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themelleh 's review for:
Tangerines
by Tsvi Jolles
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’d like to thank NetGalley, Brave Fawn Books and Tsvi Jolles for the ARC. This review is entirely honest and unbiased.
Having just finished the book moments ago, I found it both hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time. I saw so much of my younger self in Gilly that by the time the ending came around I felt clobbered by how it mirrored my own life.
There is a touch of whimsy to this story. Told in snapshot moments, it fleets from thought to thought like an ADHD kid without their Vyvanse. Her entire world revolves around her mom, her bff, his parents, and a handful of others. And there is an intense undercurrent of longing for her dad who left for unknown reasons. I spent a massive chunk thinking we were in a magical world only to be smashed back to reality by mentions of televisions and Stephen King.
Now Gilly presents as perfectly well adjusted. She plays, has fun, enjoys mom’s cards night, going to eat with her mom, writing, but mostly, chilling in her tangerine tree. She and her bff, Oggy, make names up for trees and animals. Between the two of them they make spells and prayers and hatch a plan to get back Gilly’s dad.
Here’s the thing, at the tender age of ten, the adults in her life have deemed to keep Gilly in the dark about a lot. And a lot of the hurt in this book could have been eliminated by simply talking to Gilly and telling her what’s going on. It really annoys me, personally, when adults use age as a reason to avoid difficult conversations.
As a kid who grew up with a bipolar dad who was in and out of hospitals, who attempted suicide multiple times and used harmful substances to self-medicate when the medication didn’t work - no one talked to me. No one told me what was going on. I grew up to be highly anxious, depressed on/off, and spent a lot of my childhood/teens/adulthood thinking it was my fault.
Not speaking to kids to “protect them” actually does the opposite. Which is why the whole last part I was so invested in the story.
While I would have liked to have seen Gilly’s mom’s reaction to her turning up after a night traversing the forest, I was content where it left off. Perhaps we will get a coda to Gilly & Oggy’s story when they’re all grown up…
Having just finished the book moments ago, I found it both hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time. I saw so much of my younger self in Gilly that by the time the ending came around I felt clobbered by how it mirrored my own life.
There is a touch of whimsy to this story. Told in snapshot moments, it fleets from thought to thought like an ADHD kid without their Vyvanse. Her entire world revolves around her mom, her bff, his parents, and a handful of others. And there is an intense undercurrent of longing for her dad who left for unknown reasons. I spent a massive chunk thinking we were in a magical world only to be smashed back to reality by mentions of televisions and Stephen King.
Now Gilly presents as perfectly well adjusted. She plays, has fun, enjoys mom’s cards night, going to eat with her mom, writing, but mostly, chilling in her tangerine tree. She and her bff, Oggy, make names up for trees and animals. Between the two of them they make spells and prayers and hatch a plan to get back Gilly’s dad.
Here’s the thing, at the tender age of ten, the adults in her life have deemed to keep Gilly in the dark about a lot. And a lot of the hurt in this book could have been eliminated by simply talking to Gilly and telling her what’s going on. It really annoys me, personally, when adults use age as a reason to avoid difficult conversations.
Not speaking to kids to “protect them” actually does the opposite. Which is why the whole last part I was so invested in the story.
While I would have liked to have seen Gilly’s mom’s reaction to her turning up after a night traversing the forest, I was content where it left off. Perhaps we will get a coda to Gilly & Oggy’s story when they’re all grown up…
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia