You want to talk about a hard read! Wow!! I struggled for MONTHS to finish this book, especially since I have had a family member, and a close personal friend, both dealing with different forms of cancer during this time.

There were moments when I could only get through a few pages before having to sit down, push it aside, sigh a deep sigh with tears stinging my eyes, so many thoughts racing through my mind, not even beginning to imagine what people in the medical field have to endure. It is absolutely unimaginable to me and, after reading this book, my prayers go out to each and every one of them more fervently.

I've Seen the End of You is incredibly deep and personal, with a very dark subject matter, but it is handled with the upmost care and attention, in true physician fashion. Though it is a subject matter I typically shy away from, I do believe it is a book that everyone should read, a message that every ear needs to hear, and is so pertinent in this current pandemic/cancer-ridden world we live in.

Well written with precision, and clearly from the heart, I know it will tug on your heartstrings, and stick in your mind and heart like it did mine. I know I did not read this book at this time on accident, just like I know you reading this review is no accident either. If you feel the pull to read it, please read it. Though it's a toughie, you won't regret you did.

*I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from WaterBrook Publishing through NetGalley. All views and opinions are completely honest, and my own. ( )

Dr. W. Lee Warren shares his thoughts and bares his emotions in his new book I've Seen the End of You. This is an account of the many patients that he has treated, the times when he was successful, and the moments when he realized that there was no hope. He admits that he has sometimes misjudged when he thought it was hopeless and he confesses that he has doubted just why God allowed some of these things to occur. Yes, he is neurosurgeon and a Christian, but he is also human. How many of us can truthfully say that we've never doubted?

Dr. Warren is very open and very honest and he writes in a pleasant and easily understood manner. As I read his thoughts, I often wondered how he could have endured some of his cases but I think it is because he is a Christian and doing what God called him to do. He admits to praying before surgery and I know from personal experience just how reassuring it is to be a patient facing the unknown and hearing their doctor asking God to grant them guidance and success. It is, however, with the death of his own child that he could fully understand their pain and suffering; it is because of this tragedy that he can now both sympathize and empathize with his patients.

I've Seen the End of You is an amazing book that everyone needs to read and as I neared the end, these statements from Dr. W. Lee Warren resonated with me.

Faith does not magically change our circumstances and make everything happy. It merely bends the light to show us what's really there. It's the prism we need to see hope when all seems lost, to survive the furnace of suffering, to grow despite the pain.

Faith doesn't keep us from having problems. It just gives a clearer view of how God is responding to them.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Waterbrook and was in no way obligated to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts. ( )

Dr. W. Lee Warren, an Iraq War veteran and practicing brain surgeon, has struggled with how to give hope to his brain cancer and head injury patients after looking at their grave test results and thinking, "I've seen the end of you." Dr. Warren combines several of his patients' medical stories with a stretch of his own tough journey of faith in his memoir, I've Seen the End of You: A Neurosurgeon's Look at Faith, Doubt, and the Things We Think We Know.

When approaching a hard, tragic read like this, rather than waiting for the author to give me a bunch of perfect, definitive answers to life's difficult questions, I come looking to see how another human being processes something that everyone faces in some form at one time or another. Seeing how someone else finds light through their dark experiences can give us a little more light for our own.

Fair warning to the squeamish that the medical content in the book can get pretty graphic, and to anyone who may be expecting only literal accounts, the author does use fictitious representatives and composites of several individuals to protect the identities of real people.

But the stories are true, as is the author's journey. Now, he rehashes some of the same basic statements and questions a number of times, and there are places where he seems to wander while figuring out what to say next or where to stop. I feel that certain points he makes get a little lost; they would have been stronger and easier to remember if the book had been condensed, more concise.

Nevertheless, several of the author's thoughts echo my own, such as his views on handing Christian platitudes to grieving people, and the danger of building one's faith on the erroneous assumption that belief in God is supposed to exempt believers from tragedy. No, this isn't a pleasant read that offers easy fixes, but ultimately, it's still a message of hope, shining light through darkness.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. ( )

I value the books Philip Yancey wrote on doubt, suffering, the centricity of Christ as Savior ànd man of sorrows. One of his coachees, W. Lee Warren, M.D. in I've Seen the End of You: A Neurosurgeon's Look at Faith, Doubt, and the Things We Think We Know shares an in-depth memoir of his professional knowledge and experience, and how this cuts a pathway to distinguish knowing from having faith. As a practicing brain surgeon and Christian, he not only got praised for curing patients but also deals with the almost 100% fatal Gliobastoma multiforme (GBM) cancer, Practically seeing the end of life of patients upon the initial MRI scans while praying fervently that God shows up and performs a miracle, doesn't come easy. Doubt builds up, despite a strong faith, a listening hospital pastor, and a healthy family life back home.

As a kind of focused Oliver Sacks, Lee shares several patient cases with GBM. Some of them are Christians too struggling with God to overcome the disease and live on, others not (yet), blaming God for not taking care. The sudden death of Lee's son Mitch throws him and Lisa in utter darkness. Grief takes time, as does the way to get to terms with doubt and keeping the faith. The medical stories, as well as Lee's responses, are raw. I treasure the lessons that Lee learned and penned in this Yancey meets neurosurgery kind of book. ( )