January 22, 2021

When Force Meets Fate

When Force Meets Fate: A Mission to Solve an Invisible Illness

by Jamison Hill

Publishing January 26, 2021
by Inkshares

Rating: 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Memoir

A healthy young man survives a fatal car crash only to be plagued by a mysterious illness that robs him of the ability to walk, talk, and eat solid food. When Force Meets Fate is a captivating, transcendent survival story―one that forces all of us to reckon with our own mortality and the fragility of life.

At age twenty-two, Jamison Hill was a fitness instructor who could lift more than four hundred pounds. Five years later, after surviving a tragic car accident that killed the other driver, a rare disease left Jamison bedridden and too weak to hold a water glass. He spent every day lying motionless in bed, his body paralyzed by pain and fatigue, his mind hijacked by flashes of crunched metal, broken windshields, and exploding gas tanks.

After months of not being able to speak or eat, Jamison’s health finally improved and he began to tell his story. When Force Meets Fate is an unflinching exploration of the human condition, notably how our strengths and limitations shape our identities, and how unexpected events can inevitably alter our perceptions. It’s a story of perseverance―of sheer will and unrelenting fight―but also of overcoming life’s toughest challenges through the power of vulnerability, and how freeing it can be to surrender to the unpredictability of circumstances out of our control.

My thoughts:

This is an exceptionally candid and courageous memoir that illuminates what living with a chronic invisible illness is like. That it was written on a Smartphone while the author wore tanning sunglasses (due to the brightness of the screen) is remarkable. Though it was a slow start, as Jamison describes his life before his illness and as he’s getting sick, it was compelling reading when he is bedridden and barely alive. I felt like I was lying in bed as well and I tried to imagine what it would be like to be too weak to talk or walk to the bathroom. The inability of doctors to diagnose and treat him and the corrupt health insurance industry holding all Americans hostage is just infuriating.

Jamison is a remarkable human and a fabulous writer. His mother is a super-woman and I’d love to read a book by her as well. I can’t imagine what she went through and continues to endure. I gave this book 5 stars because it is unflinchingly honest as well as enlightening. As an able-bodied person, I have a greater understanding of what someone means when they say they have a chronic illness. I so admire the strength of Jamison and his family.

Thank you to Inkshares for providing me with an advanced copy for review purposes.

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