Cancer Moon: How I Survived the Best Years of My Life Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Books Forward in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been a long time since I read stories that were written in an informal manner. The ones penned by John Marszalkowski were so good that I wanted to look at some more. Recently, I read some informal tales written by someone not named John Marszalkowski. It’s called Cancer Moon: How I Survived the Best Years of My Life by Jenna Tico – a good collection of stories that detail how the author lived through her 20s.

Cancer Moon: How I Survived the Best Years of My Life is a series of flash-prose, essay, and poetry that takes a look at one millennial artist’s transition from late bloomer to adult and invites women to embrace their self-worth, sexuality, and weirdness. Growing up in Santa Barbara, California, Jenna yearned for validation from celebrities and spiritual F-boys until she discovered her own value. She shares personal stories in various forms like the ones mentioned above while chronicling her journey from late bloomer to a grownup, which are all grouped following the cycles of the moon. Jenna observes the world of twenty-something relationships from perspectives that range from a bachelorette party to a deathbed and validates the experiences of women who felt abandoned by the generation before. Her stories also encourage healthy lifestyle choices for young women without telling them what to do and how to live their life with a dose of humor on the side.

I had never heard of a cancer moon prior to reading this book. It turns out that a cancer moon is a person who is sensitive and nurturing, feels deeply, and possesses plenty of intuition. This comes from astrology, especially when the moon is in the cancer sign. For more information, click on this link . Tico doesn’t fully explain what a cancer moon is, but she does talk about what it means to be one in the introduction titled “Come Sit in the Palm of My Hand.” 

In addition, I love the framework of the sections being moon phases. The first part is Waning like Jenna’s self-confidence, and the second one is New, where she is shrouded in darkness. Then, sections three and four called Waxing and Full see her slowly regain her self-esteem.

Within the structure, it feels disjointed. The stories bounce all over the place, and I wasn’t really sure at what part in her twenties she was going through during a certain tale. But the more I thought about it, I realized that that decade is supposed to be full of unadulterated chaos. The fact that Tico organized it in story form shows how mature she’s become over time.

Let’s get into the content itself. I find Jenna to be absolutely relatable. Female readers will definitely connect with her story, especially her self-esteem issues and her quest to seek validation from people who didn’t really care. I certainly did when I was in my 20s, and I certainly related hard with the conflict of being used versus being invisible. She embodies humor and sincerity all throughout her work, yet she could be downright serious like in the story “Vital,” where she recounts her thoughts the moment when her Nana dies.

My favorite stories were “Cabo is the New Cabo,” “To the New Girlfriend of the Man I Used to Blame for Everything,” and “Terrible Twos, Or: How a Toddler Taught Me to Stop Regretting and Love Life.” All of them are very funny while they reveal some hard truths about life and how to navigate it. This is especially true in the first one, where she observes other women losing all inhibitions at a bachelorette party. I also enjoyed the connections from the earlier tales to the latter one. For example, the opener “Cabo is the New Cabo” gets referenced in the last official essay “I Was Told I’d Be Glowing.” Moreover, if readers want to see how Jenna evolves throughout the collection, read her one-page essays “Other People I Can Blame” and “Other People I Can Thank.” 

As much as I liked Cancer Moon, I don’t think it will ever top the work of John Marszalkowski, yet it’s not Tico’s fault. I just happened to read his essays first, so I inadvertently set expectations on informal content I would later come across. It’s like if one’s first introduction to sketch comedy was Monty Python’s Flying Circus. One would still like other shows, but they can’t look at that style of comedy the same way after viewing the aforementioned series. That’s essentially what happened. I like Cancer Moon very much, yet I can’t read informal works the same way after consuming Marszalkowski’s books because the latter set the bar high. At the same time, both excel at being funny and honest at the same time.

Like Marszalkowski’s work, Cancer Moon is not going to be for everyone. After all, how many readers can say that they’ve had relations with a celebrity? Even more so, some may be off put by the non-linear structure. But then again, an author will never please everybody when they use non-conventional methods.

Cancer Moon: How I Survived the Best Years of My Life by Jenna Tico is a good set of informal stories about how one woman survived her 20s. While not everything is going to connect with the readers, the core elements will, and Tico is funny and sincere about them. She can also be downright serious when she speaks about her life and relationships. I would recommend it to those who want to get into stories that are less formal because of how palatable they are as well as to those who want to read more books about the trials and tribulations of going through one’s 20s and the journeys toward self-love. Cancer Moon: How I Survived the Best Years of My Life is out tomorrow, September 17, so go grab it wherever you get your books.

Before I go, I want to let you know that it is my 199th review! Next week, I will rank all of the 199 titles I’ve read and/or watched (including this one) in my Ranking series. This will lead up to my 200th review in two weeks. Stay tuned for the ranking! In the meantime, check out my prior Ranking posts.

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