The Quick Cut: A girl who sees her mom's ghost and a boy who struggles to be his true self end up together on a school project. Together, they heal one another's wounds to get past what's haunting them.
A Real Review:
Thank you to Tor Teen for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Not all wounds are physical. Most (if not all of us) walk around carrying the emotional baggage of things that have scarred or torn us apart. However, sometimes people find ways to get past the trauma holding them back in the most unlikely of places. This is the story that brings Veronica and Sawyer together.
Veronica believes in the supernatural and wants to prove it in her senior thesis. She sees her mom's ghost all the time, but can't escape the migraines that tend to come along with it. It can't be an ominous sign for what's happening with her brain tumor right?
Veronica believes in the supernatural and wants to prove it in her senior thesis. She sees her mom's ghost all the time, but can't escape the migraines that tend to come along with it. It can't be an ominous sign for what's happening with her brain tumor right? Meanwhile, Sawyer is known as a golden boy at school - but the truth is that he feels an intense pressure to be a person he's not. Between his mom's constant injections on his choices and the friends who miss the glimmers of his true self, he feels trapped. Can he ever escape or will the pressure continue to drive him to make bad choices? e ever escape or will the pressure continue to drive him to make bad choices?
This story is everything! Veronica and Sawyer may be totally different people, but the unfolding of their connection shows just how much we are all the same inside. If that's not enough, they also find this incredible way to support and see the true versions of each other everyone else misses. It's an incredible book that I know is going to stick with me a long time.
One of my favorite parts about this book is how naturally the true details of their home lives comes out. So many times, these details end up coming out on the page at one time or like little buckets of water drenched at sporadic times. Here, that more organic and lifelike process of little details trickling in takes place, adding a level of genuine feeling that's missed often.
There are also many medical disorders discussed, in a way that feels realistic. Between Veronica's brain tumor, Sawyer's dyslexia, and the overarching conversation of addiction, it could have been too much shoved into one story. The blending of these medical conditions into the drama goes over as less explanatory and more discovering.
With so much to unpack, this book unfolds in a glamorous fashion centered around two teens falling in love.
My rating: 5 out of 5