I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me this advanced reader’s copy in return for a fair, frank, and honest review.

I wanted to like this book, but I did not. This was not anything done by the author I think it was just there was so much sadness and loss in the story, and I could not deal with it properly. I am still giving it an unbiased review because this was just down to my taste.

Emily Rapp Black lost her first child Ronan to Tay-Sachs, a terrible degenerative disease and the sort of thing every mother has nightmares about. The trauma contributed to the end of her first marriage, after which she lost herself in anonymous encounters to ease the pain. Later in life, when this book picks up, Rapp Black has a new partner and another child, feisty little girl Charlie. She experiences a sense of dislocation, and sometimes wonders if she is the only person who sees herself as the mother of both Ronan and Charlie. Used to having a disabled body, she is very conscious of how the two children - and her thoughts - inhabit her body, and how she is mother to both of them and experiencing, in some ways, more than one life. A powerful memoir of love, loss and renewal.

Sanctuary by Emily Rapp is a moving memoir about grief and bereavement, motherhood, disability, relationships, resilience, survival and hope.

"Congratulations on the resurrection of your life," a colleague wrote to Emily Rapp Black when she announced the birth of her second child. The line made Rapp Black pause. Her first child, a boy named Ronan, had died from Tay-Sachs disease before he turned three years old. Since that time, her life had changed utterly.

Just wow, this book has everything you need to be thought-provoking and emotive. As a nurse who has worked in emergency care, palliative care, and now intensive care, the storyline resonated well with me. The book is beautiful and is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of her work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is an interesting, extremely thought-provoking memoir which, predominantly, is about the writer's son, who died at a young age from a very unpleasant disease. However, Rapp Black's book is not solely about this - it also offers meditations on life, the way she has healed, and how having another child has served as some sort of balm - an essential part of the recovery process and fundamental to her grieving.

Rapp Black writes beautifully, often poetically, about her life - and largely about the death of Ronan, her first-born . She also writes about Ronan's father, as well as her new partner, and the father of Charlotte, her second child. Throughout the book, the writer includes quotations and thoughts from others - often, these are life-affirming, but at times, perhaps a little gratuitous and unnecessary.

I am struck with the intensity of Rapp Black's writing - the sheer determination to occupy herself, to exhaust herself on tough runs up mesas in New Mexico, and using Pelaton with feisty instructors. It is obvious that distraction is a key part of healing for the writer and one can imagine, I think, why this is.

I enjoyed 'Sanctuary' and throughout the reading it made me think long and hard about the lengths humans go to in order to make sense of tragedies that impact on our lives. I do hope that writing this book has helped Rapp Black to move on without forgetting.

I received am advance copy of Sanctuary, by Emily Rapp. I really tried to like this book, but I could not. I know she went through such a hard time, with losing her child, then her marriage. I just could not relate or like the book.