To be honest at first I struggled and had to keep going back and rereading what was said because it is written in a different dialect than I am used to reading- it is a YA book written in the voice of a teen girl and apparently, I am old because I often found myself a bit frustrated but this is not written for my age group so I am sure this is very relatable for the intended crowd.
with the YA part I also struggled because it is so hard for me to accept that kids are doing drugs, drinking, having sex etc but I also am not naive I know this is in fact happening and this book definitely seems to normalize it and doesn't really seem to indicate any issues or concern with the fact that it is happening. I know what kids did when I was in school (and honestly, I didn't partake till I was 18 in my own place...so for perspective that is why it is still hard to believe kids do these things and having done enough at 18 and often thinking what I would be or how smart I would be or the money I would have had a I not wasted it on things I was doing.... It makes me a bit concerned for kids out here doing these things...) that aside it is a book about grief and addiction but it is all very coded and nothing is direct or clear per say and given it is about addiction and the pain / loss it caused it still shocks me that it is only focused on the one aspect (heroin is my guess / the opioid crisis) it doesn't touch on the other forms of self-medicating and escape going on throughout the book.
This also made me think about how an author I follow got hate mail from a mother who was so upset that the book had cuss words and eluded to sex and her teen read it - that book was NOT a YA book yet they gave it to the kid and then got upset --- yet there are YA books like this that I am sure that mother would lose her mind to know her child read - all that to say if you are a parent and try to shelter your teen read the books with them and talk about it (or read them first and try to keep them from your kid but that doesn't ever really work out so read and talk about it because this is life for some)
I really liked the characters and the character development but overall, the story just seemed to kind of go nowhere or have no real message or ending I don't know it left me wanting for more - I can't really explain it - character were great though!
with the YA part I also struggled because it is so hard for me to accept that kids are doing drugs, drinking, having sex etc but I also am not naive I know this is in fact happening and this book definitely seems to normalize it and doesn't really seem to indicate any issues or concern with the fact that it is happening. I know what kids did when I was in school (and honestly, I didn't partake till I was 18 in my own place...so for perspective that is why it is still hard to believe kids do these things and having done enough at 18 and often thinking what I would be or how smart I would be or the money I would have had a I not wasted it on things I was doing.... It makes me a bit concerned for kids out here doing these things...) that aside it is a book about grief and addiction but it is all very coded and nothing is direct or clear per say and given it is about addiction and the pain / loss it caused it still shocks me that it is only focused on the one aspect (heroin is my guess / the opioid crisis) it doesn't touch on the other forms of self-medicating and escape going on throughout the book.
This also made me think about how an author I follow got hate mail from a mother who was so upset that the book had cuss words and eluded to sex and her teen read it - that book was NOT a YA book yet they gave it to the kid and then got upset --- yet there are YA books like this that I am sure that mother would lose her mind to know her child read - all that to say if you are a parent and try to shelter your teen read the books with them and talk about it (or read them first and try to keep them from your kid but that doesn't ever really work out so read and talk about it because this is life for some)
I really liked the characters and the character development but overall, the story just seemed to kind of go nowhere or have no real message or ending I don't know it left me wanting for more - I can't really explain it - character were great though!