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anxiousrainbows's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
gabriele_queerbookdom's review against another edition
3.0
DRC provided by Quill Tree Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Representation: pansexual disabled white protagonist with hEDS, queer white protagonist, lesbian trans white secondary character, Black secondary character with ADHD, bisexual white tertiary character, Pakistani-English tertiary character, gay white tertiary character, tertiary character of colour.
Content Warning: anxiety, panic attacks, trauma, bullying, mentions of death, racism, transphobia.
Fight + Flight by Jules Machias is a dual point-of-view middle-grade contemporary novel about fear and the ways to confront it, living in the present, about living with anxiety and living with chronic pains, and the traumas active shooter drills cause.
Avery is a bubbly middle-grade student, an energetic tornado inhabiting a body with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She is recovering from shoulder surgery when her school decides to do an active shooter drill which traumatise the whole student body and even some of the faculty. What happens during the drill leads Avery through a dangerous path as she plans to take matters in her own hands and prank the headmaster.
Sarah is the total opposite of Avery. She is shy and anxiety-ridden. After her aunt’s passing and the departure of her best-friend and cousin, she wants to make another friend and thinks Avery might be a good candidate. The girls start to bond after the drill, helping each other seeing issues from a different perspective and spurring each other to ask for what they need.
I liked this book. I liked reading the experience of a young girl starting to cope with hEDS and I liked her emotional development both in regards to her own condition and the way she relates to others. I preferred Sarah’s chapters to Avery’s though. Probably because they were written in the form of journal entries and there were lots of delightful artworks in-between the written parts and that really helped me to remain focused more than I normally am.
Representation: pansexual disabled white protagonist with hEDS, queer white protagonist, lesbian trans white secondary character, Black secondary character with ADHD, bisexual white tertiary character, Pakistani-English tertiary character, gay white tertiary character, tertiary character of colour.
Content Warning: anxiety, panic attacks, trauma, bullying, mentions of death, racism, transphobia.
Fight + Flight by Jules Machias is a dual point-of-view middle-grade contemporary novel about fear and the ways to confront it, living in the present, about living with anxiety and living with chronic pains, and the traumas active shooter drills cause.
Avery is a bubbly middle-grade student, an energetic tornado inhabiting a body with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She is recovering from shoulder surgery when her school decides to do an active shooter drill which traumatise the whole student body and even some of the faculty. What happens during the drill leads Avery through a dangerous path as she plans to take matters in her own hands and prank the headmaster.
Sarah is the total opposite of Avery. She is shy and anxiety-ridden. After her aunt’s passing and the departure of her best-friend and cousin, she wants to make another friend and thinks Avery might be a good candidate. The girls start to bond after the drill, helping each other seeing issues from a different perspective and spurring each other to ask for what they need.
I liked this book. I liked reading the experience of a young girl starting to cope with hEDS and I liked her emotional development both in regards to her own condition and the way she relates to others. I preferred Sarah’s chapters to Avery’s though. Probably because they were written in the form of journal entries and there were lots of delightful artworks in-between the written parts and that really helped me to remain focused more than I normally am.
alisong906's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sammysreadingnook's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
I'm disabled but I do not have hEDS.
Two things I want to mention: I didn't like the religious undertones. Unnecessary.
And, there was a bit more ableism than I anticipated. Avery still needs to accept her diagnosis, which is fair. But there were two remarks that were icky IMO: The use of a wheelchair is seen as bad and there's no one to challenge Avery's view on it, when it would have been an opportunity to talk about the aspect of making life less painful.
There was also this exchange: "No one would believe an adorable little disabled girl would do something so criminal (...) Okay, that didn't feel good. I'm not disabled." Instead of being offended about the apparent ableism of "disabled ppl are innocent" Avery is offended by being called disabled. Again, I get that she's a newly-ish diagnosed teenager with a lot of internalized ableism but, again, it wasn't challenged and therefore reproduces the whole "being called disabled is bad" thing.
By an own-voices author I would have expected more. Disappointed.
Otherwise, great execution, great rep.
Two things I want to mention: I didn't like the religious undertones. Unnecessary.
And, there was a bit more ableism than I anticipated. Avery still needs to accept her diagnosis, which is fair. But there were two remarks that were icky IMO: The use of a wheelchair is seen as bad and there's no one to challenge Avery's view on it, when it would have been an opportunity to talk about the aspect of making life less painful.
There was also this exchange:
By an own-voices author I would have expected more. Disappointed.
Otherwise, great execution, great rep.
larebe's review against another edition
3.75
Loved the hEDS representation! Didn’t enjoy the religious over/undertones, but maybe this had value for the author as part of the story.
celadon's review against another edition
4.0
At first glance, I was surprised to see a main character with such a strong grasp of who she is. Avery is a kid learning to live with her hEDS (hypermobile Ehler-Danlos Syndrome) while being openly queer and assertive in her identity. Middle grade heavily relies on not knowing, and trying to figure out what kind of person you’re supposed to be. This inevitably ends in some sort of life lesson about being who you are and being nice to others, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to find her not conforming to those norms. Other than all of that drama Avery also has a crush on a girl in her class, Sarah…
Avery and Sarah switch perspectives from chapter to chapter. Sarah’s consciousness is channeled through her journal pages, beautifully inscribed with drawings. It was an ironic contrast to her struggle with anxiety. We learn this very early on and throughout the story, she continues to find methods to quell her mind. The other function of her character was her relationship with Christianity and how it both hurts and helps.
