Wild Ride: A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships

Very simply written (she worked with a ghostwriter), but seriously inspiring! (3.5, rounded up to 4)<br><br><a href="https://youtu.be/dEC6wp4P-Ic" rel="nofollow noopener">Click here</a> to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1670875617i/33717018._SX540_.jpg" width="400" height="225" alt="abookolive" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

Is it insensitive to say that a memoir about a young cancer survivor was an absolute delight to read? <br /><br />I hope not, because this book was nothing less than that. The book is a memoir that “orbits” (get it?) Hayley Arceneaux who was diagnosed at age ten. We follow Hayley’s story from her childhood diagnosis, to her treatment, to her fathers terminal diagnosis, to her dream job and dream adventure.<br /><br />Throughout the book I was pleasantly surprised by the bold optimism and resilience Hayley had, and the messages she shared were beyond inspiring and uplifting. Her writing is completely captivating and polished — y’all I did not want to put this down! <br /><br />The title and cover alone had me gripped from the beginning, and the writing and contents did not disappoint. You are along for the ride through every bit of her adventurous life, the good and the bad. If you want a fast paced, beautiful, gripping read I cannot recommend this book enough. It releases on September 6, 2022. <br /><br />Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher, Convergent Books, for the ARC.

Sorry but this should've been a magazine article.

<blockquote> <i>We were going to be able to talk live with St. Jude's patients and their families from space. I would be able to bring all of my patients into that moment with me. I thought about how much hope it would give those kids watching me as well as their parents. When I was in treatment and my mom met a healthy adult with a childhood cancer story, she would burst into tears. ... She was always very emotional after seeing a pediatric cancer survivor grow up to lead a healthy life. Especially because we didn't get to meet many.</i> </blockquote><br /><br />And just like that, <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/22236104.Hayley_Arceneaux" title="Hayley Arceneaux" rel="noopener">Hayley Arceneaux</a> manages to capture my feelings while reading this in an entire sentence. <br /><br />As a twenty-two year old cancer survivor diagnosed at the same age as Arceneaux, I cannot put into words how much I needed this. As I watched myself and my survivor friends grow into adults, I've started to think about the lack of childhood cancer literature that is positive and not about death. So when <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/60417473.Wild_Ride_A_Memoir_of_I_V__Drips_and_Rocket_Ships" title="Wild Ride A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships by Hayley Arceneaux" rel="noopener">Wild Ride: A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships</a> first came onto my radar last year, I knew I needed to have a copy. I asked for the book for Christmas and only just this week got around to reading it.<br /><br /><a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/60417473.Wild_Ride_A_Memoir_of_I_V__Drips_and_Rocket_Ships" title="Wild Ride A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships by Hayley Arceneaux" rel="noopener">Wild Ride</a> is absolutely the book I needed at this stage in life. Ten years younger than Arceneaux, I am at such a crossroads in my life right now. Reading this book reminded me of all the things I've been able to do both in spite of and because of my diagnosis. It's reminded me that my diagnosis and aftereffects are a part of my life, but that they are not my whole life.<br /><br />I love how forward-looking Arceneaux is throughout all of her experiences. As a childhood cancer patient, she reminds herself that she's a survivor with a life ahead of her. As an adult, she focuses on being the first for both herself and her patients, and future childhood cancer survivors in general. I appreciate how driven she is by this thing that happened to her in the past, and how hard she works to make it her future as well.<br /><br />I want to reiterate that I've been looking for the positive childhood cancer survivorship memoir for a long, long time. And for a long, long time, I don't think it existed. The first thing I did when I finished <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/60417473.Wild_Ride_A_Memoir_of_I_V__Drips_and_Rocket_Ships" title="Wild Ride A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships by Hayley Arceneaux" rel="noopener">Wild Ride</a> was to write an email to Arceneaux at her listed contact on Twitter to thank her for making this one of her many "first childhood cancer survivor to..." as well. I really hope she sees it.

I still can't believe she went to space. Seriously SPACE. Hayley's story is one of the most uplifting and heartbreaking ones I know. In her book, her voice shines through so well with her optimism and her very kind and genuine views on life. As well as, her truly ridiculous and hilarious commentary. She is a girl who has always been on the go and getting to read about her travels, and journey that took her to space was incredible. I cried. A lot. But also loved getting to hear her thoughts about everything that went down, and all the silly and sweet details like that victory fried chicken made this book feel so personal. In general, it's lots of fun and definitely made me want to see more of the world. Can't wait to see what she does next.

Absolutely loved this. <br /><br />Inspiring to the max.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.<br />I have admired Hayley Arceneaux since I first heard about her being picked to go to space so I was super excited to be approved to read an early review copy of her book. She is definitely an incredible person. I could relate a bit to her experience of cancer when she was 10 years old as I too had a life threatening illness at age 10. Although mine wasn't cancer, it forever changed my life and has done tremendous damage to my body. I loved reading about her experience as a child under St. Jude's care and how supportive most people were. I could relate to the child bullying after she went back to school.<br />She is the perfect person to be working at St. Jude as she has experienced what her patients are going through. She is genuinely a happy, positive, and nice woman.<br />The section of the book about her experience training for her trip to space was very fascinating. (I can also relate to her mountaineering of an easier time hiking up and a lot harder time hiking down as I have that difficulty too due to vision loss.)<br />I love this book and I'm so happy she wrote about her experiences.

Arceneaux has had such a full, trying, and wonderful life. As a massive space fan who followed the Inspiration4 journey very closely (and entered more than once into the lottery for a seat), I especially enjoyed Part 2 of this book that described her mission and travel to space. Part 1 was heartbreaking, describing Hayley’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, and aftermath. However, despite the strength of the story being told, the writing itself was lacking in the first part. It felt a bit juvenile, but that may have fit in with Hayley’s diagnosis at such a young age. Overall, this was a quick and touching read. It was inspiring and stressed the dichotomy between Hayley’s younger years and her chance to fly in space. She doesn’t shy away from the hard parts of her journey, specifically in losing her father, the fear of being diagnosed with cancer as a child, needing her internal prosthesis replaced multiple times, and being rejected from her dream job. That made her journey relatable to anyone who has experienced loss or failure. Highly recommend!<br /><br />TW: cancer, medical treatment, loss of a parent, loss of a parent to cancer, childhood cancer, vomiting, grief

An interesting and inspiring story that would have benefited from more depth and better writing. My favorite parts were in the second half when she shared about preparing for space travel.

A memoir focused on maintaining hope and happiness despite immense difficulties. I found this to be an easy-to-read and captivating overview of Hayley’s experience with childhood cancer, her journey to working for St. Jude, and her opportunity to go to space. <br /><br />I was left with a greater appreciation for the patients and staff of St. Jude. It also heightened my interest in the work and training involved with SpaceX missions. <br /><br />Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC.