Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Your Good Death by Karen Spencer is a non-fiction book on grief and hardship that focuses on end-of-life care. This book would be a useful resource for people entering end-of-life care or for their friends and family members. Many people want control of how their life ends, but when it comes time, many find themselves overwhelmed with decisions and questions that lack answers. The author shares her own experiences, investigation, and guidance that she has acquired over her life and from other people's lives. She shares the problems many come across and how to navigate them to make informed health decisions that are followed by loved ones and the healthcare system. Are you ready to make sure you or your loved ones are, in Dr. Spencer's words, not left "awash within the system?"

Your Good Death by Karen Spencer is a well-written book that is a treasure trove of needed information about end-of-life care that I never knew I needed to know. I had a grandparent go through hospice when I was younger, but I had no idea just how much was involved for my parents in making decisions for her since my grandmother did not have any clear end-of-life directives. The book really opened my eyes to the need to learn about such things now instead of waiting for the point in which I would desperately need to know about them. The book opens with Dr. Spencer interviewing a woman named Lily who is at the stage where she is having to make end-of-life decisions. I was floored by the fact that Lily was more the one asking questions, as it seemed like none of her doctors had really helped her with what she needed to do to make her wishes known and followed. This was a rather shocking wake-up call to me, as I had assumed that one's primary care doctor would know what and how to navigate the system and be there to provide guidance on choices, but instead, Lily had been left to flounder alone. Dr. Spencer shares her experiences and those of people she interviewed, but also guidance on how to make one's own end-of-life choices. I found this aspect of the book to be very helpful as it provided concrete help, guidance, and examples that taught me a lot about navigating the health care system. The author uses understandable terminology to do so, with no medical jargon that a layperson could not understand. Overall, I am very glad I read this book, and I would recommend it to any terminal patient and their family/friends as a needed resource.