Justine Manzano Before I get started, I just wanted to let you guys know—I forgot to mention one link in my catch up last week. I did a lovely interview about the crossover between editing and writing with Kriti Khare. Check it out here.
Anyway, on to the book review!
Another pick off of my To Be Read list, You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon is my latest book review. While, I’ll be honest, I chose the book because I recognized Solomon’s name from hanging around in the Twitter YA Writing Community, and little else. And then, as books tend to do when added to my TBR, it sat there for a long time before I actually had time to read it.
I’ve finally gotten there. And I am so glad I did.
Book Summary: Eighteen-year-old twins Adina and Tovah have little in common besides their ambitious nature. Viola prodigy Adina yearns to become a soloist–and to convince her music teacher he wants her the way she wants him. Overachiever Tovah awaits her acceptance to Johns Hopkins, the first step on her path toward med school and a career as a surgeon.
But one thing could wreck their carefully planned futures: a genetic test for Huntington’s, a rare degenerative disease that slowly steals control of the body and mind. It’s turned their Israeli mother into a near stranger and fractured the sisters’ own bond in ways they’ll never admit. While Tovah finds comfort in their Jewish religion, Adina rebels against its rules.
When the results come in, one twin tests negative for Huntington’s. The other tests positive.
These opposite outcomes push them farther apart as they wrestle with guilt, betrayal, and the unexpected thrill of first love. How can they repair their relationship, and is it even worth saving?
What I Enjoyed:
The story of Adina and Tovah and their family was a heart wrenching one and Solomon was never afraid to tackle really difficult topics. The tale is beautifully written, and haunting. Based on the description, it appears the story is purely about Huntington’s Disease, but that’s not the case. Huntington’s does play a major role in this story, of course, but the story is as much about the twins growing up and preparing for college. The girls each deal with their own romantic endeavors, college pursuits, and emotional insecurities, all while coping with the worsening health of their mother and the fallout of one of the girl’s being diagnosed as well.
I’ve been eenie meenie mineying my way through my TBR list, so the fact that I managed to get three books in a row that involved detailed descriptions of the Jewish faith, a religion I grew up surrounded by, is almost a little odd, but still much appreciated. I love that the faith is being written into more books by #ownvoices authors. The descriptions and discussions of Tovah’s love for her religion and Adina’s struggle to embrace a God that allows for the tragedy in her own family hit very close to home.
Solomon manages to find a strong balance between the two voices, one of which I found mostly unlikable, albeit sympathetic. I don’t want to say which sister, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I felt the two points of view really saved the day, as I’m not sure I could have read an entire novel from the more troubled character’s point of view.
For all their flaws, the characters and everything they go through felt deeply explored and real, and the story left me thinking far after it was over. More than anything, I loved the fact that these characters each had their own private lives, their own private worlds, and though they didn’t often know what was going on in each other’s worlds, they impacted the way the characters dealt with each other. It was just so planned, well-paced, and never felt unrealistic or out of character.
What I’d Avoid: Do you ever feel like a book is doing too much? I loved this book. I did. But sometimes I would get blindsided. In four hundred pages, Solomon tackled many intense topics: Huntington’s Disease, struggles with religion, an eighteen year old’s relationship with a twenty-five year old teacher, stalking, body image, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, a teenager having a pregnancy scare, and some seriously sexual scenes.
That’s a lot for one book to tackle, let alone a book that’s technically a young adult novel. Some of the sex scenes in the book, while written in a lovely way, felt like they belonged in a far more adult novel. And I’m no prude, trust me.
But even more concerning is the fact that, in some places, it didn’t feel like some of these important issues were able to be tackled effectively when competing with the other ones. And that is an issue.
What Can I Learn From It: One thing I learned is how heavily flawed a character can be while still pulling you along for a ride you want to be on. I often wanted to chuck things at one of the characters, but her struggles were understandable enough that I didn’t completely hate her and still wanted to know where her story went.
Another takeaway was that I shouldn’t be afraid to tackle more difficult topics. I’ve been struggling while writing the sequel to my debut, fearful of how deep I dive into the child abuse angle I set up in the first story. Now I realize I have something to share with the world, and if I can do that realistically, and without fear, I may be able to help someone out there feel seen.
Would I Recommend It: Yes, I would absolutely recommend this book. It stayed with me for an entire week after I completed it and still haunts my mind. However, I would definitely warn any future readers of the triggers associated with some of the heavy topics discussed here.