What if you'd been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?
When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, who she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that's as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her archnemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger). But just when Alice's scores are settled, she goes into remission.
Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she's said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she caused irreparable damage to the people around her—and to the one person who matters most?
Julie Murphy's Side Effects May Vary is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.
My Review:
This was a really fantastic book to read! About living after you've been resigned to dying-and had done things that she hadn't thought she'd have to deal with, both her feelings for Harvey, and her getting back at her frenemy and ex-boyfriend. Yeah.
Alice was hard to like. She was mean and cruel, and she hid her good side very well. But then being in remission, it added a vulnerability to her. And that gave her a softer edge, after she dealt with her fears about living!
I really enjoyed the back and forth of the timeline, from just before and during while she had cancer, and then from as she as in remission, it gave us details as we needed them, as they came together, and that as so great to read!
Loved the ending, Harvey and Alice deserved some happiness after all that-that she had found his grandfather, so he could contact him when he wanted to. And she had worked through her fears enough to instead of actively pushing him away, to pulling him closer!
Such a great book, great story, so enjoyable and fun but with meaning!
Author: Julie Murphy
Read: May 7th, 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: It looked like a really great book, and it's a SAC 2016 Book!
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: March 18th 2014
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| 5/5 Hearts |
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| 4/5 Books |
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| 4.5/5 Stars |
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