Reviews

Wat een mooi, hartverwarmend en origineel verhaal was dit. Vooral de titel sprak me aan en verder had ik me niet echt ingelezen over waar het over ging, waardoor ik blanco aan het boek begon. Het is een ontzettend mooi verhaal over vriendschap waar ik niet te veel over wil zeggen vanwege het risico op spoilers. De schrijfstijl is vlot en het verhaal ontvouwt zich snel, maar op een prettige manier. De omgevingen zag ik levendig voor me. Al met al is het een aanrader, vooral voor kinderen, met een belangrijke boodschap.

mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition

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3.0

When Life Gives You Mangos was unsurprisingly pretty decent. I read Kereen Getten's other novel If You Read This and it was a well written contemporary middle grade novel. So I expected this book to be of similar quality if not better and hoped, at the very least, it wouldn't be worse.

Aside from a massive glaring issue related to a major plot point that I have hidden in spoiler tags below, I believe this was a step up in every way.

It has similar themes of grief, learning to forgive and friendship, but I found it altogether more compelling because there was only one single major plot thread - what exactly is going on with Clara - and it was tied up neatly by the end vs If You Read This where I felt it abandoned the complex storylines it introduced to its detriment.

That being said it does share some of the same issues namely the supporting cast being underdeveloped and key figures disappearing for long stretches. This is especially detrimental to the character of new girl Rudy who is supposed to be essential to Clara's evolution per the synopsis, but only hangs out with Clara twice the entire book and offers no insight, new information or conflict of any kind in these appearances. She had no impact on the story whatsoever; it could have operated exactly the same without her presence.

Major spoiler for a significant aspect of the book as mentioned above.

Spoiler

So the twist is that Clara's best friend and cousin Gaynah actually died last summer. Clara has inherited ghostly powers, same as her Uncle Eldorath, so driven by guilt and grief she blotted out the tragic incident continuing to act as if Gaynah is still alive much to the distrust of some of her community and consternation of her parents.

Overall, I had no issue with this. The seeds were there, but I didn't expect magical realism so Getten surprised me.

That being said, there is a massive hole that totally ruins the whole concept.

The book starts off with Gaynah informing Clara a new girl is coming to the island ie the aforementioned Rudy. We learn later after Clara has her breakthrough that Rudy arrived last year and was part of the group for a day or so before Gaynah died.

The problem is that Rudy arriving this year acts as if she’s never met any of these people before and vice versa. Rudy is meant to be spending the summer getting to know her grandmother as per her mother. The two are estranged because Rudy’s mother chose to move to America with her father. Her grandmother took it as a personal slight. Rudy basically witnesses another childs’ death and she seems utterly disaffected by this one year later. I know they didn’t have the chance to get close, but still wouldn’t that create some kind of fear or wariness about the island in general this summer>?

In fact that extends to all of the kids. Their close friend died - all of the children are close by default due to the size of the island - yet none of them seem upset or saddened or changed in any capacity the following year.

I understand that people are largely trying to avoid mentioning details in front of Clara as they are afraid for/of her. But, it makes absolutely no sense that 4 to 5 different kids who presumably deeply cared about Gaynah could go a year without saying something incriminating or odd to Clara. Did none of them get mad that she was living in denial? Did none of them find it difficult to be around her when she was ‘lucky’ enough to still see her? Did none of them (erroneously) blame her? It just seems impossible to maintain. Yes, Clara avoided what could break her delusion. Still, there would have most certainly been more suspicious incidents that the reader would better understand in hindsight. The ones we get are all in reference to Clara acting out of sorts and others responding to her when in reality the entire situation itself would be enough to draw a reaction from others regardless of what Clara specifically does.

Everyone grieves differently, of course. I just don’t think it’s believable that every child would be able to move on so neatly.

And before you ask, it’s confirmed that Rudy does exist because it’s revealed Clara’s Uncle Eldorath wrote the letter that brought Rudy to the island in the first place. So it’s not like Clara has been making her up as part of her desire to pretend the previous summer never happened.

In the end while I enjoyed the book, it felt underdeveloped which seems to be a staple of Getten’s works. She has very interesting concepts that are rushed through in an effort to perpetuate an atmosphere that isn’t worth the sacrifice of practicalities. I will continue to read her works in the future, however, the fact that I will have to adjust my expectations to have a good time says a lot.

nadiamasood's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is an atmospheric MG novel set in a Jamaican village. The island scenes are vivid, with hints of magic and superstition. It’s about friendship, loss, and community.

There’s a mystery in this book and its resolution makes for a SHOCKING PLOT TWIST toward the end of the book! I did not see it coming and it’s all I’m thinking about right now! I find myself re-reading from the start to check for clues I'd missed!

Loved this book!

Content Warnings

mrs_gale's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Not for me. I don't enjoy sad books. It was ok. Potentially good for 10-12 year olds, but I felt the resolution happened too fast and too easily for both Clara and her Uncle.

Content Warnings