Title: I Am a Survivor
Author: Janice E. Holliman
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: B083JZ4LQ9
Pages: 366
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina
Hollywood Book Reviews
Some of the strongest people you may ever meet or know in your life will be the ones who endure some of the harshest illnesses imaginable. The cruelty and unforgiving nature of illness is always something which can be described and shown but rarely understood, unless you experience it for yourselves. Those who do will know it takes a certain kind of strength, even if you don’t always feel it, to endure and take on the pain and hardships illness brings into their lives. This strength can come from very different places for some people. For some, this may include faith.
In author Janice E. Holliman’s I Am a Survivor, the author explores her life living through illness and how her faith helped her to endure the experiences the multitude of ailments brought her. Over the course of the author’s life, they endured everything from allergies and sleep apnea to blood clots and Crohn’s disease, and through it all the author leaned on her family, her faith, and her own strength to come through on the other side.
The author did an amazing job of capturing the honesty and heart of her journey. The personal nature of her battle with these illnesses were interspersed with the personal moments between her and her family, from her marriage to becoming pregnant and more, and something which really stood out to this reviewer was how the author was able to touch upon both the intimate challenges she herself experienced during these tumultuous times and the more collective impact her family experienced at the same time. The way in which outside factors played into her personal life challenges also helped to elevate the story’s tension and a heavy atmosphere to the book, and the straightforward way the author wrote the book allows the readers to have a greater sense of what the author experienced firsthand.
This is the perfect read for those that enjoy non-fiction reads, especially those which deal with biographies and memoirs, and non-fiction books involving medical experiences with diseases and illnesses. The inspiration and hopeful tones the author infuses into the story of her life also play well here, as they showcase some infusions of religion and faith into the book that highlights her battle to rely on her faith to build her inner strength and endure these hurdles in life with her family.
Thoughtful, informative, and personal, author Janice E. Holliman’s I Am a Survivor, is a must-read non-fiction memoir and biography. The way the author engages with the reader and takes a more informal, personal approach to discussing both her medical and life struggles, highlights the inspiring nature of her ordeals and how she was able to overcome each obstacle over time. During these dark and troubling times, and the overwhelming nature of illness so many others face, finding the light in the darkness has never been more important, and the author’s book aims to do just that.