Scan barcode
A review by liralen
What Happens Next by Claire Swinarski
3.0
Sweet story of sisterhood—nice (well, realistic) to see them fight like cats but be there when it counts. I'm a little sorry not to see more astronomy in a book that has astronomy as it's base, but I like seeing a MG protagonist with a hobby that feels a little outside the box for a tween girl (but that will, the feeling of otherness if not the hobby itself, resonate with many).
The professor's story is less interesting—or, rather, it could be very interesting, if it were a bigger part of the story rather than having all the juicy bits jammed into the end, but then, I guess I've never been a huge fan of Big Reveals. Appreciate the calling back to the idea of lying, but the shifting timeline wasn't really my cup of tea. (I'm a lazy reader of chapter headings—I always skip them and then get confused and, if the timeline jumps around, have to go back and check to find out what year we're in. Soooo that's probably a me problem rather than a book problem.) I think instead I might have preferred a deeper dive into the town's struggling finances, because while that's not as dramatic, it's probably a much more relevant problem for your average small-town tween.
The professor's story is less interesting—or, rather, it could be very interesting, if it were a bigger part of the story rather than having all the juicy bits jammed into the end, but then, I guess I've never been a huge fan of Big Reveals. Appreciate the calling back to the idea of lying, but the shifting timeline wasn't really my cup of tea. (I'm a lazy reader of chapter headings—I always skip them and then get confused and, if the timeline jumps around, have to go back and check to find out what year we're in. Soooo that's probably a me problem rather than a book problem.) I think instead I might have preferred a deeper dive into the town's struggling finances, because while that's not as dramatic, it's probably a much more relevant problem for your average small-town tween.