laurenw22's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lifewithjoce's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ihatecarlos8's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved the characters so much even though sometimes the characters could be annoying. This book made me cry and laugh out loud and it was really a great story. Words can’t explain how much i loved this book.
cosycinephile's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
koosandriyaniretno's review against another edition
5.0
Simone is a 17 years old girl living with HIV. She's still worried and afraid if people will eventually find out especially Miles, the guy she's dating. Until one day, she receives an anonymous letter in her locker that says "I know you have HIV".⠀
⠀
This book explain how people with HIV have to live their lives feeling anxious of the stigma. It also spread the awareness of how people being treated for their HIV is just like any other normal person. They look healthy and normal, and won't transmit the virus just by touching, hugging, shaking hands, etc. ⠀
⠀
U=U (Undetected = Untransmittable). That's the rule. Just like what Simone said to the people who talks bad about her, "My HIV isn't a threat to you, but your ignorance is a threat to me." This is a really good book to read and to learn about HIV and to stop the stigma.
⠀
This book explain how people with HIV have to live their lives feeling anxious of the stigma. It also spread the awareness of how people being treated for their HIV is just like any other normal person. They look healthy and normal, and won't transmit the virus just by touching, hugging, shaking hands, etc. ⠀
⠀
U=U (Undetected = Untransmittable). That's the rule. Just like what Simone said to the people who talks bad about her, "My HIV isn't a threat to you, but your ignorance is a threat to me." This is a really good book to read and to learn about HIV and to stop the stigma.
jennms_qkw's review against another edition
5.0
Oh wow. Great read. Great characters
First book 2020. Compassionate story. My jaw is on the floor. Heard about this book on Twitter. It’s wonderful. The cover is great and this story about a teen w HIV. Her family. Other students. Read it now.
First book 2020. Compassionate story. My jaw is on the floor. Heard about this book on Twitter. It’s wonderful. The cover is great and this story about a teen w HIV. Her family. Other students. Read it now.
liralen's review against another edition
4.0
I have a vague memory of a man who came to speak to my class when I was in middle(?) school. He was HIV positive, and he told some of his story and patiently answered some questions born of various degrees of ignorance. I don't remember if he told us how he'd contracted HIV, or how long he'd had it; I do remember him saying that he'd attempted suicide multiple times, once relatively recently. I think I remember somebody asking (again, with ignorance but not disrespect, for which I am in retrospect grateful) about whether we could catch it from him.
That was close to twenty years ago. Much has changed, and much hasn't. In Full Disclosure, Simone has had HIV since birth, but it's something that with medication she can manage: there's no reason to think that she won't have a long, healthy life, and as long as her viral count is undetectable (again, thanks to medication), the virus also isn't spreadable. Her parents have lost friends to AIDS, but Simone is unlikely to see anything like their loss, or like the losses that speaker had seen.
But Simone also knows that she has to keep her diagnosis a secret, because while she poses no risk to anybody around her, ignorance puts her at risk. That much hasn't changed. And when somebody blackmails her, threatening to expose her status, she knows what could happen: being ostracised, losing friends, being driven out of school. It's happened before.
On the whole this is doing it right: it's a complex look at a complex subject, with lots of through-lines and subplots. Simone is in what I'll call a societally forgivable position of having contracted HIV independent of any choice she could possibly have made, but she more than once makes the point that that doesn't matter; even if her choices had led to her diagnosis, that wouldn't have a bearing on her worth as a person or her right to compassion/privacy/etc. To that end, while there are other characters in the book who are positive, we don't learn the context for their HIV. Why? Because it shouldn't matter.
In places I would have liked more, though. There's some drama with Simone's half brother, but it's eclipsed by the blackmailing and isn't really picked up again. There's some conflict about race, including between Simone and the boy she likes (they're both black, but they have different views of how much they're willing to take from white classmates), but it isn't fully resolved.
But gosh. It's cool to see this, especially considering how young the author is—if she's doing this kind of thing already, she's going to be a literary force to be reckoned with in a few years.
That was close to twenty years ago. Much has changed, and much hasn't. In Full Disclosure, Simone has had HIV since birth, but it's something that with medication she can manage: there's no reason to think that she won't have a long, healthy life, and as long as her viral count is undetectable (again, thanks to medication), the virus also isn't spreadable. Her parents have lost friends to AIDS, but Simone is unlikely to see anything like their loss, or like the losses that speaker had seen.
But Simone also knows that she has to keep her diagnosis a secret, because while she poses no risk to anybody around her, ignorance puts her at risk. That much hasn't changed. And when somebody blackmails her, threatening to expose her status, she knows what could happen: being ostracised, losing friends, being driven out of school. It's happened before.
