Reviews with content warning for Abortion - How to Make Friends with the Dark

How To Make Friends With The Dark by Kathleen Glasgow was beautifully written and all around heartbreaking. I fell in love with the characters quickly, and thought they were well flushed out throughout the book. I think this story captures the complicated feeling of grief, especially in an overwhelming situation. In their author’s note, Glasgow refers to the fact that we have to do better for children in these situations, and I couldn’t agree more. Seeing the difficulties other characters are going through alongside Tiger helps put into perspective the systems many of us are unaware of on a daily basis. I think this book takes on a number of really difficult topics, but it portrays them all in a digestible way. I feel as though we grieve alongside Tiger throughout her journey, as we learn more details and get pulled from situation to situation. If you’re looking for a book that will validate feelings of grief in numerous different forms, and make you cry page after page (in a good way) then this emotional journey is definitely for you. This book makes you think about the implication of words, and the memories you want left behind with those you love while helping you process feelings you might be experiencing yourself, have experienced in the past, or may experience in the future. Despite Tiger being young, and the additional struggles that come with that, the grief process feels genuine and natural for her character. I truly enjoyed it, despite reading it through blurry eyes with a box of tissues tucked beside me, so if you can stomach grief that’s not your own, very much feeling like it is your own, I would give this one a read.

Content Warnings

nayyira's review

Go to review page

fast-paced

3.5

Content Warnings

anniereads221's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

wishyouweresober's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

someryarns's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-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

4.5

Content Warnings

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.0

It's always been just Tiger and her mother June. A well-oiled mother and daughter team. Until her mom suddenly dies and leaves Tiger all alone. How does one survive such a thing?

This is primarly a book about grief. Grief expresses itself in different ways, and for Tiger it leads to an ocean of tears, an inability to eat, and a refusal to take off the dress her mother bought her, although Tiger hates it. The author is very skilled at describing how Tiger manages her grief, but that also makes it pretty hard to read. At first I find it a bit repetitive and too much rumination about the same things. But the more I read, the more Tiger comes to life.

Tiger is 16 years old, but often acts like she's at least a couple of years younger. June has been very overprotective and never let her go to parties or camps, or meet boys, and that could well be why Tiger feels younger. The two of them have been an almost isolated unit, and I believe that makes June's death even worse for Tiger. There's no safety net and she ends up in the system with foster care. There she discovers that there are children whose parents have abused them, or simply didn't care about them; the opposite of what Tiger has experienced. Apart from her mom's refusal to tell her about her father, so Tiger doesn't know anything about him, or if he's alive.

It's no exaggeration that Tiger's world is turned upside down by her mom's death. She becomes a part of a world she's never known, going to and from different foster homes, until they can find a permanent solution. The author shows us both good and bad places, good and bad foster parents - just like it is in the real world. It's an emotional and sometimes tough read, but very beautifully written. I went from thinking the book dragged on somewhat, to not wanting it to end!

"All your life, you've loved words and language, even if you aren't great at school. You've loved weird words and smart words and beautiful words and awkward words, all of them. Podunk. Mastermind. Effluvium. Macrosomatic. Hullabaloo.

But there isn't a single word in the universe that you can think of that would describe the way you feel right now."

Content Warnings

More...