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A review by diary_of_a_hobbit
Saving Jessica by Lurlene McDaniel
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Saving Jessica is a young adult novel that follows the story of Jessica McMillian and Jeremy Travino. It's a fairly short book that I managed to finish in one day (I've read it before years ago, but wanted to reread it as I could barely remember the plot).
It's a very average read in my opinion and I found the dialogue too cringy (particularly at the start). The characters weren't well-fleshed out. Jessica was quite likeable overall, but pretty bland since she was written without any flaws. Jeremy switched between being immature to being rational without proper xharacter development or arc.
Two things in particular bugged me.
At the start of the book, Jessica mentions that her parents were going to have a powwow with her doctors (the use of that word in this context is cultural appropriation).
Then at a later point, Jeremy argues with his father and basically states that human life is more valuable than that of animals, a stance that I don't agree with.
In general, the themes presented in this book are important, but I feel that they weren't executed well and the above mentioned points didn't improve the matter.
CW: kidney failure, description of dialysis & other medical procedures, death of a sibling due to a car crash
It's a very average read in my opinion and I found the dialogue too cringy (particularly at the start). The characters weren't well-fleshed out. Jessica was quite likeable overall, but pretty bland since she was written without any flaws. Jeremy switched between being immature to being rational without proper xharacter development or arc.
Two things in particular bugged me.
At the start of the book, Jessica mentions that her parents were going to have a powwow with her doctors (the use of that word in this context is cultural appropriation).
Then at a later point, Jeremy argues with his father and basically states that human life is more valuable than that of animals, a stance that I don't agree with.
In general, the themes presented in this book are important, but I feel that they weren't executed well and the above mentioned points didn't improve the matter.
CW: kidney failure, description of dialysis & other medical procedures, death of a sibling due to a car crash