xabbeylongx's reviews
168 reviews

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

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lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

Spoilers Ahead
This comic was one that I saw in my university library and I quite liked the look of. The cover itself isn’t brilliant, but the art style was really cool, so I decided to get it out and try it. 
We follow Callie, or Cal (automatic win, because I adore the name Cal) as she goes through school. She has a crush on Matt’s (her best friend’s) brother, Greg, although Greg wants nothing to do with her, and keeps pining after Bonnie, his ex, who is the certified mean girl in this scenario. 
Cal is part of the theatre society, and they are putting together a show, and Matt starts acting really weird with her and Greg is an asshole, and she finds new friends, Justin and Jesse. They are twins from the year above, and they both sing beautifully. Justin tries out for the play, but Jesse is too scared to. Justin is gay, and develops a crush on the stage director, a fellow student. Meanwhile Cal develops a crush on Jesse, who’s much shyer and more attentive with her. She thinks he likes her back, and so asks him to go to a bookstore, but Justin comes with them? 
Eventually, they get to do the theatre after months of practice, and Bonnie and West, the two main characters who started dating throughout the production, broke up moments before the final show. So, Bonnie locks herself in the toilet and doesn’t come out. Bonnie goes on in her place, dressed up in a bright red dress, and he plays Bonnie’s part for her, and kisses West. 
Afterwards, Jesse is the most sought-out character in the comic, and they have a dance to go to. Jesse asks her to go with him, and halfway through he disappears. She ends up sobbing, because he didn’t tell her where he was going and he lied to her, and she moves on. At the end of the night, she finds him outside with West. Turns out, he has a thing for West. She’s naturally upset, and Greg offers to take her home, but she won’t be a second option, so she walks home by herself. They eventually all make up, and everything is alright in the end. 
I genuinely have never felt heartbreak like it when we found out Jesse was gay. I felt so bad for her, because I thought it was so obvious he liked her, and she was strung along by him, and for him to have the fucking audacity to say she needs to ‘not fall for every guy who’s nice to her’ is FUCKING MENTAL. I think it hit too close to home for me. The book was sweet itself, and it was all going well, but then that happened and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Purely for personal reasons, this book is really cute otherwise. I thought it really cute how they just accepted their sexualities though! It’s a good reaction to it, especially in Cal’s situation, where I can imagine she felt quite put out. That being said, Jesse, you’re the real villain of this story! :) 
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

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mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Spoilers Ahead
This book of Coben’s is a little different to the other ones of his I’ve read, and honestly, it wasn’t what I was expecting but I’m not necessarily mad about it. 
We follow David as he’s in prison for killing his child, Matthew. His son was three years old when he was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat in his Marvel pyjamas. Having suffered from deep sleeping and blackouts and sleepwalking all his life, it was said that he killed him without knowing it, and then there was a witness who saw him bury the baseball bat. David, being a convicted ‘child killer’, was beaten up badly in prison, and, because his son was dead, he completely gave up on life. 
Until his ex sister-in-law, Rachel, visited him - his first visitor in five years! - and shows him a very grainy photograph. One that leads them to the suspicion that Matthew is actually still alive, and David has been framed. 
David and Phil Mackenzie, the warden of the hotel, plan to get him out. Phil and David’s dad go way back, and so Phil plans to help him escape, making it look as if it was him being coerced with a gun by an escaping inmate. 
David is on the run, and Max and his partner Sarah are finding lots of holes in his plan, and the people helping him’s plans too. Max starts to figure out that there might be more at stake, so he looks into it (without Sarah’s knowledge, as she would not want to help to clear David’s name, only put him away). 
David goes from witness to witness, trying to uncover what happened to Matthew, all from this photograph. Rachel enlists the help of Hayden, an old friend who saved her from getting raped, and then they find out that he was actually the person behind the kidnapping of Matthew. 
Matthew now goes by Theodore. Hayden took a child from an orphanage that no one would miss, gave him a good quality of life, and then when the time came, he swapped the child with Matthew, and he was the child that was bludgeoned to death. Hayden was jealous of Rachel’s relationship with David, and when David and Cheryl (his ex-wife) struggled to have children, she want behind his back to a sperm donor, but under Rachel’s, her sister’s, name, and Hayden was jealous because he wanted to have that with her. 
This book was a little far-fetched, in my opinion. Reality is so different from how the story could have actually happened in real life, it’s kind of mental. The escape from prison, it does happen, but it’s kind of nutty how the events happened. There were so many holes in the plans throughout, even I could see them, although to be fair, I’ve been reading so many crime novels I think I almost qualify as a police officer. Also, how did he literally assault a police officer, escape prison and hold someone at gunpoint and still be allowed outside of a prison cell? And how did this child, Theo or Matthew, know that David was telling the truth after five years? And how did their relationship fix so quickly? There’s a lot that doesn’t add up. And I want to know what happened to Ted! The bastard got away with everything. 
David is a very odd individual, as the power of freedom goes to his head. He has no qualms in assaulting a young police officer, or even holding people at gunpoint to get what he wants. Because of that, I don’t think I was able to bond with him as much as I would have liked to. And I want Sarah gone. In the beginning, both Max and Sarah were fucking me off, because their ‘humour’ was actually just grinding on my goddamn nerves. I’d argue that Sarah and Neil (if you’re read my review for K. L. Slater’s ‘The Spare Bedroom’, you’ll know who I’m talking about) are both as annoying as each other, and if I never read another book with them in it in my life, I’ll be the happiest woman alive. Max only just got away with it because of his redemption arc at the end of the book. Sarah? Count your days, because I’m not happy with you. 
All of this aside, I think the ending is really sweet. How David and Rachel got together, and David and Cheryl mutually got along and shared custody with their son. Also, I love how Hayden got justice, from Nikos, because there was no evidence against him. How was there no evidence?? Anyway, it was a good book, but not one of his best, I must admit. 

