Reviews

Accidental by Alex Richards

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dmedema's review

5.0

When I was in 6th grade my neighbor (who was in 2nd grade) died by accidental gunshot of his older brother. This book touched every thread of that heartache, and I'll never forget it.

Beautifully written, and poignant - an important read. This book not only tugged at my heart, but really left me thinking about all the characters. <3

booknightowl's review

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3.0

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Childrens Book for providing an ARC of Accidental in exchange for an honest review.

Accidental by Alex Richard's is about Johanna who has grown up living with her grandparents because her mother died in a car accident when she was young. Johanna father has decided not to be in her life until now day he gets in contact with her and breaks some devastating news she did not see coming.

Accidental deals with issues such as father daughter issues, school issues and friend issues.

mad_taylh's review

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes

3.75

midnightbooklover's review

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4.0

Accidental tells the story of high school student Johanna who is living a normal life being raised by her grandparents.
Jo lost her mom when she was 2, one day she finds out she accidentally shot her mother to death when she was a toddler.

We get to read about the guilt and shame Jo feels. It is a heartbreaking story.
And something that sadly happens in real life too not just books and movies.

This is an emotional book. The author did a great job with this story. I felt everything the characters felt. She just had such a good way of making you feel.

I would say my only issue with the book was that I didn’t always like Jo. While I understand going through something like this is awful, I felt she was very immature at times. I didn’t care for her from the beginning before she found out about her past. I need to love a main character for me to fully enjoy the book.

I would still recommend it if you like contemporary YA novels.

missusb21's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative 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

Content Warnings

shelf_blame's review

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3.0

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for the digital ARC of Accidental by Alex Richards!

Accidental follows Johanna, a teenager raised by her grandparents after her mother was tragically killed in a car accident - or so she thinks. The truth is revealed when Johanna's absentee father barrels back into her life and lays it on her: Johanna accidentally killed her mother as a toddler when she found her father's gun.

This book takes a hard look at gun violence in the US, and how in addition to street crime, the deaths of children who have found unsecure guns or of other people they shoot accidentally is much higher than it should be. Johanna is understandably distraught when she finds out. She suffers from panic attacks, and while she has supportive friends, those friendships also suffer in the face of her devastation.

I mostly enjoyed this book. I will say I didn't really feel a connection with Johanna. She spends most of the book having various tantrums and yelling at anyone who looks at her. Like I said, her despair is totally warranted. I can't imagine finding this information out over a decade later. But unfortunately, I just felt like instead of feeling empathetic toward her, I find myself skimming a bit in the second half of the book.

Those issues aside, I think this book was really well written. The dialogue was done well and was believable for teenagers, and the plot moved along at a nice pace so that the story didn't feel like it lagged.

Overall I would say if you're interested, give it a read! I would definitely read more from this author in the future.

pavi_fictionalworm's review

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3.0

Disclaimer: An eARC was provided via Publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The Thoughts, opinions & feelings expressed in the review are therefore, my own.

When I read the blurb of the book; I couldn’t hit request hard enough – the blurb made Accidental sound like a book that will break your heart and yet leave you with hope at the end of reading the book!

In [b:Accidental|42968986|Accidental|Alex Richards|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569959527l/42968986._SY75_.jpg|66792402]; Johanna is living the typical teenage life with her conservative grandparents – she has her tribe, two best friends, Lea and Gabby who stand by her through thick and thin; she has her passion for sewing fashionable clothes and now, she has a cute new boy in her class; Milo – so there’s a possibility of something in the romance front as well. All is hunky dory in her life.

The fact that she receives a letter from her father; whom she hasn’t seen in thirteen years is something to look forward to – rather than something to dread. Until he starts spewing some story about how her mother didn’t die in a car accident; but it was Johanna who accidentally shot and killed her mother when she was 2 years old. An accident for which her father went to prison and she has absolutely no recollection of.

When she finds out that her father has been telling the truth; it totally upends her life in a way she did not expect and add on to the fact that she becomes a victim of cyber bullying, harassment and bullying at her own school – it destroys her in a way that she doesn’t know if she will ever recover from.

I loved the way the author has handled the sensitive issues within the book; I could see the effort that she put in to be sensitive of an issue that not many would focus/hopefully experience in their lifetime.

What didn’t support her was the way the MC; Johanna behaved – I could honestly not see any character growth within her; for the most part, I couldn’t connect with her whining or rather her woe be me attitude that didn’t work in favour at all. And can I just say, I also couldn’t understand the need for Milo and the progress of his relationship with Johanna – Trust me, I get that he was her support system; her unconditional support system to be honest; but the way Jo treated him for the most part, especially when he had even a single opinion that went against hers –let’s just say there’s a reason why I didn’t actually empathize with Johanna throughout the book.

Pick up this contemporary YA novel, if you want to have a unique plotline and the way it is handled!