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A review by library_brandy
Forever Changes by Brendan Halpin
3.0
Brianna is just about to start her senior year of high school: all regular classes, plus AP Calc. But despite being a math whiz, she's not really gung-ho about applying to colleges, because she's not sure if her cystic fibrosis will allow her to even live long enough to bother. She knows her time is limited, and so she spends that time with her friends, her family, and yes, with calculus--people and ideas that make her happy. Brianna is more or less a regular teenager who goes to parties, helps her friends through boyfriend troubles and parents' divorces, and just happens to have a terminal illness. Her mortality is never far from her mind, but CF isn't her defining characteristic. She bonds with her calculus teacher (who is himself staring an early death in the face due to heart disease) as they discuss life, living, and the importance of infinitely small numbers--and people.
The writing is a little clunky in places, though: the line "Even the fact that guys were buzzing around Melissa like bees did to that honeysuckle bush near the beach in the summer didn't bother Brianna" was a particular delight to parse. On the whole, though, I liked this better than I'd expected to. It's not maudlin the way Lurlene McDaniel books are; Brianna is very relatable as a character. The novel does require some suspension of disbelief, particularly in that Brianna is not the only student with CF at her high school, but her friend Ashley has it, too. It is a tearjerker, of course, as we head toward the inevitable conclusion, but really this is about Brianna's relationships with the people around her.
The writing is a little clunky in places, though: the line "Even the fact that guys were buzzing around Melissa like bees did to that honeysuckle bush near the beach in the summer didn't bother Brianna" was a particular delight to parse. On the whole, though, I liked this better than I'd expected to. It's not maudlin the way Lurlene McDaniel books are; Brianna is very relatable as a character. The novel does require some suspension of disbelief, particularly in that Brianna is not the only student with CF at her high school, but her friend Ashley has it, too. It is a tearjerker, of course, as we head toward the inevitable conclusion, but really this is about Brianna's relationships with the people around her.