I was stupid to not read the synopsis at the back of the book before starting. Their school is simulating shooter drills. Unexpectedly, the school goes on lockdown. Avery and her best friend are terrified by the noises they hear and they rush to find a safe place. Avery’s friend is scared because he is multiracial and there is a visceral concern for his safety. Avery hurts her leg in the drill and keeps going anyway for the fear of getting shot. When it turns out it was only a drill everyone is shaken and there is strong backlash from the parents. Not reading up on the background made me experience it strongly and empathize with the characters about their trauma.
From the point of the shooter drill forward, Fight + Flight explores different people’s stances on the issue of school systems traumatizing their students. And consequently effective ways of raising awareness and being an activist. With this serious topic in mind, it still finds a way to not make every moment feel heavy, and fill them with shenanigans instead.
There were some things I didn’t agree with, specifically referring to a trans person with the wrong pronouns in the past tense. That exists in this book, but there are also necessary discussions, figuring out how to be a good friend, a cute dog, and a happy ending. In this day and age, we all need more happy endings.
—-Thank You High Five Books For This ARC—-
Avery and Sarah switch perspectives from chapter to chapter. Sarah’s consciousness is channeled through her journal pages, beautifully inscribed with drawings. It was an ironic contrast to her struggle with anxiety. We learn this very early on and throughout the story, she continues to find methods to quell her mind. The other function of her character was her relationship with Christianity and how it both hurts and helps.
I was stupid to not read the synopsis at the back of the book before starting. Their school is simulating shooter drills. Unexpectedly, the school goes on lockdown. Avery and her best friend are terrified by the noises they hear and they rush to find a safe place. Avery’s friend is scared because he is multiracial and there is a visceral concern for his safety. Avery hurts her leg in the drill and keeps going anyway for the fear of getting shot. When it turns out it was only a drill everyone is shaken and there is strong backlash from the parents. Not reading up on the background made me experience it strongly and empathize with the characters about their trauma.
From the point of the shooter drill forward, Fight + Flight explores different people’s stances on the issue of school systems traumatizing their students. And consequently effective ways of raising awareness and being an activist. With this serious topic in mind, it still finds a way to not make every moment feel heavy, and fill them with shenanigans instead.
There were some things I didn’t agree with, specifically referring to a trans person with the wrong pronouns in the past tense. That exists in this book, but there are also necessary discussions, figuring out how to be a good friend, a cute dog, and a happy ending. In this day and age, we all need more happy endings.
—-Thank You High Five Books For This ARC—-
pey333's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racism and Vomit
gschwabauer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was really well done! Rarely do I see a middle-grade/YA novel try to tackle SO many topics and succeed, but this one worked on me.
- Dual perspectives that sound completely distinct. Both voices were compelling, drawing me into the story from the beginning.
- A fully fleshed out character whose Christian faith is important to her, but the story isn't about either a) how wrong she is and how she needs to abandon her beliefs, or b) how right she is and how everyone around her should convert.
- More generally, a cast of characters who disagree and who ascribe to different beliefs, but I got the sense that the author actually respected all their differing perspectives.
- Chronic illness representation!!!!
- Also anxiety! Realistically depicted in a middle-schooler without being patronizing or simplistic.
- Super cool art
- A gentle handling of intersectionality coupled with the message "You don't have to beat yourself up when you learn something, just accept that you made a mistake, have the humility to learn from it, and then do differently in the future."
- Parents who are human beings
- Complex depictions of trauma, particularly around the possibility of school violence. This generation of kids is going to need books about active shooter drills, which sucks, but this one does a good job, so I'm glad it exists.
cmstein's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Jules Machias is quickly becoming one of my favorite middle grade authors. Their debut, Both Can be True, was great, and this one is basically just as good. I would probably classify it as upper middle grade, because it deals with a lot of heavy issues. Specifically surrounding school shooting drills. There isn't specifically a school shooting in this book, but the school conducts a drill that simulates the sounds, etc. of a real school shooting, which traumatizes the students. For good reason.
Avery and Sarah were both great characters in this, each with strong voices and each on their own journeys to self-discovery. I especially loved Sarah's chapters because they were all illustrated with doodles and they were gorgeous. Both are struggling with different issues, Sarah with severe anxiety and Avery with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I loved the way they helped each other, and their budding romance was adorable.
All in all, if you're looking for a middle grade that isn't afraid to delve into the difficult stuff, I'd definitely recommend picking up this one!
Avery and Sarah were both great characters in this, each with strong voices and each on their own journeys to self-discovery. I especially loved Sarah's chapters because they were all illustrated with doodles and they were gorgeous. Both are struggling with different issues, Sarah with severe anxiety and Avery with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I loved the way they helped each other, and their budding romance was adorable.
All in all, if you're looking for a middle grade that isn't afraid to delve into the difficult stuff, I'd definitely recommend picking up this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Ableism, Death, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, and Homophobia