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A review by tammy216
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
4.0
Side Effects May Vary is not a typical cancer story about making sure your loved ones are okay when or doing all of the things you wanted to do before you die. Alice wants to makes sure she gets her revenge. She uses her best friend Harvey to help her with her revenge plots and her final to do list. When Alice goes into remission she then has to deal with all the damage she's done and the people she's hurt.
The main character Alice is bitter, angry, and manipulative. She is not using her cancer as a way to think about all the great things she wants to do in her life. Most of what she wants to do is cruel. Alice is a hard character to like, but I love her anyway. She is no where near perfect and has a hard time seeing past her own wants and needs. She spends most of the book using and manipulating everyone around her. I love Alice because she's real, she has flaws and can be selfish and that's okay. I found myself rooting for her. For her to really look at the decisions she's been making and the person she was and decide if she wanted to change or continue on the path she's on.
Harvey is Alice's best friend who has been in love with her for years. He spends a lot of time being Alice's doormat and dropping everything when she calls. Harvey is such a nice guy and it's hard not to feel sorry for him and also frustrated that he continues to let himself be used by Alice. All he wants is for her to love him the way he loves her and at some points that just seems impossible. Alice's cancer makes this even harder because then Harvey has to face the thought that he might lose the only girl he's ever loved.
I enjoyed the dynamic between Alice and Harvey and the dual points of view. The book also tells the story in two points of time, "Then" when Alice was first diagnosed and "Now" when Alice goes into remission. I loved the struggle that Alice has with her second chance at life. Everyone around her is happy and relieved but she's just scared and waiting for the cancer to come back. It was hard for her to adjust back to thinking about the future when she thought she didn't have one.
Overall, this is a wonderful story about a girl trying to get her life back and grow up after going through a battle with cancer. She is not always likable and can be frustrating at times, but that is what make the story so interesting. Her best friend Harvey, also goes through his own struggle about whether or not he can continue to be Alice's friend and deal with her manipulations or just let her go.
The main character Alice is bitter, angry, and manipulative. She is not using her cancer as a way to think about all the great things she wants to do in her life. Most of what she wants to do is cruel. Alice is a hard character to like, but I love her anyway. She is no where near perfect and has a hard time seeing past her own wants and needs. She spends most of the book using and manipulating everyone around her. I love Alice because she's real, she has flaws and can be selfish and that's okay. I found myself rooting for her. For her to really look at the decisions she's been making and the person she was and decide if she wanted to change or continue on the path she's on.
Harvey is Alice's best friend who has been in love with her for years. He spends a lot of time being Alice's doormat and dropping everything when she calls. Harvey is such a nice guy and it's hard not to feel sorry for him and also frustrated that he continues to let himself be used by Alice. All he wants is for her to love him the way he loves her and at some points that just seems impossible. Alice's cancer makes this even harder because then Harvey has to face the thought that he might lose the only girl he's ever loved.
I enjoyed the dynamic between Alice and Harvey and the dual points of view. The book also tells the story in two points of time, "Then" when Alice was first diagnosed and "Now" when Alice goes into remission. I loved the struggle that Alice has with her second chance at life. Everyone around her is happy and relieved but she's just scared and waiting for the cancer to come back. It was hard for her to adjust back to thinking about the future when she thought she didn't have one.
Overall, this is a wonderful story about a girl trying to get her life back and grow up after going through a battle with cancer. She is not always likable and can be frustrating at times, but that is what make the story so interesting. Her best friend Harvey, also goes through his own struggle about whether or not he can continue to be Alice's friend and deal with her manipulations or just let her go.