A Raw, Heart-Hitting Read: Reviewing What Does it Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella

Read time: 4 minutes

Genre: 📖 Contemporary Fiction
Format: 🎧 Audiobook | Published by The Dial Press
Narrators: 🎙️ Sally Phillips, Sophie Kinsella
Duration: ⏱️ 2 hours

Book Blurb:

In What Does It Feel Like?, Sophie Kinsella delivers a poignant novella about Eve, a bestselling novelist who wakes in a hospital, unaware of her brain tumor diagnosis. As she relearns to walk and talk, Eve grapples with sharing her illness with her five children and cherishing life’s small joys—family game nights, walks with her husband, quirky purchases. Told in vivid vignettes, this semi-autobiographical tale blends humor and heartbreak, reflecting Kinsella’s own cancer journey with raw honesty and resilient hope.

Let’s talk about the book:

Cancer has always felt like a shadow in my life, something my loved ones have battled, and something I’ve witnessed from the edges. Picking up this book felt like stepping directly into that shadow. What Does it Feel Like is not an easy book to read, and I mean that in the best way possible. Written during her own battle with glioblastoma, it feels like Kinsella poured every ounce of her soul into Eve’s story. This novel is raw, heartbreaking, and intimate, even as she laces it with her trademark optimism and humor. She writes with such raw honesty that it doesn’t feel like fiction at all; instead, you’re sitting at her side, feeling each fear, each fragile hope, each shaky laugh. There’s no distance.

The novella is short, but every page reverberates with emotional weight. It feels to me like this is all Sophie could write on this topic without breaking down herself, like a carefully held breath she dared to share with us. I found myself unable to finish, not because it was lacking, but because it was too good. The writing was so vivid and personal that I felt like I was sitting in the room with her: when she cried, when she tried to reconcile with her diagnosis, and when she reached for humor in the darkest places so her readers wouldn’t have to feel the full weight of her pain.

The brevity, at just under 150 pages, feels deliberate, like Kinsella could only say so much before the weight of it broke her. Her humor is a lifeline, but you can sense the tears behind it, making every page feel like a gift and a wound. It’s not just a story; it’s a glimpse into her courage, and that intimacy overwhelmed me. I DNF’ed this book not because it wasn’t compelling, but because it was too compelling. The grief, the uncertainty, even the smallest details, felt so close to home that it became difficult to keep reading. For families touched by cancer, this book is an unflinching mirror to heartbreak and hope.

Would I recommend it?

This is a five-star book I couldn’t finish. This is a beautiful, gut-wrenching read that’s as hopeful as it is heavy. If you can handle its emotional depth, it’s a must. For those close to cancer’s pain, like me, it’s a brave but tough journey. Mark this one for your TBR. It’s unforgettable. But be mindful of your emotional space when reading. It’s not a gentle escape, but it’s extraordinary for the honesty and hope within its pages. 

If you like this…

You might also want to try…

• Dear Life by Alice Munro
  A quietly powerful collection of autobiographical stories that confront illness, memory, and the fragility of life with clarity and grace. Short, piercing, and emotionally truthful.
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  A neurosurgeon facing terminal cancer writes about identity, purpose, and the meaning of life. Devastating, poetic, and deeply intimate. Perfect for readers ready for raw reality.
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
  Didion’s iconic memoir of grief captures the surreal, disorienting months after losing her husband. Brutal, honest, and beautifully written.
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
  A memoir blending dark humor with unflinching truth about trauma, resilience, and reclaiming one’s story. The emotional honesty and comedic edge parallel Kinsella’s tone.
• The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs
  A lyrical memoir written while facing terminal cancer. It’s hopeful, humorous, and devastating. Very much in the emotional orbit of Kinsella’s novel.

And you?

Has a book ever mirrored your own heartbreak so closely that you had to step away? When fiction feels more real than reality, do you keep reading or take a break? I’d love to hear about the stories that hit home for you. Let’s talk in the comments.

Book links

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Bookshop.org
Goodreads
Visit Sophie Kinsella’s author page
Check out more books from The Dial Press