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laurenw22's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Traumatic
jamesadler's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
wow this is my first time on storygraph and it’s making me analyse the book please i just wanted to talk abt how this book made me go down the jacqueline wilson rabbit hole 😭😭 i don’t know whether the flaws of the main character are a focus in the book ERMM?
jude is gay
jude is gay
toonkatie's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
iamfoundinbooks's review
1.0
What IS this garbage??? What is the message? Both mothers are quite literally the worst mothers imaginable. How is this a good response to a critic say the Illustrated Mom is a bad example for featuring sisters with 2 different fathers? How is THIS the 'gotcha' response?
One mother (not one of the main characters though) is physically abusive because she suffers from an extreme case of OCD, meanwhile the other one is emotionally abusive. How does the physically abusive one make the other one look good? It's okay to emotionally neglect your kids and not be able to take care of them financially as long as you don't hit them? Abuse comes in many forms.
How do you, as a mother, sleep well at night knowing your entire household is running because you're exploiting your children as free labour? It's not an issue of sleeping around, it's an issue of not providing for your kids both emotionally and physically. This is a surefire way for your kids to shove you into a retirement home because they were forced to mother their younger sibling while being children themselves.
Little Dixie, for example, has hand-me-downs from 3 sisters, they barely have any space for themselves, the sisters keep fighting for their mothers attention, and don't get me started on the whole "I want my 5th kid (who I am both financially and emotionally not ready for) to be a boy". I can understand being emotionally unstable but for God's sake stop having children you CANNOT take care of. Stop relying on your other children to solve the family problems. You want to make it as a single mother? Fine. But make sure you're the one actually doing it.
And don't get me started on the 16 yo Martine being allowed to keep her baby. Sue, as her mother, should've stepped up and been a mother for once in her life and put her foot down. She, of all people, should've known how difficult of a life you have as a teen mom. Especially since she can't have the help of her own mom.
The romance between Rochelle the 12 yo and the 16 yo Ryan?? What was this book trying to do? Is it a case of an unreliable narrator our 10 yo Dixie? Or is the book genuinely trying to justify this?
No, no, no, this book is horrendous, even as a kid I knew sth was off but now that I'm an adult I'm appalled.
One mother (not one of the main characters though) is physically abusive because she suffers from an extreme case of OCD, meanwhile the other one is emotionally abusive. How does the physically abusive one make the other one look good? It's okay to emotionally neglect your kids and not be able to take care of them financially as long as you don't hit them? Abuse comes in many forms.
How do you, as a mother, sleep well at night knowing your entire household is running because you're exploiting your children as free labour? It's not an issue of sleeping around, it's an issue of not providing for your kids both emotionally and physically. This is a surefire way for your kids to shove you into a retirement home because they were forced to mother their younger sibling while being children themselves.
Little Dixie, for example, has hand-me-downs from 3 sisters, they barely have any space for themselves, the sisters keep fighting for their mothers attention, and don't get me started on the whole "I want my 5th kid (who I am both financially and emotionally not ready for) to be a boy". I can understand being emotionally unstable but for God's sake stop having children you CANNOT take care of. Stop relying on your other children to solve the family problems. You want to make it as a single mother? Fine. But make sure you're the one actually doing it.
And don't get me started on the 16 yo Martine being allowed to keep her baby. Sue, as her mother, should've stepped up and been a mother for once in her life and put her foot down. She, of all people, should've known how difficult of a life you have as a teen mom. Especially since she can't have the help of her own mom.
The romance between Rochelle the 12 yo and the 16 yo Ryan?? What was this book trying to do? Is it a case of an unreliable narrator our 10 yo Dixie? Or is the book genuinely trying to justify this?
No, no, no, this book is horrendous, even as a kid I knew sth was off but now that I'm an adult I'm appalled.
ptrobes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Read this because I saw someone talk about it on TikTok or something. Interesting. Pretty depressing and realistic? No real plot but it was interesting meeting the Diamond Girls
elliec130's review
4.0
Old favourite for me but just wanted to comment on the latest cover. I hate it as it presents one of my favourite characters, Jude as very boyish looking. While there's nothing wrong with a girl being boyish looking, I find it a little annoying that the one tough girl is so stereotypically mascuiline. Loved Wilson's books and still do but it just struck a nerve with me.