Any book focused on cancer survival that kicks off with a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference is getting off on the right foot with this reviewer. Jessica Settergren certainly isn't writing for laughs, but Defying Shadows is far more interested with sitting next to the reader with a cup of tea and sharing stories and suggestions, as opposed to claiming any kind of authority from which to dispense wisdom. Her one source of authority is being a cancer survivor herself, and it shouldn't surprise you that there is a quasi-memoir tucked into this book of advice and opinions. So, a book and a quasi-book all in one. How did that turn out?
Both parts turn out very well, actually. She has a compelling writing style that's particularly well suited to sharing her own story; personal without being overly confessional. If you haven't ever been in or around a situation like this I think she paints a fairly honest picture; even in "the best case" with cancer it isn't pretty. On the other hand if you (like myself) have been through cancer as the patient or a caregiver I can say that she doesn't veer into trauma-response territory, although only you can know yourself that well. I could picture a lot of what she described but also know when she gracefully elided past some bits that don't detract from the narrative. There are also points in her story that are good jumping-off points for advice that isn't particularly "witchy" but still useful, like a talk about the financial implications as well as the psychological toll that a long stretch of treatment and recovery can have on a person. Gods forbid that you or someone you know is at the start of such an event, but if that's the case I'd easily recommend dropping a copy of this book into the appropriate laps.
All of those jumping-off points for advice are also where Defying Shadows embraces the pagan aspect of Settergren's offering. First a heads up (echoing one that the author gives herself in the introduction): she is a very self-directed pagan, never initiated into a tradition and only occasionally circling with other witches. She isn't a recluse, but to my mind she's a pretty typical solo practitioner. She principally works with the Morrigan (personal aside: "eek") but mentions an eclectic mix of others throughout the book. Liberally spread throughout the book are meditation prompts, spell suggestions, and even recipes that are appropriate for the stage of events she's writing about at the time. Several times I read one of them and thought "I wish I'd thought of that in the moment!" A particularly insightful section is Chapter 10, "Casting a Virtual Circle: Energy Raising When You Have None." Certainly there are times during the cancer journey when even getting up out of your chair can seem impossible, and these tips for making a circle out of cord, bath towels, or merely symbols if necessary, all made great sense. And, frankly, cancer doesn't need to be anywhere near your life for you to feel too exhausted to do anything, making this sort of advice valuable to practically anyone. The entire book is like that; while the lessons are most valuable to people going through something similar to Settergren, it's hard for me to imagine anyone who reads the whole thing and walks away thinking they didn't get anything out of it.
I highly recommend it.
~review by Wanderer
Author: Jessica Settergren
Crossed Crow Books, 2025
264 pages, $21.95 USD
