The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin

I don't know what I love more about this novel.  It has to be a tie between the heartfelt story and the awesome Irish dialect throughout.  I must warn you though, you will need to have tissues on hand as the tears will most certainly come and when they do- good luck controlling them.  Don't let this deter you from reading it though.  As I have said previously, I am currently reading a list of books from Buzzfeed that are intended to make you cry, but also to make you laugh, and experience all of the other glorious emotions our human bodies are meant to live through.

Rabbit is in her 40's and is currently living the last of her days.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago, went into remission, it spread to the other breast, she thought they got it again, and then it spread.  The last was when her leg broke and they found out it had spread to her bones.  She was living with stage 4 and even though she still had all of the hope in the world, was sent to hospice.  Her mother, Molly, and father, Jack, were not ready to give up and even though their daughter was in hospice, were researching everything to do what they could to save her.  Rabbit's impending death became the elephant in the room that nobody in her circle of friends and family was willing to address.  They all thought Rabbit would just be Rabbit and walk out of that room a healed woman who had beaten cancer.  After all, Rabbit had her teenage daughter to think about and a full life left to live.  As time continued and Rabbit worsened, it became evident that Rabbit would not be going home and some decisions would have to be made.  The biggest issue at hand was regarding who would take her daughter Juliet.  Secondly- how would any of them survive without their Rabbit?

This story is raw in every sense of the word.  Each character has his/her own backstory and you get to know each one as the author intertwines them and brings them all back to our main character.  The emotions of Rabbit in having to say goodbye, along with the denial many of her loved ones faced was extremely realistic yet beautifully written.  Beyond the character development of her loved ones, you also have a love story intermixed that ends on the most romantic note.  I promise you that you will laugh and cry as you read this, but it will also make you so glad you read it.  A beautiful story and must read.