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A review by saskiacb
Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel
3.0
**338 pages
Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index is smart, comical and heart-wrenching. Dealing with several themes, the most prominent and underlying of all being grief and love. Juniper is struggling from the loss of her sister, Camilla, and the narrative begins 65 days after this major loss in her life. This causes a significant distortion to her relationship with her family and with her best friend, but after losing an index card, Juniper becomes tied to a few people at school.
This novel follows the typical linear YA story line of grief, with the protagonist struggling at the beginning, growing desperate and, finally, learning acceptance that pain doesn't immediately disappear. This is not a critique of the novel, in fact, seeing Juniper's different emotions towards her sister as she is trying to remember the events surrounding Camilla's death, while attempting to help out other souls in school was an integral part of the story.
Beautiful friendships bloom, pain is high, then dwindles and comes crashing back. Time plays a crucial part in this narrative, not only marking different chapters, but different events and states of mind.
Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index is smart, comical and heart-wrenching. Dealing with several themes, the most prominent and underlying of all being grief and love. Juniper is struggling from the loss of her sister, Camilla, and the narrative begins 65 days after this major loss in her life. This causes a significant distortion to her relationship with her family and with her best friend, but after losing an index card, Juniper becomes tied to a few people at school.
This novel follows the typical linear YA story line of grief, with the protagonist struggling at the beginning, growing desperate and, finally, learning acceptance that pain doesn't immediately disappear. This is not a critique of the novel, in fact, seeing Juniper's different emotions towards her sister as she is trying to remember the events surrounding Camilla's death, while attempting to help out other souls in school was an integral part of the story.
Beautiful friendships bloom, pain is high, then dwindles and comes crashing back. Time plays a crucial part in this narrative, not only marking different chapters, but different events and states of mind.