I thought this book was very realistic in the way it portrays the long-term effects of living in an abusive home. Brooke has always hated her family's dynamic, yet is the most unable of her siblings to give up on keeping the family together as best she can. When she forces her brother to move back into their apartment and act as guardian to her and her sister, I knew it was not going to work out.
Alongside the family struggles, Brooke's clumsy attempts at first love and finding friends at her new school plays out in a very realistic way. As someone who has been keeping their home life struggles a secret her whole life, Brooke's inability to open up to the girl she likes is wholly realistic. And as the secrets pile up, her increasingly desperate attempts at holding what's left of her family together have a devastating effect on not just her, but everyone around her.
It's not an easy read. It's actually quite harrowing in places, but that's what makes it so strikingly realistic. Brooke is so stubbornly a teenager, despite all the responsibility she takes, and her inability to foresee the consequences of her actions is very realistic.
So, I'd recommend this one if, like me, you enjoy gritty, realistic stories about characters going through traumatic things.
“Heartwrenching.” —VOYA (starred review) * “Beautiful, captivating prose.” —RT Book Reviews * “I can’t recommend this book highly enough.” —Kathleen Glasgow, bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
A twisted tragedy leaves Brooke and her siblings on their own in this provocative novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be.
How do you let go of something you’ve never had?
Junior year for Brooke Winters is supposed to be about change. She’s transferring schools, starting fresh, and making plans for college so she can finally leave her hometown, her family, and her…
This book is all about voice. There are two POV characters and each is wholly distintictive and hilarious in their own way. Stewart is nerdy and driven by facts while Ashley is trying hard to be a typical, cynical teen. Neither are happy about their parents' relationship and the fact they're now living under the same roof, and some of the conflicts and compromises made between them are hilarious, some heartbreaking.
The balance between the humor and the more serious aspects of the story are perfectly balanced and by the end you really care about both these characters and their problems.
Meet Stewart. He's geeky, gifted and sees things a bit differently to most people. His mum has died and he misses her all the more now he and Dad have moved in with Ashley and her mum.
Meet Ashley. She's popular, cool and sees things very differently to her new family. Her dad has come out and moved out - but not far enough. And now she has to live with a freakazoid step-brother.
Stewart can't quite fit in at his new school, and Ashley can't quite get used to her totally awkward home, which is now filled with some…
I picked this one up at the library because of the title. I mean, who wouldn't? And it was a super fun read that I whipped through in just a few days.
I really enjoyed this book. The idea that lycanthropy is a chronic illness kind of tickled me in the best possible way. All the characters felt very real in this book and even at their most preposterous, the challenges they faced were handled with conviction and flare.
But the best thing about it is the depiction of friendship and the lengths people will go to for their friends. Even if it does cause friction within your own family. And then, to boot, it's also great fun. Especially when photographers catch sight of Brigid in her werewolf form and internet rumors start to spiral...
So I'd recommend this one. It's fun and silly, but has a lot to say about chronic illnesses and the way people suffering from them can be treated. Especially when it's not something easily visible to others.
Teen Wolf meets Emergency Contact in this sharply observed, hilarious, and heartwarming debut young adult novel about friendship, chronic illness, and . . . werewolves.
Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but the fallout from undiagnosed Lyme disease sends her back to her childhood home in New Jersey during her sophomore year-and leaves her wondering if she'll ever be able to return to the way things were.
Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of "oof ouch my bones," a virtual support group that…
Seventeen-year-old Sacha McLeod isn’t looking for someone to rock her world. But when she hears the boy in the music store play the guitar, the music thrills her and she falls hard for Dylan and his sound.
Sacha finds herself spending less time with her violin and more time with this guy. Her plans for her violin-virtuoso future—and her self-confidence—are shattered when she screws up the audition for a summer music program. Failure isn’t something she’s had to face before, so when Dylan asks her to spend her vacation with him in the city, she lies to her parents, pretends she won a place in the summer school, and secretly moves in with Dylan.
She’s expecting romance, music, and passion, but when she finds herself playing second fiddle to Dylan’s newly acquired drug habit, she realizes despite what the songs say, sometimes love isn’t all you need.
