Who'd a thunk one woman's epic battle to keep up the appearance of having cancer could be so hilarious, so bizarre, yet still pull at the heartstrings. There is plenty of fodder here for Green's satiric verve: the pieties of therapeutic talk shows, handsome but ineffectual doctors, creepy alternative medicine practicioners, know-it-all teenagers, our society's obsession with achievement, our received ideas on family life, and more, all get skewered mercilessly. At the same time, like in her two previous novels, Kim Green exudes warmth for her protagonist and many of her flawed characters. Raquel Rose lets it all hang out and does many terrible things, but you can see how easy it can be, under the right circumstances, one small weakness following another, to find yourself in her predicament.

I loved this book! She created such intriguing and endearing characters. Her writing style is so entertaining and really makes me giggle. I look forward to her next one!!

A book about a woman who fakes having cancer - who knew it would be so funny? Not to mention touching and relatable. Through Raquel Rose, Kim Green voices with brutal honesty the challenges that many women struggle with, but never speak of: dissatisfaction with marriage, the disappointment of sacrificed dreams, frustrations with children, rivalry with other women, etc. Sounds heavy, I know, but somehow it is not. The story pulls you in and you can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Raquel Rose is a harried housewife with two teenagers who take her for granted and a rather distant husband. When she receives the news that she has breast cancer, her family does an about face. Her kids start helping out with the housework, are thoughtful and her husband is being attentive. Raquel appears on her sister's successful television show ' Living with Lauren' and raises a lot of money for breast cancer.

The trouble is that at her next doctor's appointment, she gets the news that her test results were mixed up with another Raquel and she does not have cancer.

Stunned, Raquel goes home and tells her family the good news. Or tries to - they don't believe her, they're sure she's just putting on a brave face. In the end she decides to go with the lie. After all, she raised $250,000 so far...and this would be a chance to turn around her life and reinvent herself.....and her family is being so good to her......and ........

Well, you can see there might be a problem with this. Does she get caught out? I won't give away anymore, but you are in for a comical read. Green's descriptions of people, places and situations are laugh out loud funny. Her fantasies of Viggo Mortensen, her overachieving sister, her best friend and the local society ladies are hilarious. Once in a while it seems to escape and go a wee bit over the top.

At first I was a bit wary of the premise - pretending to have cancer? The women battling cancer in the book are depicted as strong and use humour as one of the weapons in their fight. And although this deception is what gets Raquel into her predicament it's as much a story of family and finding love.

There are some mild sex scenes that some readers may either enjoy or not. All in all a good chick lit read.

Don't read this review until after you've read the book...I will wait. I read the reviews before I read the book and then I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. I spent the first 5 chapters trying to decide if I liked the book and the last 26 waiting for it to end. The story or should I say the Premise sucked me in. Raquel Rose; nee Rachael Schultz is (mis)diagnosised with breast cancer. Her whole life changes and she decides she likes the new way everyone is treating her so she doesn't tell them about her (mis)diagnosis. There is more family drama in this book then on an episode of Jerry Springer and Maury (combined). She can't fix her life so she tries to fix everyone else's. The funniest part happened on starting on page 333 and was over quickly! I don't know who is dumber me for reading the book or her family for not figuring out that she was faking.

You have to be a little insane to survive being a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend and still find a way to have something left for yourself. This is the truth most women won't admit to, and that Kim Green has an uncanny ability to voice. There were moments while reading this book I found myself physically squirming, so close were Raquel's experiences to my own in the these roles.