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A review by katykelly
In Bloom by Matthew Crow
5.0
I actually found this better than A Fault in our Stars. Along the same lines as John Green's popular work, Before I Die and Ways to Live Forever, here is the latest tale of a young person coping with the discovery that they have cancer.
This book felt warmer, and unlike A Fault in Our Stars, the teenagers talked like real teenagers, not overly clever. Francis is believable, a touch of eccentricity but smart and down-to-earth, with a family to match. This is another book perfectly suited to the big screen. There are memorable lines, scenes and characters. Francis is 15, and a little OCD (in a loveable way) with a much older brother Chris (who, despite working, regularly visits to raid their mother's fridge). Mum is a feisty Tyne and Wear lass, fiercely maternal but ready to smack them just as easily as fight for them (her idea of sex education? "If you need any gaps filling in then we've got broadband and I never check the history.")
Francis learns he has leukaemia and has to undergo treatment in the hospital unit. And there he meets vacuous Kelly, poser Paul... And then potential soulmate Amber. They quote films and books (from Where the Wild Things Are to The Silence of the Lambs), they show us the tender and sweet first love that Francis has been craving, they go through the realities of cancer treatment with all its pain with their strange but familiar family members by their side.
I wouldn't mind if anyone could comment on this to tell me what they think the title means. I don't spot a reference to it in the book - did I miss a quote?
This is moving, down-to-earth, very funny and deserves the audience of John Green picking it up. It compares exceptionally well, in my mind it's better.
This book felt warmer, and unlike A Fault in Our Stars, the teenagers talked like real teenagers, not overly clever. Francis is believable, a touch of eccentricity but smart and down-to-earth, with a family to match. This is another book perfectly suited to the big screen. There are memorable lines, scenes and characters. Francis is 15, and a little OCD (in a loveable way) with a much older brother Chris (who, despite working, regularly visits to raid their mother's fridge). Mum is a feisty Tyne and Wear lass, fiercely maternal but ready to smack them just as easily as fight for them (her idea of sex education? "If you need any gaps filling in then we've got broadband and I never check the history.")
Francis learns he has leukaemia and has to undergo treatment in the hospital unit. And there he meets vacuous Kelly, poser Paul... And then potential soulmate Amber. They quote films and books (from Where the Wild Things Are to The Silence of the Lambs), they show us the tender and sweet first love that Francis has been craving, they go through the realities of cancer treatment with all its pain with their strange but familiar family members by their side.
I wouldn't mind if anyone could comment on this to tell me what they think the title means. I don't spot a reference to it in the book - did I miss a quote?
This is moving, down-to-earth, very funny and deserves the audience of John Green picking it up. It compares exceptionally well, in my mind it's better.