Scan barcode
A review by kappareads
Finding Balance by Kati Gardner
3.0
Read this review and others like it on my blog, Kappa Reads
ARC From NetGalley
First of all, can we all appreciate that cover? I can't think of the last time I saw a cover that had an image of a person with a disability.
Ok, now into the proper review. This book follows two teenagers who survived cancer. Jase was a toddler when he recovered from cancer and only thinks about cancer when he goes for medical check-ups and the summer camp that is specifically for kids who have/had cancer. Mari had cancer later in her life and the effects of her cancer are more obvious as she had most of one of her legs amputated. Usually they only interact in the summer, but because of ableism from her high school, Mari switches schools and just so happens to go to school with Jase.
And that’s when my problems with the book come in. I'm going to cover what I didn't like about the book first and then end on a good note with what I enjoyed.
Unfortunately, my main problem was with one of the point's of view, Jase. He is a near irredeemable asshole. Despite the fact that he and Mari have something like a summer fling going, in school he ignores her, because he doesn't want to be associated with someone who visibly went through cancer while he can hide the fact that he is a survivor.
And, okay, teenagers can be bad people in order to maintain social standing, but this lasted for far too long for me to root for their relationship. He doesn’t apologize until halfway into the book and before that, he keeps pushing her to accept his lame attempts at being friendly because, again, he hasn’t apologized for ignoring her. Not only did he ignore her, but he let some grossly ableist things slide from his friends.
One comment on a side character that isn't necessarily positive or negative, Lindsay. She is everything bad about white, rich, abled people in one person and I’m not saying that the ableist crap she spewed was unbelievable, but to have her be the only person saying ableist things was just a bit too much. The whole school is full of rich abled people, I feel the author could’ve had the ableism coming from multiple people.
Now, I really liked Mari's stories. Her plot lines, besides her romance with Jase, is about her dealing with grossest ableism from classmates and ableism from both the high school she was enrolled in and the one that Jase is currently attending. She’s dealing with the inner turmoil of her comfort versus society's comfort and whether that means she should try using a prosthetic leg. She’s also dealing with how ableism affects her ability to succeed in school.
But also her character isn't completely focused on her disability. Like I said, she does have a romance with Jase that was kind of good near the end. She also has a job at a bookstore and a supportive family. Basically, Mari was my favorite in this book.
I rated this book three stars. I would have rated it lower, but that didn't feel entirely fair, as I did really like Mari's stuff and later on in the book, I was kind of rooting for the relationship. However, all of my problems were with Jase and how he treated Mari. I understand they are friends at camp, but it took far too long for him to apologize for what he’d done wrong and for the romance to start for me to be as invested as I'm sure the author wanted me to be.
ARC From NetGalley
First of all, can we all appreciate that cover? I can't think of the last time I saw a cover that had an image of a person with a disability.
Ok, now into the proper review. This book follows two teenagers who survived cancer. Jase was a toddler when he recovered from cancer and only thinks about cancer when he goes for medical check-ups and the summer camp that is specifically for kids who have/had cancer. Mari had cancer later in her life and the effects of her cancer are more obvious as she had most of one of her legs amputated. Usually they only interact in the summer, but because of ableism from her high school, Mari switches schools and just so happens to go to school with Jase.
And that’s when my problems with the book come in. I'm going to cover what I didn't like about the book first and then end on a good note with what I enjoyed.
Unfortunately, my main problem was with one of the point's of view, Jase. He is a near irredeemable asshole. Despite the fact that he and Mari have something like a summer fling going, in school he ignores her, because he doesn't want to be associated with someone who visibly went through cancer while he can hide the fact that he is a survivor.
And, okay, teenagers can be bad people in order to maintain social standing, but this lasted for far too long for me to root for their relationship. He doesn’t apologize until halfway into the book and before that, he keeps pushing her to accept his lame attempts at being friendly because, again, he hasn’t apologized for ignoring her. Not only did he ignore her, but he let some grossly ableist things slide from his friends.
Spoiler
Jase doesn’t want anyone to know he had cancer because he was bullied in middle school for it. So, while I’ve never heard of a kid getting bullied for having cancer, I get that middle schoolers are the absolute worst and some are probably terrible enough to have said that type of stuff. However, I just didn’t empathize with him because of his terrible actions toward Mari while she's also dealing with ableism. Despite knowing what being bullied for cancer-related reasons can feel like, what does he do? Basically nothing for half the book!!!!One comment on a side character that isn't necessarily positive or negative, Lindsay. She is everything bad about white, rich, abled people in one person and I’m not saying that the ableist crap she spewed was unbelievable, but to have her be the only person saying ableist things was just a bit too much. The whole school is full of rich abled people, I feel the author could’ve had the ableism coming from multiple people.
Now, I really liked Mari's stories. Her plot lines, besides her romance with Jase, is about her dealing with grossest ableism from classmates and ableism from both the high school she was enrolled in and the one that Jase is currently attending. She’s dealing with the inner turmoil of her comfort versus society's comfort and whether that means she should try using a prosthetic leg. She’s also dealing with how ableism affects her ability to succeed in school.
But also her character isn't completely focused on her disability. Like I said, she does have a romance with Jase that was kind of good near the end. She also has a job at a bookstore and a supportive family. Basically, Mari was my favorite in this book.
I rated this book three stars. I would have rated it lower, but that didn't feel entirely fair, as I did really like Mari's stuff and later on in the book, I was kind of rooting for the relationship. However, all of my problems were with Jase and how he treated Mari. I understand they are friends at camp, but it took far too long for him to apologize for what he’d done wrong and for the romance to start for me to be as invested as I'm sure the author wanted me to be.