I agree VERY well written! Make sure you have a BOX of Kleenex your going to need it! My Father has Dementia and this book really opened my eyes to what he must be experiencing.I am hooked on this writer and want to read all her books!

Amazing insight into the mind of a victim of early onset Alzheimer's. Fascinating character and one of a kind book. The first chapter was a tough read only because I spent the evening doing an inventory of my own memory failings. It's haunting in its reality. A really worthy read.

Well presented, heart wrenching at times and extremely touching.

As a Registered Geriatric Nurse I can tell you that Lisa Genova is "telling it like it is"! I find it both heartbreaking and heroic that Alice tells us her own story as she witnesses her decline and learns to cope with it. I found I was asking myself over and over again to remember the name and address that she was asked to recall, just to prove to myself that I could! I LOVE THIS BOOK! It should be required reading for anyone in the medical profession who cares for these patients and families and also, of course, for the families themselves.

a very well written exploration of an existence that awaits many of us, either as an Alice or as a family member.. Alice's life has been largely spent within the sheltered environment of academia and does not have much in common with the challenges of a working class background. But Alice's personal challenges detailed so wonderfully in this novel are universal. Well worth the read.

I liked this novel but it is a scary picture of what it might be like to have Alzheimer's. I enjoyed that the book was from the point of view of the person experiencing this terrible disease. The novel is well written and enjoyable to read. I only studied at the undergraduate level but I have my degree in psychology and my interests were language development. I took courses on Language development under the umbrella of psychology, education, and linguistics which made identifying with the main character easy. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to hear this diagnosis when you have just turned 50. That is less than 10 years for me!

This book opened my eyes to the disease of alzheimers. This word is so misrepresented in society, it was nice to have an accurate, detailed look at how this affects someone's life. I enjoyed.

Depressing but the author handled the topic with great insight. It will open your eyes to the progression of the disease and the burden of the caregivers...

I read this book in about 12 hours. I was drawn to continue reading about the progression of the protagonist's mental capacity dealing with early on-set Alzheimer's disease. It was a considerably glum book to read because (as the main character points out) 'cancer would have been a better disease to be diagnosed with' and anytime cancer would hold the greener grass for someone it's probably going to depress you a little bit but what good is a book if it evokes no emotion right? As much as I enjoyed the story's progression and appreciated the medical accuracy I wasn't crazy about the ending. I won't spoil it other than to say it just sort of comes to an abrupt stop and I felt like I needed more closure with this fictional life I had invested my time and compassion in. Otherwise it was well-written and sheds a light on the severity of this disease for people who had otherwise known little about it such as myself. I'd recommend it but don't read it if you are already feeling blue. Wait until you're in good cheer and don't mind spoiling your happiness with a sad book!

I'd have to agree with the comment that this is not a stunning book, but interesting anyway. I didn't really like the first part as I found the author was trying to be so technically correct in her description of the high level of functionality of the main character (to see her spiral downwards), and to ensure her readers understand the illness, that you lose something. Things get interesting when all that is out of the way. I wish we'd have seen more lapses of memory or mistakes at the start, especially once you learn that the problems have started a full year from when Alice first noticed issues. The rest of the book really has you seeing the world through Alice's eyes and part of you is sad that butterfly never is an option. Experiencing the gradual loss of dignity is tough. The end is as happy an ending as you can get for the main character.