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A review by xabbeylongx
What the World Doesn't See by Mel Darbon
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Spoilers Ahead:
This book is a beautiful book. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked it up, but I thought it was such a gorgeous read.
We follow Maudie and Jake throughout this story. Maudie is Jake’s big sister, and Jake has disabilities, specifically with his speech. Even though he’s a teenager, he is treated like, essentially, a child. Their dad passed away from illness a while ago, and they’re all struggling with it, but Maudie’s mum seems to be coping the worst. Jake shuts it out, and Maudie has to cope with it for her family’s sake. But, when her mum goes missing, and she enlists her sister’s, Eve’s help, and all she does is send him off to a foster carer, Maudie knows what she must do.
She kidnaps Jake, and heads off to Cornwall, which is the last place they were all happy together as a family.
When they get there, the house they were going to stay in (belonging to Liv’s - Maudie’s best friend’s - aunt) is already occupied, and so they had to find a caravan park. They were getting complaints of noise - Jake doesn’t like showers - and so they were moved to a more private part of the park by the owners. Brae, the owner, had a nephew called Gerren, whom Jake didn’t like at first, just wanted to be friends, but he wasn’t the most accepting when it came down to Jake’s disability - he wasn’t mean on purpose, but he just didn’t know how to handle Jake at first.
When Jake thinks he spots his mum, they spend the rest of the trip trying to find her. They spot blood along the beach on their last day, and they follow it, searching for their mum. Unbeknownst to them, they find the tide has rolled in. Maudie’s mum is borderline unconscious, as she slipped and smacked her head, and they have to wait for someone to come and rescue them. Eventually, a helicopter comes and rescues them.
They realise that everything that happened with them, her mother falling apart on them, was that they weren’t moving on from what happened to their dad/husband. They all agree to mourn him properly, and they do so together, and they still remain friends with Brae and Gerren! I think Maudie even gets to be more than friendly with him, if you catch my drift.
This book is so beautiful, and I’m so glad it was written. Hearing Jake’s POV, knowing that it was based on Darbon’s own brother’s story, is amazing. I think there’s so much good representation and awareness raised in this book, like how others treat people with disabilities, and sometimes how raising a disabled child as a child yourself can affect you. The idea of them having to let go and grieve together is so heart-breaking, and I can’t lie, I did shed a few tears.
The only thing I didn’t get is Maudie’s mum… she ran away. I don’t know, I wish I could be more sympathetic towards her. I know she’s grieving her husband and the father to her children, but she left her teenage daughter and her disabled teenage son alone. I get that she called her sister, but Eve had already expressed that Jake should be in case, and she works a lot of the time anyway! Just feels a little selfish. Obviously, everyone is different, but I don’t get why she would do that. And then, to say she wasn’t running away, but every time she saw them she would genuinely run away (3 times!!! One of them where she slipped and smacked her head!!!) and I just remember wondering how her children would take that. I mean, they seem fine now, I just felt so bad for them, and I don’t think I could as forgiving.
The character arcs are immaculate in this book. The mum still doesn’t get let off the hook, but I think they all needed to save each other. Them letting Jake have a little bit of freedom, and Maudie putting herself first for once, that’s amazing, and a beautiful realisation. Would definitely recommend!
This book is a beautiful book. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked it up, but I thought it was such a gorgeous read.
We follow Maudie and Jake throughout this story. Maudie is Jake’s big sister, and Jake has disabilities, specifically with his speech. Even though he’s a teenager, he is treated like, essentially, a child. Their dad passed away from illness a while ago, and they’re all struggling with it, but Maudie’s mum seems to be coping the worst. Jake shuts it out, and Maudie has to cope with it for her family’s sake. But, when her mum goes missing, and she enlists her sister’s, Eve’s help, and all she does is send him off to a foster carer, Maudie knows what she must do.
She kidnaps Jake, and heads off to Cornwall, which is the last place they were all happy together as a family.
When they get there, the house they were going to stay in (belonging to Liv’s - Maudie’s best friend’s - aunt) is already occupied, and so they had to find a caravan park. They were getting complaints of noise - Jake doesn’t like showers - and so they were moved to a more private part of the park by the owners. Brae, the owner, had a nephew called Gerren, whom Jake didn’t like at first, just wanted to be friends, but he wasn’t the most accepting when it came down to Jake’s disability - he wasn’t mean on purpose, but he just didn’t know how to handle Jake at first.
When Jake thinks he spots his mum, they spend the rest of the trip trying to find her. They spot blood along the beach on their last day, and they follow it, searching for their mum. Unbeknownst to them, they find the tide has rolled in. Maudie’s mum is borderline unconscious, as she slipped and smacked her head, and they have to wait for someone to come and rescue them. Eventually, a helicopter comes and rescues them.
They realise that everything that happened with them, her mother falling apart on them, was that they weren’t moving on from what happened to their dad/husband. They all agree to mourn him properly, and they do so together, and they still remain friends with Brae and Gerren! I think Maudie even gets to be more than friendly with him, if you catch my drift.
This book is so beautiful, and I’m so glad it was written. Hearing Jake’s POV, knowing that it was based on Darbon’s own brother’s story, is amazing. I think there’s so much good representation and awareness raised in this book, like how others treat people with disabilities, and sometimes how raising a disabled child as a child yourself can affect you. The idea of them having to let go and grieve together is so heart-breaking, and I can’t lie, I did shed a few tears.
The only thing I didn’t get is Maudie’s mum… she ran away. I don’t know, I wish I could be more sympathetic towards her. I know she’s grieving her husband and the father to her children, but she left her teenage daughter and her disabled teenage son alone. I get that she called her sister, but Eve had already expressed that Jake should be in case, and she works a lot of the time anyway! Just feels a little selfish. Obviously, everyone is different, but I don’t get why she would do that. And then, to say she wasn’t running away, but every time she saw them she would genuinely run away (3 times!!! One of them where she slipped and smacked her head!!!) and I just remember wondering how her children would take that. I mean, they seem fine now, I just felt so bad for them, and I don’t think I could as forgiving.
The character arcs are immaculate in this book. The mum still doesn’t get let off the hook, but I think they all needed to save each other. Them letting Jake have a little bit of freedom, and Maudie putting herself first for once, that’s amazing, and a beautiful realisation. Would definitely recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment