I adored the characters of this book and the friendships that were written. Not ever author can write strong platonic friendships/friend groups that feel real but McGarry did so beautifully. I also loved the familial relationships that were in this book. Both the strong bond between Veronica and her dad and then the strained relationship between Sawyer and his divorced parents were dynamics that added a lot to the overall story.
I found myself really connecting to these young characters mainly because of the representation of chronic migraines and dyslexia. I myself suffer from dyslexia and it’s so rarely shown or written into a book characters description that I couldn’t help but feel a little seen because of it. On the other hand while J don’t myself suffer from chronic pain, my best friend suffers from chronic migraines because of a Pseudotumor. Chronic pain is again so rarely written about but I really think that McGarry did an excellent job representing both of these rarely seen traits in her young characters.
All of this being said I feel that McGarry bit off a little more than we could chew as readers. There are so many different elements in this book to digest that you get a bit weighed down at times. I also found the journal entries to be absolutely pointless and don’t feel like they should have been included at all.
TW: chronic pain, alcoholism, addiction
I found myself really connecting to these young characters mainly because of the representation of chronic migraines and dyslexia. I myself suffer from dyslexia and it’s so rarely shown or written into a book characters description that I couldn’t help but feel a little seen because of it. On the other hand while J don’t myself suffer from chronic pain, my best friend suffers from chronic migraines because of a Pseudotumor. Chronic pain is again so rarely written about but I really think that McGarry did an excellent job representing both of these rarely seen traits in her young characters.
All of this being said I feel that McGarry bit off a little more than we could chew as readers. There are so many different elements in this book to digest that you get a bit weighed down at times. I also found the journal entries to be absolutely pointless and don’t feel like they should have been included at all.
TW: chronic pain, alcoholism, addiction