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If You Kiss Me Like That by Harper Bliss

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hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Spoilers Ahead
This book was actually one of the first audiobooks that I wasn’t that fussed about, to be honest. I wanted to listen to a sapphic story, as I hadn’t listened to one yet, but I was sightly disappointed. 
We follow Ash, a divorced lesbian, and Gloria, a widowed straight woman. Ash is invited to a party of her mothers’, and Gloria, as one of her mothers’ closest friends, is also there as well. They start talking, and they really hit it off. They end up dancing together, and they both seem to think there’s a little more into it than they originally thought. 
They can’t stop seeing each other, despite the fact they think that they can’t be together. There is the issue that Gloria is perceived as straight and has been her whole life - not only that but widowed, also! And Ash is significantly younger (though still a consenting adult), and Gloria has children, and a lot of people would be shocked (particularly Ash’s mother!). 
They decide to try it, but they want to end it because they hate sneaking around, but they also find it too difficult to end. They end up slowly telling people, and some are shocked and a little bit nasty, but most of them are surprisingly happy for them. In the end, Ash’s parents are okay with it, and Ash joins Gloria’s little family with her two other children, and there’s a happy ending! 
There was so much I didn’t like in this book. Firstly, I find the characters inherently dislikable. Ash seems to have a lot of lesbian stereotypes, so I hated reading about her, and Gloria was just an asshole. She was allowed to do what she wanted, but Ash couldn’t, and they could only do things on Gloria’s terms. I know that she hadn’t come out yet, but there was also another person in that relationships, and her opinion felt overlooked. Ash herself, even though she was younger, she was easily the most mature. I physically couldn’t read some points! Gloria’s children are assholes, especially the younger one. All of that, and because she’s not as fortunate as other people?? Fuck off! How is this a problem now a rich person is in the photo, and why throw a tantrum? They also acted like children, although I gather they’re actually the age of university students?? And don’t even get me started on Adrian, Ash’s brother. The one person who should have been there for her, and he actually made her feel worse! 
Secondly, the plot was awful. Okay, so, personally speaking, there would have been a lot bigger of an uproar once they found out about Ash and Gloria’s relationship. You’re telling me that an age gap lesbian couple was accepted with open arms? It felt a bit like a fairytale, to be honest, and not even a good one at that. The sex and ‘spice’ in it was just the word clit being repeated over and over again, and it really didn’t do anything for me. Their connection didn’t even feel that strong to be honest, it felt purely physical and even impulsive at some points. You can’t live without her, yet you don’t want anyone to see her with you, and yet you want some? Yeah right, jog on! 
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed some parts of it. The ending (I’m just kidding!). I actually really liked the fact that Gloria was an older character (despite the age gap relationship) because I liked the idea of older people being able to explore and find their sexuality, even later on in life. However, there was just a lot of things that made it not as strong as I’d hoped, so that’s unfortunate. 
Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

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hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Spoilers Ahead
Another beautiful book by Alice Oseman! 
The story is continuing right on from where we left off, where Nick is still trying to figure out what his sexuality is and what his feelings are, and Charlie is right there for him. Charlie invites him to his birthday party, where he meets all of his friends. Tao thinks Nick is going to hurt him and bully him, like all his friends seem to do, but Charlie says he’s not like that. Nick finds it hard to show his love for Charlie in public, as he’s scared of the way he’ll be perceived, of how people look at him. Nick invites him to his birthday party, and his friends are just mean to Charlie. 
Charlie ends up leaving after Harry spots them holding hands in the cinema, and he bombards them with really personal, homophobic questions, as if he is part of an exhibition. Charlie leaves upset, naturally, and Nick ends up punching Harry because he calls Charlie a homophobic slur. 
Nick comes out to Tara and Darcy, two people from the all-girl’s school next door. They’re dating, and it’s the first time he’s put a label on his sexuality. Later, Charlie is over the moon that he has told people, and when they go on a date to the beach, Nick comes out as a bisexual man. Nick and Charlie become boyfriends!! 
A beautiful, beautiful addition to the story. I love it! The whole part about Nick being scared, finding himself, researching sexualities, it’s so real and it’s so humbling. This is a fantastic depiction on figuring yourself out, and it’s definitely what I think younger people should read. 
There’s a scene in this book where nick is staring at Charlie just because he finds him cute. Book Nick Nelson is such a beautiful character, and I love him so much!!! To be honest all of the art in these books are outstanding and beautiful and so so so creative, I can’t fault them. I’m excited to read the next part of the series! 

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Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Spoilers Ahead
This book is beautiful, and definitely a lot better than I expected! Having started reading it after the show, I was expecting it to be of the same sort of quality (I’m not a massive fan of the Netflix series), but I’d say the graphic novel is actually so much better! 
We follow Charlie as he’s in a new form room, next to a guy from the year above, Nicholas Nelson. They start to talk a bit more, and when Ben, Charlie’s emotionally manipulative ex ‘thing’, starts to try and push Nick around, and Nick comes to his rescue. Charlie was bullied when he was outed the year before, but now he’s really popular. Charlie gets him to try out rugby, which he actually gets to be really good at. 
They start hanging out, and Nick starts to get really confused, because he might start to like Charlie. They kiss at Harry Greene’s birthday party, when they start hurling homophobic abuse at Charlie, but he’s only there because Nick asked him to be. When Nick runs off, Charlie is upset at himself. Both of them, really, are upset with themselves. 
It’s a beautiful story. I like how more teenage they feel in this book, because in the show it felt like a very different vibe. I like the fact that Nick swears in the book, because it shows off more of the character. I think both of them are such lovely characters, to be honest, and they’re very sweet together. It’s nice reading about a gay relationship in school, especially for people who never used to be able to read stuff like that when they were kids. 
So I felt like a real graphic novels nerd reading this book, because I was looking at how some of the speech bubbles went into multiple panels, how things spilled over the gutter, and how everything wasn’t in a uniform box, the SFX, everything like that, and it was really pleasing to the eye. Don’t even get me started on how good the drawings are - especially Nellie, who I would literally die for in this comic! Somehow, they made her look even cuter. 
So, overall, creatively and literally, this book is a definite must-read!!! An easy-to-read book, and so heart-warming too! 

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Gloves Off by Louisa Reid

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Spoilers Ahead
A lovely Young Adult book, one that I would definitely recommend to everyone I know. 
We follow Lily as she’s being bullied because of her weight. She’s fat-shamed, and the bullying is physical as well as mental. Her dad wants to help her stand up for herself, so takes her boxing. She pushes herself to do better and better. Aidan Vain, the main bully, is the one who attacks her, but she finally hits him, and stands up for herself. She gets better and better, and even goes to tournaments. She meets a girl called Rosie, and they fall in love. Things start to get a little more bearable, and she starts to enjoy life a little more. 
There was so much in this book that I loved. The representation of mental health, body shaming, LGBTQ+ (imagine my surprise when she kissed Rosie?!? I had an inkling, but I was so excited!!!!) and also bullying. I think it was a beautiful book to read, perfect for anyone going through high school. Some parts are awful to read in this book - not the writing itself, but the content, because it hit very close to home. It felt like I was reading an extract from my childhood, I understood every word. I wasn’t that badly bullied for my weight, but I still get the comments, the looks when you start eating, the constant dieting and trying to hide yourself in long cardigans… it’s sad to read about, but also quite refreshing to know that other people go through it too, and you’re not alone. It’s a real reality check, also. To sum it up, it’s a short and simple read, it’s in a verse novel so it’s oddly poetic, it’s a moving story about a girl working on herself and her confidence and becoming the person she wants to be, and I would definitely recommend! 

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Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Spoilers Ahead
I was really really excited for this book, but honestly, I was left a little disappointed. 
We follow Darcy on her journey through school. She has a business called Locker 84, in which she gives out advice to people for a small fee. When Alex, one of her peers, spots her collecting the letters, he blackmails her, and enlists for her help. 
Meanwhile, Darcy has a crush on her best friend Brooke, who is becoming more attached to someone else, and it makes Darcy so mad! 
Darcy and Alex get closer, until they’re hanging out as just friends. Alex wanted help with getting his ex back, but Darcy knew they weren’t right of reach other. And then she finds out that Alex never meant to blackmail her, he just wanted help! They started to develop feelings for each other, but Darcy got scared, and ran away. 
One of the girls Brooke was interested in sent a letter in to Darcy, and She betrayed the girl’s trust. By this time, Brooke and Darcy are dating, but Darcy is still trying to get over her, and tells Brooke, who then tells the whole school. He’s annoyed, because Darcy has messed up two relationships of hers. Darcy gets suspended, for running an illegal business, and when she returns, people ask for their money back. She manages to right it with Brooke, and her and Ray become a trio (?) and her and Alex, who’s the only one who has been there for her, end up becoming a thing, and she makes her own business giving advice - legally, this time. 
The plot itself was decent. I really enjoyed dreading the advice of Darcy’s, I genuinely thought it was very interesting to read, and even a little helpful! I think the introduction of a trans character, Ainsley, is also really important, and I love the representation. I also loved how the queer characters weren’t penalised for their sexualities, and that wasn’t a main focus for them. I loved the identity issues! That’s so prevalent in books for children, so I really liked the representation, especially as a bi girl dating a man - I feel like that is an issue that is overlooked, even today. 
One thing I couldn’t stand was the amount of mistakes in the book. It felt like the publishing was very rushed, it almost felt like a first draft, to be honest. There was gaps between punctuation, dialogue not punctuated properly, and as a reader, this really takes away from the story itself. Even some of the sentences didn’t make sense, and I had to go back and read it a few times, and then the flow was interrupted, and it kind of ruined the story a little for me. 
I can’t stand Brooke. I know what Darcy did is so wrong, I’m not disputing that, but Brooke wasn’t a good friend to her anyway. She completely forgot her when Brooke started dating! And to be that rude… oh my god, I felt so frustrated. And the ending felt too neat, too perfect. There were some points that made this book okay, and others that brought it down, unfortunately. With a little more editing, this book could have been a real favourite of mine. 
The Bedroom Window by K.L. Slater

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Spoilers Ahead
This book has been on my TBR for a long time, and I’ve finally got round to reading it! It was okay, but the ending was a bit anti-climactic. 
We follow Lottie as she moves to a different place with Neil, her husband, and Albie, their son. Neil has recently got a new job, and they’re relocating to it. Neil had been paralysed for a while, after a work accident, and Albie had been bullied by people at school, so they needed a fresh start. 
Ted and Nita ran ’Seascapes’ - Neil’s new job - and Lottie is immediately weirded out by them. They’re always around, they have no kids and no one is allowed in their house. 
Lottie grows more suspicious as they act weirder and more suspicious, but Neil does everything he can to try and dissuade her. Him and Albie are often with Ted and Nita now, so Lottie goes back to the place she grew up. Her mother left when she was young, so she was trying to heal. Then, when she finds out Cerys, one of Albie’s friend’s mum’s, is looking into her mother’s disappearance. They find out that the old gardeners, Mary and Tom, who had to leave abruptly after an argument with Ted and Nita, suspected that there was someone else in the house, exactly as Lottie did. 
Kay Price, Lottie’s (or Charlie’s, as she used to go by) mother, was an alcoholic. She was living in despair with her daughter, who was once best friends with a girl called Claire. Claire’s mum, Yasmin, didn’t like them spending time together, so she enlisted Kay’s help to look after Claire. Charlie was left to the side a little bit, and Claire was a spoiled brat, but Kay looked after her. One day, both Claire and Kay disappeared, and it was made to look like Kay had stolen her and left Charlie behind. 
She finds out Neil had a thing with Nita, and a pharmaceutical drug addiction which lead to him being hurt at work (it wasn’t an accident) and they find out that Ted and Nita (who used to be Yasmin and Graham Fuller) have Kay, her mum, in their house. They’ve been keeping her prisoner, because Claire (their daughter) was killed on Kay’s watch - by accident of course, but all they saw was that she was dead. In the end, Tom dies prematurely, and Mary has a breakdown, and ends up killing both Ted and Nita. Lottie, Neil and Albie stay a family, and they have a new life in Seascapes. 
I thought this book was so thrilling. It started off so creepy, and most of the book remained that way, and it was so cool and enticing. However, I thought the ending was a little anticlimactic. It was sort of made better by Mary Gooding (thank you for killing those insane people x) but it was just a bit of a mental plot. I can’t put my finger on it, but I was expecting something more. As I said, the majority of the book really scratched an itch in my head, so I can’t complain too much. 
I hope Neil suffers from everything that could hurt him. I hope he burns his hands on the hob, or steps on a Lego brick, and I hope that every glass of water he makes is always warm, and I hope that every night his pillow isn’t right for him. I hope he hits his shins, and his ankles, with a scooter, and I hope that every fruit or vegetable he buys is mouldy the next day. As you can gather, I despise him!!!! It’s the biggest copout of the century, Lottie forgiving him. He’s spent years lying to her, followed by him belittling her concerns and questioning her judgement as a mother?! All for the attention of someone who actually wanted shit-all to do with him? Selfish bastard. I was really hoping something would happen to him. Ted and Nita are assholes, don’t get me wrong, but Neil is the real villain here… get him gone!!!! 
Another little nitpick, but Claire and Charlie have too similar a name, it’s confusing. My brain can’t handle that all at once, to be honest. Other than that, a book I would definitely recommend reading! 

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The Nurse by Claire Allan

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Spoilers Ahead
This book is an absolutely delicious read, and I read it quite quickly… it was so hard to put down! Allan did a really good job on this book. 
We follow Marion, Nell’s mother, and an anonymous POV of a male that is a little… unhinged, shall we say? Marion finds out that her daughter is missing, and enlists the police to help find her. 
Meanwhile, this anonymous guy is getting a thrill out of ‘putting women in their place’ (he thinks that the double standards are unfair, and he’s trying to make sure women know that they are a lot less than men) by running after them in the dark and scaring them. He posts it to - what I describe as - an ‘alpha male’ forum, and he starts videoing his thrill of scaring the girls at night. He starts a trend, fighting for men’s rights, and other men start copying him. 
One of the girls he videoed was Claire, and a guy called Derra messages him, asking him if they could team up. This guy is a psycho, our anonymous guy thinks, so he doesn’t want anything to do with it. But, then he sees Nell in one of his videos, and he had to try and take her. 
This Derra guy was inspired by the anonymous POV man’s trend (we find out he’s actually part of the police, and was even working on Nell’s case until his conscience got too guilty and he had to come clean) and he plays a game with his victims. He worked at the hospital where Nell and his other victim did, and if they didn’t play the game by his rules (although no one knew what his rules were) he punished them. He killed one girl, because she didn’t listen. And the only reason Nell was at his place was because she took pity on him. 
Marion and her husband - who really haven’t been happy for years because he’s a condescending asshole - try to get to the bottom of what happened to their only daughter, but all they can do is wait. When they eventually find the forums, they know nell is going to be used in a livestream, and they used Adam - the anonymous POV guy - as a scapegoat to get Derra to open up, and hopefully to save Nell. 
She’s almost given up, but Adam helps her to escape by giving her access to the keys whilst Derra - Ed - is doing his egotistical rant to his toxic viewers. She manages to escape because Adam sets the place they’re in on fire, and then Nell almost dies, but luckily she is found by the paramedics. Her father, whom she didn’t get along with anyway, leaves her and her mum to it. They’re both happier than they’ve ever been before, and Nell focuses on righting her life. 
A beautiful story. I was really unsure whether a man had written this at the start, because there seemed to be so much misogyny, and so much hatred towards women, it was actually a little disgusting to read at times, so I suppose that’s a good thing. Adam is a despicable character, and although his character arced, the damage was already done, but that prick, Marion’s husband, can suck out. I had enough of reading about him and his whiny attitude, and same with Ed and his other cronies. Everything that he was preaching was just proving why women need to stand up for their rights, but this isn’t a conversation to be having on Storygraph. I will leave you with one last point though, I'm glad Marion is finally getting the life she deserves. 
Overall, I thought this book was really chilling and unsettling, and I really enjoyed reading it. I do think her living at the end is a bit of a cop-out, because she quite obviously died, so I don’t know what that was about, but I was enraptured throughout, and I would definitely recommend! 

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What the World Doesn't See by Mel Darbon

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

Spoilers Ahead
This book is a beautiful book. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked it up, but I thought it was such a gorgeous read.
We follow Maudie and Jake throughout this story. Maudie is Jake’s big sister, and Jake has disabilities, specifically with his speech. Even though he’s a teenager, he is treated like, essentially, a child. Their dad passed away from illness a while ago, and they’re all struggling with it, but Maudie’s mum seems to be coping the worst. Jake shuts it out, and Maudie has to cope with it for her family’s sake. But, when her mum goes missing, and she enlists her sister’s, Eve’s help, and all she does is send him off to a foster carer, Maudie knows what she must do.
She kidnaps Jake, and heads off to Cornwall, which is the last place they were all happy together as a family.
When they get there, the house they were going to stay in (belonging to Liv’s - Maudie’s best friend’s - aunt) is already occupied, and so they had to find a caravan park. They were getting complaints of noise - Jake doesn’t like showers - and so they were moved to a more private part of the park by the owners. Brae, the owner, had a nephew called Gerren, whom Jake didn’t like at first, just wanted to be friends, but he wasn’t the most accepting when it came down to Jake’s disability - he wasn’t mean on purpose, but he just didn’t know how to handle Jake at first.
When Jake thinks he spots his mum, they spend the rest of the trip trying to find her. They spot blood along the beach on their last day, and they follow it, searching for their mum. Unbeknownst to them, they find the tide has rolled in. Maudie’s mum is borderline unconscious, as she slipped and smacked her head, and they have to wait for someone to come and rescue them. Eventually, a helicopter comes and rescues them.
They realise that everything that happened with them, her mother falling apart on them, was that they weren’t moving on from what happened to their dad/husband. They all agree to mourn him properly, and they do so together, and they still remain friends with Brae and Gerren! I think Maudie even gets to be more than friendly with him, if you catch my drift.
This book is so beautiful, and I’m so glad it was written. Hearing Jake’s POV, knowing that it was based on Darbon’s own brother’s story, is amazing. I think there’s so much good representation and awareness raised in this book, like how others treat people with disabilities, and sometimes how raising a disabled child as a child yourself can affect you. The idea of them having to let go and grieve together is so heart-breaking, and I can’t lie, I did shed a few tears.
The only thing I didn’t get is Maudie’s mum… she ran away. I don’t know, I wish I could be more sympathetic towards her. I know she’s grieving her husband and the father to her children, but she left her teenage daughter and her disabled teenage son alone. I get that she called her sister, but Eve had already expressed that Jake should be in case, and she works a lot of the time anyway! Just feels a little selfish. Obviously, everyone is different, but I don’t get why she would do that. And then, to say she wasn’t running away, but every time she saw them she would genuinely run away (3 times!!! One of them where she slipped and smacked her head!!!) and I just remember wondering how her children would take that. I mean, they seem fine now, I just felt so bad for them, and I don’t think I could as forgiving.
The character arcs are immaculate in this book. The mum still doesn’t get let off the hook, but I think they all needed to save each other. Them letting Jake have a little bit of freedom, and Maudie putting herself first for once, that’s amazing, and a beautiful realisation. Would definitely recommend!

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