One beautiful spring day, Lily's mother asks her for the most impossible thing of all—mercy. They live in Oregon, where the Death with Dignity Act allows a patient to make the decision to end their own life.
While navigating first love, friendship, and the other normal worries faced by high school sophomores, Lily also has to choose: grant Mom's request, or cling to Mom's fading life for all it's worth.
My Thoughts: I kind of didn't want to even read this book because I knew it was going to be sad. But every once in a while, we need to read books that shed some light on subjects and really effect us. That make us feel things and make us want to cry.
That was how Mercy Lily was for me. A few friends recommended it to me so I decided I would read it.
We are introduced to Lily who is a trained veterinary. Her mom was also a veterinary. She lost her father a few years ago and it's just been her and her mom since.
Her mom has MS and Lily is only 14 years old. This is far too young to have to deal with this stuff. Her mom wants Lily to help end her life. She was also giving her mom treatment for MS by bee stinging. She would actually catch and collect the bees and sting her.
There are also a few other characters throughout the book, like Jed. Jed was the neighbor man and then there are Lily's friends. I liked most of her friends and I thought Jed was an interesting character. He actually did care about her.
I finished this book even though at times I didn't like where it was headed. It really bothered me she had to go through so much at a young age. Part of me thinks her mom was selfish for asking Lily to do this instead of getting professional care. I understood that Lily would do anything for her mom but why did Lily's feelings not get taken into account?
This book was just ok for me. Yes, it was heartbreaking and I got emotional a few times but I didn't love the story like I hoped. This is such a great story but I had trouble connecting with the characters like I wanted too.
Overall: Probably more of a 3.5 for me. It wasn't a bad book, will probably just be a hit or miss with fans of books that are based on sick characters. Yes, I felt frustrated at times for Lily but I also wanted to finish so I could read something more "happy." I usually just don't read books like these. Maybe you'll like it more than me.
Cover: I do like the cover! It's very pretty.
What I'd Give It:
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4 comments:
Thanks for the review. I am majoring in Human Development and I actually just learned about the Death and Dignity Act a couple semesters ago so it was interesting to see that it is mentioned in this book. Too bad you didn't love it. I might have to check it out sometime.
Hmm. I am a little -iffy on this book. The synopsis desnt really grab me.
The sound of this one really intrigues me. I'm a fan of the darker side. I'll definitely check this one out.
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