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A review by mariahistryingtoread
If You Read This by Kereen Getten
3.0
What stood out the most to me when reading If You Read This was the emotional dynamism in regards to Brie's feelings surrounding her mother's death and the now complicated relationship she had with her father.
Brie was reaching that age where she started to think about she wanted to be perceived as a person when her mother died and as such she largely considered her mother to be an embarrassing burden in the time leading up to her getting sick. She carries a lot of complex, contradictory baggage because she was robbed of getting past that formative hump ie the very normal I-want-nothing-to-do-with-you phase of late childhood thru adolescence to recognize she didn't love her mother in spite of her faults but because of them. Barring serious personality deficits, it's often the most embarrassing moments that reveal the most love that a parent has for their child.
Her father, somewhat serious though beloved all the same, has become like a stranger to her. Due to work he is rarely home and when he is his concerns relating to Brie are shallow. Their relationship has become so fractured, she has actually come to believe that he wishes she had died rather than her mother.
Her mothers letters were a blessing in that, in a way, her mother was brought back to her however it was also bittersweet as they shined a light on the deep unhappiness brewing just under the surface of her life. Brie wading through this series of internal conflicts was immensely investing.
The three stars is because Getten didn't stick the landing.
She explores the guilt, the anger, the disappointment very well throughout the book. When it comes to concluding these themes she falters.
The whole book you're waiting for Brie to finally unleash all that pent up repression on her father who, though doing his best, has been emotionally neglecting Brie since her mother died. Heck, when the character is first introduced it's in name only as he misses the pivotal twelfth birthday that kicks off the story. So you can imagine my disappointment when the two totally resolve their issues in one single conversation that only grazes the surface of the conflict between the two.
Brie is basically writing soliliquies in her head about how much she despises this man yet when the time to share comes she leaves it at 'I'm mad at you'. And yes, in the midst of stressful and/or important discussions people can often lose their words, but even if she's not the most articulate she should be able to communicate the gist of her grievances. It felt like Getten all of a sudden didn't want engage with the complexity of the circumstances.
She even vaguely retcons her own writing: it is heavily implied at the beginning that her father is intentionally using work as a distraction from his grief, by the end he suddenly has just had difficulty balancing work and life now that they have to live on a single income. Now technically it's entirely possible that Brie has misjudged the situation - she is only twelve after all - but Getten provides no proof. She has Bries' father simply state this as if it's fact when there is no evidence that the family is in dire straits or absolutely needs the money. The only logical conclusion really is that he's purposely avoiding Brie.
The ending while a letdown did not ruin everything. I still generally enjoyed the book. I still would categorize it as a solid recommend it.
Brie was reaching that age where she started to think about she wanted to be perceived as a person when her mother died and as such she largely considered her mother to be an embarrassing burden in the time leading up to her getting sick. She carries a lot of complex, contradictory baggage because she was robbed of getting past that formative hump ie the very normal I-want-nothing-to-do-with-you phase of late childhood thru adolescence to recognize she didn't love her mother in spite of her faults but because of them. Barring serious personality deficits, it's often the most embarrassing moments that reveal the most love that a parent has for their child.
Her father, somewhat serious though beloved all the same, has become like a stranger to her. Due to work he is rarely home and when he is his concerns relating to Brie are shallow. Their relationship has become so fractured, she has actually come to believe that he wishes she had died rather than her mother.
Her mothers letters were a blessing in that, in a way, her mother was brought back to her however it was also bittersweet as they shined a light on the deep unhappiness brewing just under the surface of her life. Brie wading through this series of internal conflicts was immensely investing.
The three stars is because Getten didn't stick the landing.
She explores the guilt, the anger, the disappointment very well throughout the book. When it comes to concluding these themes she falters.
The whole book you're waiting for Brie to finally unleash all that pent up repression on her father who, though doing his best, has been emotionally neglecting Brie since her mother died. Heck, when the character is first introduced it's in name only as he misses the pivotal twelfth birthday that kicks off the story. So you can imagine my disappointment when the two totally resolve their issues in one single conversation that only grazes the surface of the conflict between the two.
Brie is basically writing soliliquies in her head about how much she despises this man yet when the time to share comes she leaves it at 'I'm mad at you'. And yes, in the midst of stressful and/or important discussions people can often lose their words, but even if she's not the most articulate she should be able to communicate the gist of her grievances. It felt like Getten all of a sudden didn't want engage with the complexity of the circumstances.
She even vaguely retcons her own writing: it is heavily implied at the beginning that her father is intentionally using work as a distraction from his grief, by the end he suddenly has just had difficulty balancing work and life now that they have to live on a single income. Now technically it's entirely possible that Brie has misjudged the situation - she is only twelve after all - but Getten provides no proof. She has Bries' father simply state this as if it's fact when there is no evidence that the family is in dire straits or absolutely needs the money. The only logical conclusion really is that he's purposely avoiding Brie.
The ending while a letdown did not ruin everything. I still generally enjoyed the book. I still would categorize it as a solid recommend it.