Take a photo of a barcode or cover
livculture 's review for:
Sh!t Bag
by Xena Knox
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.
The plot: Freya is a Scottish teenager with an ileostomy bag. This has led to her being given quite an unfortunate nickname by her peers: Sh!t Bag. The book sees her navigate life and love whilst having this bag, seeing her come into her own when she goes to a camp for fellow young people with ileostomy and colostomy bags.
The positives: Books about young people with medical conditions that can educate, entertain and develop empathy are always a fantastic addition to the YA literary canon and I will always welcome them. This story was definitely original, with a charismatic and feisty narrative voice that definitely feels realistic to how young people speak and the title alone could definitely result in young people picking it up. I'd pitch it at Year 9 and above as it has a lot of swearing.
Why I gave three stars: Honestly at first the book had me feeling a little squeamish as it gets quite medically descriptive so that took me by surprise. The book took me a while to finish as well, I wasn't completely engrossed that I really wanted to finish it. I found the ending a little abrupt as well.
Conclusion: Again I can definitely see this book finding an audience, as books about illnesses like The Fault In Our Stars did, this could be the less depressing and more sassy alternative maybe? Xena Knox definitely is an exciting new YA author that could be one to watch!
The plot: Freya is a Scottish teenager with an ileostomy bag. This has led to her being given quite an unfortunate nickname by her peers: Sh!t Bag. The book sees her navigate life and love whilst having this bag, seeing her come into her own when she goes to a camp for fellow young people with ileostomy and colostomy bags.
The positives: Books about young people with medical conditions that can educate, entertain and develop empathy are always a fantastic addition to the YA literary canon and I will always welcome them. This story was definitely original, with a charismatic and feisty narrative voice that definitely feels realistic to how young people speak and the title alone could definitely result in young people picking it up. I'd pitch it at Year 9 and above as it has a lot of swearing.
Why I gave three stars: Honestly at first the book had me feeling a little squeamish as it gets quite medically descriptive so that took me by surprise. The book took me a while to finish as well, I wasn't completely engrossed that I really wanted to finish it. I found the ending a little abrupt as well.
Conclusion: Again I can definitely see this book finding an audience, as books about illnesses like The Fault In Our Stars did, this could be the less depressing and more sassy alternative maybe? Xena Knox definitely is an exciting new YA author that could be one to watch!