This was an intense book for me, and although it is fiction, the premise is based on the author's actual personal health journey. The story opens with Becca, a young woman who survives childhood cancer with the support of her loyal high school friends. They dub themselves "The Cast" from the Saturday Night Live-style videotape they make to cheer up Becca. The novel begins 25 years after Becca is declared cancer free, and each chapter is told from one of the five cast members' points of view, which moves the story forward and realistically illuminates various motives.

I admire the author for crafting an engaging, captivating novel from her own health experiences. Each character is a unique individual, yet they are united in their love and support of Becca and ultimately of each other. The writing is well-honed, with authentic detail and description, as well as realistic dialogue.

The novel is an honest examination of friendship, forgiveness, love, moral decisions, and transformative choices.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This is a story of a group of friends who have been through a lot together. When they were in high school, one of the group, Becca, was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma. It was a difficult time for Becca and for her friends. Fast forward 25 years, the friends are now 40, and they are gathering together to celebrate 25 years of Becca's health.
However, there is much more under the surface - relationships between husbands and wives, between friends, and their own struggles with the disease that threatened Becca when they were young. The story details how everyone is affected when a member of the group becomes seriously ill, and how that takes a toll on their lives.
It is told from the perspective of all of the friends, as well as by Becca's husband. Each person brings their own unique experience to the story, and it is a good way of telling how reacting to someone's tragedy affects us all differently, differently at 15 and then at 40 years of age.
#TheCast #AmyBlumenfeld ( )

3.75/5 stars

The Cast is a wonderful and emotional story of friendship, illnesses and loss. I think it would be perfect for bookclubs - there is a lot to discuss in here! I'd especially recommend this book to be read in the month of October - if you read this, you will know why. Hint, no not because of Halloween.

​The cover caught my eye - I loved the greens and the blues, and the casual prettiness of it. And for the cover whore like me - thats an important aspect of the book.

​I do have to say that The Cast deals with some heavy topics, although it handles them with a gentle hand. But if anybody out there is as much of a hypochondriac as I am - beware.

Before I talk about the cast (get it?) I wanted to mention quickly that this book is very rich on jewish traditions and customs - which was so great to read, because I feel like I've learned so much. It was also nice, because to be honest I haven't seen many books out there featuring jewish characters (besides the ones set in time of WWII of course).

​There are quite a few alternating points of view, but the main focus is on Becca. A childhood cancer survivor. I was rooting for Becca all the way through.
​Nolan, well in my book Nolan can jump up his own ass and die! For me there was no redemption for him. I understand what his point of view meant to portray, but I just couldn't get on board with it.
​Jordana was next after Nolan in her annoyingness, although I might have disliked her so much because I saw pieces of myself in her. Jordana's ocd and constant need to control and micromanage everything showed me that maybe some of my tendencies in life aren't pretty.
Holly, oh Holly. I absolutely adored her. There was not enough of her in the first part of the book, but later she became the central figure and oh my goodness that was tough to bear.
Lex was fun to read about and surprisingly I totally understood and supported where she came from, and why she did hat she did.
Seth was alright, but his POV was kinda annoying, mostly because his inner dialog was so childish I had to keep rolling my eyes.
​Adam and Sal did not have enough page time , especially Sal - I feel like I even don't know Sal at all.

This was a solid 4 star read all the way through, but the ending did feel rushed and a bit unfinished so down to 3.75 it went.

​I am very happy that I read this - it just randomly caught my eye on Netgalley, and surprise books often turn out to be the best books.

Big thanks to Get Red PR, SparkPress and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book. All opinions are my own, honest and come from the heart. ( )

My Review of “The Cast” by Amy Blumenfeld , GetRedPr Sparkpress August 14,2018

OMG! WOW! I loved everything about “The Cast” by Amy Blumenfeld. Kudos to Amy Blumenfeld for her storytelling and her vivid descriptions and colorful cast of characters. I was captivated and enthralled with this emotionally charged intense novel. The Genres for this Novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction. The story takes place twenty five years before in the past, and the present.

The characters in this story are complex, complicated, emotional, confused, loyal, and flawed, which adds substance to the story. Twenty five years ago, a group of ninth graders make a video to cheer up Becca, their classmate who has cancer, and is in the hospital. They make the video in the style of Saturday Night Live. This video is significant throughout this story.

Now in the present, it is twenty-five years later, and the entire cast of friends are celebrating Becca’s life. A very good friend of Becca’s has made copies of DVD’s for each person as a gift of the original tape. Becca’s daughter enjoys watching this slap-stick comedy that her friends had put together. What the friends don’t realize is that from all the radiation that Becca had, she now has a diagnosis of breast cancer, which seems to be contained with surgery.

Becca appreciates life and knows she will have the surgery but is thinking long and hard about reconstructive plastic surgery and the complications. Her husband doesn’t understand Becca’s reaction. Becca’s husband also feels at time as an out-cast to the group of friends.

As the friends are to get together, each one has their own dramatic problems to deal with. Wrong decisions are made, and wrong conclusions are made. This is a novel that looks at deep and loyal friendship that withstands time, and the ups and downs in life. I love and appreciate that the author brings up such a difficult topic of cancer with such dignity and class. She also discusses the importance of emotional support, family, friendship, forgiveness, love, faith and hope. I would highly recommend this novel to readers that enjoy women’s fiction. There are some Kleenex moments. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review. ( )