"Obviously I’m not what most people would describe as happy. But that has nothing to do with anything. Happiness is not a priority. Survival is."
Alvie Fitz doesn’t fit in, and she doesn’t care. She’s spent years swallowing meds and bad advice from doctors and social workers. "Adjust, adapt. Pretend to be normal." It sounds so easy.
If she can make it to her eighteenth birthday without any major mishaps, she’ll be legally emancipated. Free. But if she fails, she’ll become a ward of the state and be sent back to the group home.
All she wants is to be left alone to spend time with her friend, Chance, the one-winged hawk at the zoo where she works. She can bide her time with him until her emancipation. Humans are overrated anyway. Then she meets Stanley, a boy who might be even stranger than she is—a boy who walks with a cane, who turns up every day with a new injury, whose body seems as fragile as glass. Without even meaning to, she finds herself getting close to him. But Alvie remembers what happened to the last person she truly cared about.
Her past stalks her with every step, and it has sharp teeth. But if she can find the strength to face the enemy inside her, maybe she’ll have a chance at happiness after all. (Pub Date: Feb 6, 2018)
This is the type of YA that makes me a proud YA reader.
As a girl with Asperger's, Alvie had a difficult childhood, unable to adapt to "normal" life, going through foster homes, institutions... At seventeen, she finally feels her life has stabilized. She has a full-time job at the zoo, next to the animals she loves, but her boss isn't too keen on her and the social worker makes periodic visits to keep her on track. She'll need to keep both satisfied if she wants to be legally emancipated any time soon. When she sees Stanley throw away his cell phone, she decides he could be her chance to a more social life. She just hadn't planned to care about him so much. And love can do a lot of damage.
Even though this is YA—and it really is one—, this can be read and enjoyed by all ages. I feel that, in fact, it has the potential of carrying different messages depending on who is reading. With so many aspects, like Alvie and her problems, the difficulties her mother had to face, the way the school and her employers could have dealt with her, I'd say this book is perfect for a book club discussion. And those are only the main theme. We've got another bunch going on in the background.
I won't call the story unforgettable. To be honest, Alvie and Stanley's romance was very much the same as in so many other books. But the reflections it's made me do, those I'll carry with me. I really like it when a story doesn't force you to reflect; and yet, you can't not do it.
I wish we had a little more on the social worker, though. He was so present in Alvie's life but completely disappears after a point. I liked how caring he was behind the "just doing my job" facade.
The book also has good rhythm, it knows to dose tragedy, romance and humor. It never felt heavy in any way, or caricatural. I can't judge Alvie's character's authenticity, on the other hand, for I have very little experience with people with autism. So I don't know how correctly she was portrayed. She does seem to function well, except when she doesn't. This way, the focus was more on how she was accepted or not. What I can say is that I liked that it was done like that instead of how she could change. I really liked the conclusion, too. Still, I'm looking forward to reading reviews from those more familiar with the theme in real life.
In sum, this was a nice read. I had predicted something more mellow from the title but the book was actually funny in many parts. If you like this genre or easy reads to make you reflect, I recommend you give it a try.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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