“Honest… grateful… unflinching.... We get the tears. The love. The lessons. The joy." –Karla Peterson, The San Diego Union Tribune “Powerful … affecting … heartwarming.” – Kirkus Reviews Winner Next Generation Indie Book Awards in Memoirs (Overcoming Adversity/Tragedy), 2022. Winner IAN Grand Prize Book of the Year, 2021. Winner IAN Book of the Year in Memoir, 2021. Winner IAN Book of the Year in First Non-Fiction, 2021. Winner Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion, 2021. In this moving memoir, Joy Clausen Soto vividly brings us into her world. We see her go from her dream job to fighting for her life and how she is able to come back from it all. You can't avoid falling in love with her quirks, indomitable spirit, and wry sense of humor. Soto takes readers on a compelling journey as she faces cancer and the challenges she encounters while re-entering "normal" life. Her ability to find something amusing, redeeming, or beautiful in every situation is not only relatable, but wonderful to experience. This is an inspirational story of how joy can be found in the smallest moments and something meaningful can be created from our greatest challenges in life. Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards This book is an incredibly unique perspective and wonderfully descriptive examination and retelling of harrowing trials. The perspective Joy brings to her experiences is inspiring. Her desire to combine healing with the struggles she has gone through in a way that is lasting and impactful for others is a remarkably uplifting reading experience. It is lovely to see someone overcome tremendous struggles but even more so to see that triumph followed by a desire to create an easier path through them for others who follow after. Her memoir does a wonderful job at dealing with the immense difficulty of navigating cancer while being vulnerable, relatable, and honest about what it is like to experience. Readers who have had similar experiences will feel seen, those who know people who have gone through it will feel more understanding and empathetic, and others will be able to see into a life and a journey that wasn't known before. The book does a great job at connecting on page one and maintains that engaging sense throughout. - Judge, 29th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards This book has everything from emotion to empathy, movement and strength to finding strength in weak moments. We get clever dialogue and connective dialogue, the physical effects of illness and the optimism that her hair will grow back ad she will be healthy again. Author has crafted a fully experiential book with great settings and a wonderful writing voice. . . . The author has tremendous descriptive instinct and a full heart. . . . The author has a storyteller's soul that has led her to write this book and creative spark for her documentaries. I have great faith in the good this author will do. - Judge, 29th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards "Honest ... grateful ... unflinching.... We get the tears. The love. The lessons. The joy. " -Karla Peterson, The San Diego Union Tribune "Powerful ... affecting ... heartwarming." -Kirkus Reviews "An amazing book.... It will inspire and uplift you." -Tom Ziglar, Zig Ziglar Facebook Live Interview "If there's ever been a champion of turning lemons into lemonade, it must be Joy Clausen Soto.... Joy ... will put a smile on a cynic's face and a tear in the eye of the hardest of hearts ." -Jon Michael Miller, reviewed for Readers' Favorite "Great book, great comeback story. It's a must read!" - Leslie Ferris Yerger, author of Probably Benign "Sharing your story gives hope and you have given hope to me and you will to tens of thousands of people that listen to this. -Kevin Miller, The Ziglar Show " Anyone who reads this will find inspiration.... Love, gratitude, grace, determination, and divine intervention shine through every chapter." -Michael Norton, CEO and Founder of Tramazing "Joy pours her soul into her life story. She writes with humility and openness.... This book will be one of the best books you read this year and maybe in your entire life." -Daniel D Staats, reviewed for Readers' Favorite