First things first, I'm going to try to review this book without spoilers (or as few as possible), so don't worry if you're going to read it, I'll not be going into too much detail!
Okay, so I didn't technically 'read' this book. Instead, I rented the audiobook from the library and listened to it - it was my first proper attempt at finishing an audiobook and this story made it pretty easy.
A Life Lived Beautifully tells the story of twins, Harper and Jodie, as they navigate life following a life-changing accident that leaves Harper paralysed. It isn't my usual read, but I was drawn to the title, as I wanted to read something with a character 'like me'. Although my and Harper's stories are quite different, with her injury being a complete, traumatic injury and mine being an incomplete non-traumatic one, it was nice to reflect on my own experience while listening.
Despite this book being a work of fiction, it was clear that Miller had done a lot of research into the topic and seemed to have a solid understanding of what happens after a spinal cord injury - both emotionally and physically. She referenced Stoke Mandeville Spinal Unit and talked a lot about what physio can entail when someone becomes a paraplegic.
Image Description: The cover of 'A Life Lived Beautifully' by Catherine Miller. Two children are standing holding hands in the top left corner. Underneath, in the bottom centre, there is a silhouette of a person seat outside in their wheelchair. (Image taken from: Amazon UK)
When someone sustains an SCI, the world seems to stop and all your days revolve around your disability and learning to live again. So I found Miller's decision to include Jodie's story alongside Harpur's, worked well to show that life keeps moving regardless. Jodie still had bills to pay, jobs to work and relationships to manage, whether her twin sister was in hospital or not. Similarly, their parents still had their own lives to lead, despite what had happened to their daughter.
However, with the story told from two different perspectives, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep up had I physically read the book. The benefit of listening to it was that the reader changed her voice slightly for each character, so it was clear who we were with and what was happening.
Overall, this book helped me reflect on how far I have come in my own journey of recovery and allowed me to look back (through Harpur's eyes) on how much I had to re-learn after becoming a wheelchair user.
Should You Read It?
This book tells a relatively simple story, so I found it worked great as an audiobook I could dip in and out of. I'm not sure if I would have stuck with it if I had been reading rather than listening, as it was more sedentary than what I would typically go for. However, I would give this book a 3/5. If you want an easy read with a pretty decent portrayal of disability, I would recommend this book.
Happy reading!