On the whole this is doing it right: it's a complex look at a complex subject, with lots of through-lines and subplots. Simone is in what I'll call a societally forgivable position of having contracted HIV independent of any choice she could possibly have made, but she more than once makes the point that that doesn't matter; even if her choices had led to her diagnosis, that wouldn't have a bearing on her worth as a person or her right to compassion/privacy/etc. To that end, while there are other characters in the book who are positive, we don't learn the context for their HIV. Why? Because it shouldn't matter.
In places I would have liked more, though. There's some drama with Simone's half brother, but it's eclipsed by the blackmailing and isn't really picked up again. There's some conflict about race, including between Simone and the boy she likes (they're both black, but they have different views of how much they're willing to take from white classmates), but it isn't fully resolved.
Spoiler
I'm also sort of surprised by how few questions Miles has before being very comfortable with the knowledge of Simone's status, especially considering how not cool his parents end up being with it. Obviously I wanted him as a character to get there, and get there fast, but I wondered whether more questions wouldn't have been more realistic. As a reasonably informed adult, I would have questions—I learned things from this book, and there was a lot of info that Simone passed on to the reader but that Miles didn't necessarily have.But gosh. It's cool to see this, especially considering how young the author is—if she's doing this kind of thing already, she's going to be a literary force to be reckoned with in a few years.
faith_ryde's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A beautiful coming of age story with an educational twist! I enjoyed every second of getting to know all the characters I met in this book!
sparksinthevoid's review against another edition
3.0
you can't just let people control you with their hate. you keep living, simone.
well, this is not bad.
the main topic - hiv - discussed in this book was probably the best part of this book. it was very educational, in a not-forced way. the conversations existed for a reason and weren't just added to throw information at the reader just because. what i also really appreciated was the sex-positive vibe of the book. yes, teenagers have sex, yes, women masturbate, it's very normal to talk about it and a lot of ya books shy away from the topic but here it was a big part of the story
however, a lot of the other stuff just was a bit /eh/, which made it very clear that this book is a debut from a very young author.
garrett's age really should've been an advantage when writing about teenagers, yet the writing was so stilted, the dialogue awkward. i didn't know what it was that bothered me, but when i read another review that mentioned the mediocre writing style, it all clicked into place.
the plot?? i mean, obviously blackmail is part of the plot, that's what it says in the synopsis so i really shouldn't have been bothered by it, but the reveal of who was blackmailing simone made me so angry because i called it like 100 pages in and when it actually came true i was a bit speechless and more than disappointed. i also don't care about anything musical related so please, simone, stop the namedropping.
while i appreciated the casualness of different sexualities (gay parents, lesbian ace friend, bi friend), there was some commentary that i didn't appreciate. simone herself struggles a bit with her sexuality, unsure if she can really call herself bi. her friends are real fucking assholes about it when they say you can only be bi if you are in a relationship with the same gender, and claudia, my dear, don't just assume someone's sexuality, but maybe shut up for once, how about that? my god, claudia was a condescending, presumptuous bitch.
miles was a good guy, simone's group friends were good people, her parents were mostly good guys. i don't know about anyone else.
well, this is not bad.
the main topic - hiv - discussed in this book was probably the best part of this book. it was very educational, in a not-forced way. the conversations existed for a reason and weren't just added to throw information at the reader just because. what i also really appreciated was the sex-positive vibe of the book. yes, teenagers have sex, yes, women masturbate, it's very normal to talk about it and a lot of ya books shy away from the topic but here it was a big part of the story
however, a lot of the other stuff just was a bit /eh/, which made it very clear that this book is a debut from a very young author.
garrett's age really should've been an advantage when writing about teenagers, yet the writing was so stilted, the dialogue awkward. i didn't know what it was that bothered me, but when i read another review that mentioned the mediocre writing style, it all clicked into place.
the plot?? i mean, obviously blackmail is part of the plot, that's what it says in the synopsis so i really shouldn't have been bothered by it, but the reveal of who was blackmailing simone made me so angry because i called it like 100 pages in and when it actually came true i was a bit speechless and more than disappointed. i also don't care about anything musical related so please, simone, stop the namedropping.
while i appreciated the casualness of different sexualities (gay parents, lesbian ace friend, bi friend), there was some commentary that i didn't appreciate. simone herself struggles a bit with her sexuality, unsure if she can really call herself bi. her friends are real fucking assholes about it when they say you can only be bi if you are in a relationship with the same gender, and claudia, my dear, don't just assume someone's sexuality, but maybe shut up for once, how about that? my god, claudia was a condescending, presumptuous bitch.
miles was a good guy, simone's group friends were good people, her parents were mostly good guys. i don't know about anyone else.
yuna's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Lot of emotion and heart. Plot wobbled a bit, and I didn't think the tension held well with regard to the mystery/suspense aspect of the story.