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A review by ohnoflora
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham
4.0
Read for the YA Book Prize. What a strong shortlist, by the way. You can see it here: http://www.thebookseller.com/ya-book-prize/2016
I read Jenny Downham's [b:Before I Die|1314332|Before I Die|Jenny Downham|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348002855s/1314332.jpg|3128767] when it came out and it utterly blindsided me. I had never really read anything like it: a contemporary teen novel that felt contemporary; characters whose voices were fresh; a plot about living (and dying) with cancer that wasn't sentimental. The characters were flawed and we were allowed to dislike them at times - cancer doesn't stop you from being a brat. It felt honest. It felt real. I wept buckets and read it four times.
I didn't read her second book ([b:You Against Me|8720917|You Against Me|Jenny Downham|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311064228s/8720917.jpg|13593837]) but I am delighted to come to Unbecoming, almost ten years on, and discover that what I loved about the first book is still very much in evidence in the third. Fresh voices, characters that aren't clichés, issues (sexuality, aging, family secrets) dealt with honestly and without sentimentality.
This is maybe the first book I've read in which a character with Alzheimer's is neither grotesque nor a tragedy. This is maybe the first book I've read in which a character with Alzheimer's is funny and sparky and sad all at once; who is, in fact, a person.
The only bum note is the TXT SPK that the author insists on using - you are writing about/for teenagers! At least learn how they communicate with each other!
It also is quite long, which some might find difficult. It also perhaps wraps up a little too neatly. Other than that, it is very good. I cried several times but it never felt maudlin.
I read Jenny Downham's [b:Before I Die|1314332|Before I Die|Jenny Downham|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348002855s/1314332.jpg|3128767] when it came out and it utterly blindsided me. I had never really read anything like it: a contemporary teen novel that felt contemporary; characters whose voices were fresh; a plot about living (and dying) with cancer that wasn't sentimental. The characters were flawed and we were allowed to dislike them at times - cancer doesn't stop you from being a brat. It felt honest. It felt real. I wept buckets and read it four times.
I didn't read her second book ([b:You Against Me|8720917|You Against Me|Jenny Downham|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311064228s/8720917.jpg|13593837]) but I am delighted to come to Unbecoming, almost ten years on, and discover that what I loved about the first book is still very much in evidence in the third. Fresh voices, characters that aren't clichés, issues (sexuality, aging, family secrets) dealt with honestly and without sentimentality.
This is maybe the first book I've read in which a character with Alzheimer's is neither grotesque nor a tragedy. This is maybe the first book I've read in which a character with Alzheimer's is funny and sparky and sad all at once; who is, in fact, a person.
The only bum note is the TXT SPK that the author insists on using - you are writing about/for teenagers! At least learn how they communicate with each other!
It also is quite long, which some might find difficult. It also perhaps wraps up a little too neatly. Other than that, it is very good. I cried several times but it never felt maudlin.