A review by hanreads__
You're On Your Own Kid by Cora Dalley

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂."

First of all, I would just like to thank the author for allowing me the opportunity to read this story as an ARC. Please note, all views are my own and are completely honest.

I’m a sucker for a best friend’s brother trope, but I was curious about the age gap considering George is five years older. By concern, I was worried that George would be a weirdo to confess he felt something for Hydie while he was twenty and she was fifteen (thank goodness that wasn’t the case!)

At first, I liked Hydie, I thought she was slightly relatable and deserved much better than the card she was dealt growing up, and while I still believe she deserved better, I grew to dislike her not long after a chapter or two. I understand that getting your feelings hurt as a fifteen year old is a really rubbish thing, especially by the guy you’re in love with - but to then pretty much cut your best friend and the rest of her family off for ten years because of that moment is ridiculous. That family because Hydie’s and I just feel that Hydie was a really crappy friend, and if anything, not truly held accountable for it. I’m not sure if it was for character development or what, but if it wasn’t for the way she started to make such an effort, I would’ve continued to dislike her.

Frannie is an absolute SWEETHEART! Let me cuddle this woman, spoil her with whatever she loves and be an incredible best friend to her because she is so loyal and kind, she has a heart of gold.! I think the way she still loved Hydie despite her lack of effort and flaws was beautiful, and it just showed how good of a person Frannie is. I also love how she reacted with her wedding. She is a queen. We totally need a love story for Theo and Frannie.

George is pretty much a workaholic in my mind, but he has such a kind heart like his sister and the rest of his family that he would drop anything if you was in need for him. I think the way he handled things with fifteen year old Hydie was fairly good, and I think the respect he gave her was remarkable. The only thing that disappointed me with George was the fact that he knew he was someone who was a helper and needed to put himself first, yet I don’t think we ever really saw that happen?

I think my favourite thing within this story was the well thought out diversity and how different cultures and ethnicities were shown within the book. It warmed my heart to learn little things, and then when you get to know George and Frannies family, you can’t help but admire them. Their parents deserve so much love and praise for the way they treated Hydie as their own and continue to do so. A found family trope is always a wonderful thing to read and I truly think Cora did a brilliant job incorporating it into the story.

Finally, I feel that there was a big plot hole with Hydie and her parents. We learn she wasn’t treated well, but we never saw just how bad it was to make other adults concerned, and then we never saw how things worked out in the end with the mum, nor the dad. Did the dad’s secret ever get revealed? Did Hydie see her mum again? It seemed to play such a big part in Hydie’s life that it left me feeling underwhelmed.

I understand I’ve made a few negative points within this review, but I don’t want those to take away from the fact that this book is a lovely read and something that would get people out of a slump easily. You fall in love with the family, you admire the little stories that you read alongside Hydie’s, and you dream of being in Spain. I would happily read this again if I was in the mood for it, and I think many people could find this to be a cute little comfort read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content