I take the bees outside, unscrew the lid of the bee jar, and listen to their angry buzzing. "I hate you," I whisper.Lily's mother has slowly bee... read full description
reviews
Dec 06, 2011
Bold. Daring. Lisa Albert had a lot of guts to write this book for young adults, and for that I deeply admire her. Death is a hard enough subject for people to discuss, but to add in assisted suicide takes a fortitude and belief in oneself that is tough-as-nails underneath a soft, caring heart. The story is about a girl named Lily who cares for her sickly veterinarian mother who unfortunately is stricken with MS. Conventional medicine had brought her no relief, so she opts for alternatives inclu
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Nov 06, 2011
A beautifully written and heart-wrenching story about friendship, love and finding the courage to let go.
This was a hard book for me to read. Not because it was poorly written, because it wasn't! I was apprehensive because I knew that this was going to be sad. I knew there were going to be moments where tears would feel my eyes and I didn’t know if I could handle it!
There were sad moments, but the thing that surprised me was Lily. Facing the choices she did as a teenager were More...
This was a hard book for me to read. Not because it was poorly written, because it wasn't! I was apprehensive because I knew that this was going to be sad. I knew there were going to be moments where tears would feel my eyes and I didn’t know if I could handle it!
There were sad moments, but the thing that surprised me was Lily. Facing the choices she did as a teenager were More...
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Feb 07, 2012
Beverly
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When someone we love has a terminal illness, we hate to see them in pain. Yet we don’t want to lose them either, so we’ll try most anything to help them survive and to even be cured. But what if the person is tired and wants to end the days and nights of suffering? Whose wishes do we honor? Ours? Or theirs?
Author Lisa Albert’s debut young adult novel, Mercy Lily, is a gentle story about a girl named Lily and her mother, Sophia, who has multiple sclerosis. Traditional treatment hasn’t More...
Author Lisa Albert’s debut young adult novel, Mercy Lily, is a gentle story about a girl named Lily and her mother, Sophia, who has multiple sclerosis. Traditional treatment hasn’t More...
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Dec 29, 2011
Laura
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I really wanted to like this book, but it really felt as though the author was writing with a Message, rather than letting the whole Death with Dignity motif happen organically.
Lily is a relatively normal teen, albeit one with no friends. Why? Because when her father died and her mother's MS got worse, she pulled away from her friends and they her. So now Mom's getting worse and Lily has few people in whom she can confide. At the age of 16, she's been working (illegally) as a vet, More...
Lily is a relatively normal teen, albeit one with no friends. Why? Because when her father died and her mother's MS got worse, she pulled away from her friends and they her. So now Mom's getting worse and Lily has few people in whom she can confide. At the age of 16, she's been working (illegally) as a vet, More...
Sep 13, 2011
Amy
rated it: 
Wowza. This book threw me for a loop and took me on a wild emotional rollercoaster. It was very well written and presented such a situation that really made me think "What would I do in this situation?" I have watched friends and family suffer from MS and cancer, and with aging parents, it's something that I will likely have to face in the near future. But to be a teenager, have already lost your dad, and to have your mom dying and asking for help? Holy cow. The only reason I gave this
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Dec 17, 2011
Erica
rated it:
I should warn you all now that this was a really hard review for me to write and was a very emotional read for me. This book hit really close to home for me - my mom was diagnosed with MS when I was 8 years old, and my entire life since that has had me living in the same fear Lily has for a lot of the book. While my mom is lucky and is no where near as severe as Lily's mom in this book, it still was a very emotional read for me. I heard about Mercy Lily, and I wanted to read it, to see if I was
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Jan 13, 2012
Princess Bookie
rated it: 
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 More...
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 More...
Sep 29, 2011
Kat
rated it:
Lily's mother is dying. The last few years have been hard on her as she's fallen to multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that has been wreaking havoc on her brain and spinal cord. After traditional treatments failed, Lily and her mother turned to bee sting therapy to help with the pain. But when the BST begins to fail, too, Lily is asked to make an impossible choice. Her mother has been classified as terminal, which under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act allows her to end her own life. Physi
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Dec 11, 2011
Hannah
rated it:
I was really excited to read Mercy Lily. Physician-assisted suicide is a fascinating topic by itself, and a mother asking her daughter to let her go seemed like such a great idea for a novel. However, the actual book fell flet for me, and I was pretty disappointed.
What first drew me in with Mercy Lily - the assisted suicide storyline - turned out to not play an as important role as I'd thought. I thought Mercy Lily would be mainly about Lily having to decide whether or not to let he More...
What first drew me in with Mercy Lily - the assisted suicide storyline - turned out to not play an as important role as I'd thought. I thought Mercy Lily would be mainly about Lily having to decide whether or not to let he More...
Sep 24, 2011
Gabrielle Carolina
rated it:
I am having a lot of trouble trying to review this book. When I first learned about Mercy Lily, I was entranced by the title, so entranced, it seems, that I didn't quite read the synopsis clearly.
I knew the book would be about a dying mum, but I missed the whole "mom is willing to let her fourteen year old daughter suffer so she can be free of pain" bit. This seems improbable on so many levels. I am not a mother, but my own mother would never leave me in such a position, an More...
I knew the book would be about a dying mum, but I missed the whole "mom is willing to let her fourteen year old daughter suffer so she can be free of pain" bit. This seems improbable on so many levels. I am not a mother, but my own mother would never leave me in such a position, an More...
Nov 05, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
When I first heard about Mercy Lily by Lisa Albert, I wasn’t too sure about it. The premise sounded interesting enough, but the overall tone of the story seemed sad. However, I ended up trying it, and I am so glad I did, as Mercy Lily is a quiet yet amazing book filled with hope and love as well as the sadness and happiness that comes with growing up.
Mercy Lily tells the story of Lily, a girl who hasn’t had the most normal childhood due to her father’s sudden death a few years back an More...
Mercy Lily tells the story of Lily, a girl who hasn’t had the most normal childhood due to her father’s sudden death a few years back an More...
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Oct 10, 2011
I really wanna read this book!
Mostly because my Uncle has MS, but because this book sounds really good too! :D
Mostly because my Uncle has MS, but because this book sounds really good too! :D
Dec 20, 2011
Christina
rated it:
This book was very hard for me to read, not only because it deals with death, but because it deals with the death of a mother who suffers from multiple sclerosis. I almost didn't pick this book up for those reasons.
Overall, the book was a great read. Lisa Albert
Overall, the book was a great read. Lisa Albert
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