Scan barcode
econsidine's review
This one has the honor of being the first YA book I've worked on and actually stopped to read because it was distractingly good. It's about a closeted teen (who, contrary to basically every closeted trope in fiction ever, never comes out to his family over the course of the story ) who recently lost his older sister in a car accident. Despite the weirdly cutesy title that doesn't reflect the tone of the book, the author writes about grief, alcoholism, homophobia, religious bigotry, and depression in a down-to-earth, non-cliche way that feels like it would be actually helpful and relatable to teens who are experiencing these things, unlike a lot of similar YA books with these topics (*cough cough* 13 Reasons Why *cough*) It's the kind of book I would really have loved when I was 16 or 17, and will save to recommend if I ever have any 16- or 17-year-olds in my life.
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Car accident, Terminal illness, and Homophobia
nyertryingtoreadeverything's review
challenging
emotional
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
My bar for books written by this author is high. Some of my favorite books were written by Ms. Magoon. Still I was blown away by this book. It is incredibly intense but also digestible. I really appreciated how this book approached death and some other really heavy issues.
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Child death
Moderate: Bullying
More...