A review by pavi_fictionalworm
Accidental by Alex Richards

3.0

Disclaimer: An eARC was provided via Publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The Thoughts, opinions & feelings expressed in the review are therefore, my own.

When I read the blurb of the book; I couldn’t hit request hard enough – the blurb made Accidental sound like a book that will break your heart and yet leave you with hope at the end of reading the book!

In [b:Accidental|42968986|Accidental|Alex Richards|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569959527l/42968986._SY75_.jpg|66792402]; Johanna is living the typical teenage life with her conservative grandparents – she has her tribe, two best friends, Lea and Gabby who stand by her through thick and thin; she has her passion for sewing fashionable clothes and now, she has a cute new boy in her class; Milo – so there’s a possibility of something in the romance front as well. All is hunky dory in her life.

The fact that she receives a letter from her father; whom she hasn’t seen in thirteen years is something to look forward to – rather than something to dread. Until he starts spewing some story about how her mother didn’t die in a car accident; but it was Johanna who accidentally shot and killed her mother when she was 2 years old. An accident for which her father went to prison and she has absolutely no recollection of.

When she finds out that her father has been telling the truth; it totally upends her life in a way she did not expect and add on to the fact that she becomes a victim of cyber bullying, harassment and bullying at her own school – it destroys her in a way that she doesn’t know if she will ever recover from.

I loved the way the author has handled the sensitive issues within the book; I could see the effort that she put in to be sensitive of an issue that not many would focus/hopefully experience in their lifetime.

What didn’t support her was the way the MC; Johanna behaved – I could honestly not see any character growth within her; for the most part, I couldn’t connect with her whining or rather her woe be me attitude that didn’t work in favour at all. And can I just say, I also couldn’t understand the need for Milo and the progress of his relationship with Johanna – Trust me, I get that he was her support system; her unconditional support system to be honest; but the way Jo treated him for the most part, especially when he had even a single opinion that went against hers –let’s just say there’s a reason why I didn’t actually empathize with Johanna throughout the book.

Pick up this contemporary YA novel, if you want to have a unique plotline and the way it is handled!