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A review by sreddous
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In general, this book feels like a good and pretty-realistic lens into the mind of a middle-schooler who is struggling with social interactions, subjects at school, and a mental condition that makes her life/makes learning hard in ways. The way the colors and other symptoms of synesthesia are described is very poetic and beautiful, and it feels like a lot of research went in to describing what it really can be like for different people, which is really cool. The slice-of-life plot doesn't really have "enormous stakes" but that's really okay; it's nice to watch a character deal with their feelings and with learning to communicate and such.
This book gets pretty intense sometimes. This is a good thing in a lot of ways, in that it takes its audience seriously and goes over difficult and emotional topics that kids and young people really do face, such as the deaths of parents, grandparents, and pets. In that sense, I respect that this book doesn't shy away from how painful all of those events can be. But, whew. There's a relatively-detailed description of a family putting down their dog at the vet's office that made me have to take a deep breath and put the book down for a second about, so heads up if that kind of thing is difficult for you/for a young reader who you otherwise might get this book for.
This is a four-star experience for me instead of a five- because, honestly, I think maybe a few too many things were going on in this book, and maybe trimming a few characters or plot threads could make things a little more emotionally impactful. The way things wrapped up with Adam and the support group made me literally say out loud "that's all?", and the sort of love-triangle stuff just made things feel cluttered.
Also, I feel like a lot of the bullying stuff felt a bit generic and actually not super believable -- I was bullied in school too and I know peers can be cruel, but I feel like the "freak" stuff is maybe a bit not-super-believable. Characters like Amy are interesting since I can see why she'd say the things she'd say, but the other generic bullies/classmates aren't really given that kind of insight, and there's enough drama and hardship in Mia's life without also having generic bully memories and encounters.
Overall, this is emotional and difficult in good ways. I'd recommend this to any middle-grade reader who is ready to handle some difficult topics.
This book gets pretty intense sometimes. This is a good thing in a lot of ways, in that it takes its audience seriously and goes over difficult and emotional topics that kids and young people really do face, such as the deaths of parents, grandparents, and pets. In that sense, I respect that this book doesn't shy away from how painful all of those events can be. But, whew. There's a relatively-detailed description of a family putting down their dog at the vet's office that made me have to take a deep breath and put the book down for a second about, so heads up if that kind of thing is difficult for you/for a young reader who you otherwise might get this book for.
This is a four-star experience for me instead of a five- because, honestly, I think maybe a few too many things were going on in this book, and maybe trimming a few characters or plot threads could make things a little more emotionally impactful. The way things wrapped up with Adam and the support group made me literally say out loud "that's all?", and the sort of love-triangle stuff just made things feel cluttered.
Also, I feel like a lot of the bullying stuff felt a bit generic and actually not super believable -- I was bullied in school too and I know peers can be cruel, but I feel like the "freak" stuff is maybe a bit not-super-believable. Characters like Amy are interesting since I can see why she'd say the things she'd say, but the other generic bullies/classmates aren't really given that kind of insight, and there's enough drama and hardship in Mia's life without also having generic bully memories and encounters.
Overall, this is emotional and difficult in good ways. I'd recommend this to any middle-grade reader who is ready to handle some difficult topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Bullying and Ableism