A review by daisey
Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts

4.0

This book has been compared many times to The Fault in Our Stars, and although it deals with a similar kind of situation I liked it for different reasons. Zac and Mia seemed more like real teenagers to me. Mia is not a character you're going to like through much of the story, but I think her anger at the world is a pretty accurate portrayal of the way many teenage girls would feel and act if they were faced with cancer. Her growth and change is easy to see when she interacts with her school friends later in the story. Zac deals with his own cancer in different ways throughout the story, and that roller coaster of emotions is incredibly believable to me. I also felt the alternating points of view of Zac and Mia added additional depth to the story. I adjusted to reading Zac's point of view in the beginning, appreciated the addition of Mia's point of view in the middle, and then felt a loss when it switched to just Mia's point of view in the third part. Yet, that loss is an important part of what is happening to both characters.

On a different note, I haven’t read many stories that are set in Australia, and I liked that about this book as well. Through much of it, a city is a city to me, but I loved the Good Olive farm with the little bits of extra detail about the work of caring for the trees and animals.

* I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and HMH Books for Young Readers for an honest review.