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A review by panikos
Baby Love by Jacqueline Wilson
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Jacqueline Wilson was a mainstay of my childhood. I haven't read many of her new releases in recent years - not necessarily because I'm outside the age range, because I'm still a huge fan of children's fiction, but because I've found a lot of her newer books a bit underwhelming. This one caught my eye, however, and I'm really glad I picked it up.
Wilson's writing is always compellingly readable. She sucks you in from the first page and is unfailingly brilliant at inhabiting a child's perspective. Anyone who reads a lot of her books will notice that she's not the most versatile writer, but you can't deny that she's brilliant at what she does. This book treads familiar tropes and beats from her other works. Like Kiss, Bad Girls, and Midnight, we follow a shy girl who is mostly a loner, whose life starts to change when a cooler, more intimidating girl befriends her. It's not original, but it's still enjoyable, and the 1960s setting and darker subject matter distinguishes the story enough for it to be interesting.
For the first 80-ish percent of this book, I was leaning towards giving it four stars. I felt that the setting and the characters were really well drawn, and I loved how Wilson portrayed the class differences between Nina and Laura. The theme of class weighs heavily on the whole book, and while I don't think it's drawn together as cohesively as it could be, I still enjoyed it. It was also grimly fascinating to read about the dreadful treatment of young mothers in the 1960s, with how little support and autonomy they had. I sympathised with Laura a great deal and felt she was completely justified in her anger.
But, as with a lot of Wilson's recent books, the ending felt rather rushed. Everything wrapped up so quickly, and I wasn't a fan of the afterword - it just felt tacked on to tie up the loose ends that hadn't been dealt with properly in the rest of the story. While I think it's good that the story had an uplifting end, as it would've been crushing if Laura hadn't been allowed to keep her baby, I don't think the execution was that convincing. Her Aunt Susannah barely appears in the rest of the story, so her appearance at the end had a ring of deus ex machina to it. On top of that, the story doesn't really grapple with the difficulties Laura would face growing up as a young mother. It felt a bit rose-tinted to just have it be that Laura keeps her baby and lives happily ever after. Even if she loved her daughter and would never have given her up for anything, it's unlikely that things would've been easy afterwards, so I wish I'd seen a bit more nuance on that front.
With all that said, I do think this is one of Jacqueline Wilson's stronger entries in the last fifteen years, and I'm glad I read it. I think it's a valuable insight into how attitudes have changed, and a worthwhile read for teenagers who want to learn about consent and victim blaming.
Wilson's writing is always compellingly readable. She sucks you in from the first page and is unfailingly brilliant at inhabiting a child's perspective. Anyone who reads a lot of her books will notice that she's not the most versatile writer, but you can't deny that she's brilliant at what she does. This book treads familiar tropes and beats from her other works. Like Kiss, Bad Girls, and Midnight, we follow a shy girl who is mostly a loner, whose life starts to change when a cooler, more intimidating girl befriends her. It's not original, but it's still enjoyable, and the 1960s setting and darker subject matter distinguishes the story enough for it to be interesting.
For the first 80-ish percent of this book, I was leaning towards giving it four stars. I felt that the setting and the characters were really well drawn, and I loved how Wilson portrayed the class differences between Nina and Laura. The theme of class weighs heavily on the whole book, and while I don't think it's drawn together as cohesively as it could be, I still enjoyed it. It was also grimly fascinating to read about the dreadful treatment of young mothers in the 1960s, with how little support and autonomy they had. I sympathised with Laura a great deal and felt she was completely justified in her anger.
But, as with a lot of Wilson's recent books, the ending felt rather rushed. Everything wrapped up so quickly, and I wasn't a fan of the afterword - it just felt tacked on to tie up the loose ends that hadn't been dealt with properly in the rest of the story.
With all that said, I do think this is one of Jacqueline Wilson's stronger entries in the last fifteen years, and I'm glad I read it. I think it's a valuable insight into how attitudes have changed, and a worthwhile read for teenagers who want to learn about consent and victim blaming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse