November 2017, 204 pages, Paperback and Ebook, Review copy
Book summary
For Karina Morgan, every day is another chance to be bullied by the
pretty girls at school--all because of an accident when she was just a
baby that left her horribly scarred. Her life seems hopeless until the
day she discovers a mysterious cave near her home. The things she learns
from the cave's extraordinary inhabitants will change her
perspective--and her life--forever.
Nayu's thoughts
I find stories centred on bullying intriguing because the person who is bullied somehow finds the strength to overcome the hurdles the bullies throw at them, and Karina did exactly that. She had quite a bit of help from an unexpected source which honestly gave me the creeps: how on earth is being in a cave with a strange guy (not in a romantic sense) safe? Stranger danger people!!!!
Although there is magic and mystery involved, so despite me expecting something to go horrendously wrong like Karina being murdered by the weird dude, that thankfully never happened. I liked how reincarnation was approached: while it's not something I personally believed in, there's a really clever plot twist at the end which had me smiling at how good a concept reincarnation can be.
Having the cave and the weird guy helped Karina find ways to cope with what was going on, and to make a new friend too. Minor spoiler: her rebel friend can't see the cave at all, but in some ways I felt it reflected the inner battles people endure to overcome bullying: others can't physically see inside their head, but they can still be supportive.
This story didn't quite get full marks because of something that is fairly minor and my own opinion: I wish the penultimate chapter had been written as a prologue, considering the epilogue happens straight after so sort of repeats what has already been said. That way there would have been a bit more intrigue at the start of the story, giving the reader an idea of what was to come.
Find out more on Eliza's website.
Suggested read
Another book that looks at self-discovery and bullying is Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais (Young Adult, 10/10E)
No comments:
Post a Comment