Tag Archives: drug use disorder

Review: Every Time You Go Away by

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
Every Time You Go Away by Abigail Johnson cover shows a collage of things arranged in and around the title, like flowers, a cat, a girl in a wheelchair, and a boy sitting on the ground.

Every Time You Go Away
Abigail Johnson
Inkyard Press
Published December 5, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Every Time You Go Away

Perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven, Abigail Johnson draws a searing and lyrical portrait of grief, forgiveness, and the kind of love that blooms in the aftermath.

Eight years ago, Ethan and Rebecca met, two trouble-making kids sharing secrets and first kisses in a treehouse, until Ethan’s mom returned to take him away. Each and every visit, his only goodbye was a flower on Rebecca’s windowsill.

Three years ago, Ethan left for the last time to take care of his mother, who’s struggled with addiction his whole life.

Two years ago, Rebecca was in a car accident that killed her father. She’s been learning to navigate life as a wheelchair user ever since.

Now, they discover if their hardships have torn them apart…or will bring them closer than ever.

My Review

The story alternates points of view between Ethan and Rebecca, with some chapters taking place in the present (labeled now) and some in the past (labeled before). While the timeline is never as clearly laid out in the narrative as it is in the book’s cover copy, I didn’t have any trouble putting things in some kind of order. I’m not sure I was always completely right about how I assembled the events together, but I think it was close enough that everything still made sense.

I loved the scenes in which Rebecca describes making jewelry. It was easy to feel her love for her craft and to picture some of the pieces she worked on. I thought it was cool the way her work played into the story with the different pieces creating or representing connections to other people.

Ethan’s interest in plants was cool, too. It didn’t really ever become as central a thing as Rebecca’s jewelry-making did, but it was still a cool, not often explored area of interest.

Rebecca is a wheelchair user and has been since the car accident that killed her dad. Because of the straightforwardness of the narrative, I found it easy to picture moments like transferring to a car or what it was like when someone touched her leg, and she couldn’t feel it. Her paralysis was present in the story, but it isn’t a story about paralysis, if that makes sense. I felt like the author did a perfect job crafting the balance between helping readers picture Rebecca and her environment and the impact it would have on her experience without making it seem intrusive or artificial.

I also really appreciated that there was more than one wheelchair user in the story. Amelia, Rebecca’s friend, mentor, and employer, also uses a wheelchair. This created moments in which two people could talk about their lives and experiences and offer two different perspectives. I loved that.

All of that is kind of background to the central story here, which is the romance between Rebecca and Ethan. While they both came to the relationship with barriers of trauma, it was cool watching them figure out how to navigate those things. I loved watching their feelings blossom and rooting for them to find their way to each other through the miasma of hurt and grief around them.

Conclusion

All in all, this is absolutely the kind of book I would have loved myself in high school. It’s sweet but pretty real about the fact that life deals hardships to teens just as much as anyone else. I really enjoyed this one, and I think fans of THE GEOGRAPHY OF YOU AND ME by Jennifer E. Smith or LOVE AND OLIVES by Jenna Evans Welch will want to check it out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
I think the main characters are white. Rebecca and another character are wheelchair users. Ethan’s mom has alcohol/drug use disorder. Ethan is a neglect and abuse survivor.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Brief references to neglect and abuse of a child. Two boys get into a fight and fall into the mud.

Drug Content
A teenager drinks alcohol in a couple of scenes. An adult gives alcohol to a child in one scene, and that behavior is also referenced in other scenes. References to a boy witnessing drug use and even being given drugs himself by an adult (doesn’t happen on scene). An adult smokes cigarettes.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Things I’ll Never Say by Cassandra Newbould

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Things I’ll Never Say
Cassandra Newbould
Peachtree Teen
Published June 6, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Things I’ll Never Say

For fans of Becky Albertalli and Julie Murphy, this beautifully raw coming-of-age story follows bi, fat surfer girl Casey who turns to journaling to navigate what it means to crush on your two best friends at the same time.

Ten years ago, the Scar Squad promised each other nothing would tear them apart. They stuck together through thick and thin, late-night surf sessions and after school spodies. Even when Casey Jones Caruso lost her twin brother Sammy to an overdose, and their foursome became a threesome, the squad picked each other up. But when Casey’s feeling for the remaining members—Francesca and Benjamin—develop into romantic attraction, she worries the truth will dissolve them and vows to ignore her heart.

Then Ben kisses Casey at a summer party, and Frankie kisses another girl. Now Casey must confront all the complicated feelings she’s buried—for her friends and for her brother who she’s totally pissed at for dying. Since Sammy’s death, Casey has spilled all the things she can no longer say to him in journals, and now more than ever, she wishes he were here to help her decide whether she should guard her heart or bet it on love, before someone else makes the decision for her.

My Review

I have some really mixed feelings about this book. First, I think the way this book is written could serve as a conversation starter for some really big issues, such as recreational drug use. I love that the main character is plus-sized, and that she has so much love in her heart, for her brother, her family, and the other people she loves.

Honestly, though, I’m having a hard time deciding whether she’s a reliable narrator. I know that she claims to have this big plan to stop using opiates and Xanax to numb her pain. But she carefully controls the information, only ever telling people what she wants them to know. She breaks promises she makes to herself about her use.

All that makes perfect sense in terms of the behavior of someone who is struggling with addiction or drug use disorder. So I don’t say that to malign her character. I guess I just worry that though she claims the last thing she wants is to make the same decisions her brother made, she’s kinda doing exactly that?

Maybe that’s the whole point of the story. Maybe those are exactly the questions the author intends for readers to be asking.

At any rate, I read this book pretty quickly, and I think it raises some really good points and adds to some of the places where representation in young adult literature is still pretty small. I think readers who enjoy books by Crystal Maldonado should check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Casey is plus-sized, bisexual, and a twin. She also has anxiety and has suffered from panic attacks before. Her twin brother died of an opiate overdose. Their family is Sicilian American. Frankie is Latine and a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity and crude language used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls. Discussion about the meaning of a throuple and polyamorous relationships.

Spiritual Content
Casey writes letters to her brother in a journal and burns the journal at the end of the month. She believes/hopes the ashes of the words are carried to him and that way he knows what she wants to tell him. She wonders briefly about the afterlife and states she doesn’t not believe in God, but she doesn’t believe, either.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Casey and her friends drink alcohol, smoke pot, and drop acid. Casey also abuses pills like Xanax and opiates. She claims she has a plan to stop using but carefully controls the information about her drug use and breaks promises she makes to herself about discontinuing use.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THINGS I’LL NEVER SAY in exchange for my honest review.