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mburton43952's review
5.0
This book was excellent!
I often have trouble really enjoying middle grade because sometimes the characters are just too young for me to relate to, but that was not the case here. The main character Abby is wise beyond her years (but not so wise that she seems unrealistic for a 12 year old). I'm also a huge astronomy nerd, and the fact that it was centered around a solar eclipse brought back memories of watching the one in 2017.
I though the topic of eating disorders was handled well. It was realistic, but not too dark for the intended audience. Ultimately, this is a story about family and the bond we all share as human beings. Overall, this was a great read, and I can't wait to read more from Claire in the future!
I often have trouble really enjoying middle grade because sometimes the characters are just too young for me to relate to, but that was not the case here. The main character Abby is wise beyond her years (but not so wise that she seems unrealistic for a 12 year old). I'm also a huge astronomy nerd, and the fact that it was centered around a solar eclipse brought back memories of watching the one in 2017.
I though the topic of eating disorders was handled well. It was realistic, but not too dark for the intended audience. Ultimately, this is a story about family and the bond we all share as human beings. Overall, this was a great read, and I can't wait to read more from Claire in the future!
309804490's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thesaltiestlibrarian's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT follows Abby, her older sisters Jade and Blair, as they struggle through a blazing summer in their hometown of Moose Junction, Wisconsin. Blair has been sent to a rehabilitation facility following a mental break due slightly in part to her development of anorexia. She loves ballet. Abby, our narrator, loves astronomy. However, she feels like Earth is another planet with everything going on: her friends staying clear without reason, Jade suddenly being nice, Blair away at her rehab center, a famous astronomer renting a cabin on the property, and the public library being threatened with permanent closure.
Now that I write all that out, there's a lot going on in this book. That's not always a bad thing, but maybe it would have benefited the plot more to only have a couple major plots, with maybe two minor ones thrown in. While the characters were fine and a bit unremarkable, the structure worked against the quality in two distinct ways.
There were too many "b" plots.
Abby is looking for something for the famous astronomer, and there's cabin work to be done on the cabin he and his assistant are staying in, and Abby's friends are avoiding her, and Blair is suffering an eating disorder, and she's in rehab that's almost draining the family's money, and the library is closing, AND we go back in time to see Blair's downward slope, AND...!
Too much. Yeah, I get that life throws a lot at people, and I've been there too. But the thing about fiction is that it needs to be believable, if not solely for the fact that life is too big to think about sometimes in the first place.
The timeline skips detracted from the present.
We didn't really need to see Blair's slide into darkness. We know that it happened when we come into the novel. A lot more tension could have been brought if Swinarski had kept us in the present and built from that. Flipping us into the past, into things we already got a feel for in the "now," made me less inclined to keep reading.
While I enjoyed the story for what it was, there were pretty obvious flaws that kept it from being a *fantastic* read for me.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT follows Abby, her older sisters Jade and Blair, as they struggle through a blazing summer in their hometown of Moose Junction, Wisconsin. Blair has been sent to a rehabilitation facility following a mental break due slightly in part to her development of anorexia. She loves ballet. Abby, our narrator, loves astronomy. However, she feels like Earth is another planet with everything going on: her friends staying clear without reason, Jade suddenly being nice, Blair away at her rehab center, a famous astronomer renting a cabin on the property, and the public library being threatened with permanent closure.
Now that I write all that out, there's a lot going on in this book. That's not always a bad thing, but maybe it would have benefited the plot more to only have a couple major plots, with maybe two minor ones thrown in. While the characters were fine and a bit unremarkable, the structure worked against the quality in two distinct ways.
There were too many "b" plots.
Abby is looking for something for the famous astronomer, and there's cabin work to be done on the cabin he and his assistant are staying in, and Abby's friends are avoiding her, and Blair is suffering an eating disorder, and she's in rehab that's almost draining the family's money, and the library is closing, AND we go back in time to see Blair's downward slope, AND...!
Too much. Yeah, I get that life throws a lot at people, and I've been there too. But the thing about fiction is that it needs to be believable, if not solely for the fact that life is too big to think about sometimes in the first place.
The timeline skips detracted from the present.
We didn't really need to see Blair's slide into darkness. We know that it happened when we come into the novel. A lot more tension could have been brought if Swinarski had kept us in the present and built from that. Flipping us into the past, into things we already got a feel for in the "now," made me less inclined to keep reading.
While I enjoyed the story for what it was, there were pretty obvious flaws that kept it from being a *fantastic* read for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Death and Panic attacks/disorders
anniefwrites's review
This was such a sweet book! The author creates such an endearing character in Abby, who is both flawed and trying her best. I love the backdrop of a Midwestern end-of-the-summer, and Swinarski “goes there and takes care,” as my grad school professor would say, regarding Abby’s sister’s eating disorder. Such a wholesome read.
magdalynann's review against another edition
5.0
What Happens Next is an amazing read. It explores so many dynamic relationships and sensitive, but important, topics: eating disorders, family estrangement, and loneliness.
I’m not normally a fan of anachronistic story telling but it works so well for What Happens Next. Swinarski jumps around to let us know Abby’s important and relevant memories when we need to see them. She sits on a dock alone behind a juxtaposed scene of her with her friends or her sisters, and it really drives the emotion of the scenes home.
The most powerful scenes revolve around Abby’s understanding of what anorexia is doing to her sister, Blaire. She imagines the disease as a person, slowly sucking the life from her sister. In each flashback, Abby notes that she should have known something was wrong. She should have been curious about the sweaters and said something sooner when she realized her sister wasn’t eating. But many of these moments are cut short when Abby allows herself to stubbornly get angry at her sister for her selfishness, noting that first the family had no money because Blaire was doing ballet, and now they have no money because Blaire’s not doing ballet.
Abby learns that the secrets we keep for each other can often cause more harm than good and sees the terrible consequences of lost goodbyes. What Happens Next is an important read for everyone and a reminder that when mental illness strikes, it’s often more than one person who needs to heal.
I’m not normally a fan of anachronistic story telling but it works so well for What Happens Next. Swinarski jumps around to let us know Abby’s important and relevant memories when we need to see them. She sits on a dock alone behind a juxtaposed scene of her with her friends or her sisters, and it really drives the emotion of the scenes home.
The most powerful scenes revolve around Abby’s understanding of what anorexia is doing to her sister, Blaire. She imagines the disease as a person, slowly sucking the life from her sister. In each flashback, Abby notes that she should have known something was wrong. She should have been curious about the sweaters and said something sooner when she realized her sister wasn’t eating. But many of these moments are cut short when Abby allows herself to stubbornly get angry at her sister for her selfishness, noting that first the family had no money because Blaire was doing ballet, and now they have no money because Blaire’s not doing ballet.
Abby learns that the secrets we keep for each other can often cause more harm than good and sees the terrible consequences of lost goodbyes. What Happens Next is an important read for everyone and a reminder that when mental illness strikes, it’s often more than one person who needs to heal.
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