starryorbit12's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The concept of the book was quite interesting because teenagers attempting to circumvent their anti-vaccination parents is something we are starting to see in real life. The authors note at the end mentions that this book was inspired by what would happen when this unvaccinated children grow up and want to choose something different. A lot of her thought processes actually match some of what we see happening in reality. The book does a great job at focusing on Juniper's struggle with being taught to have her own mind but not respected when her opinion differs from her parents. Juniper's parents highlight something we see often with parents in which they project their own insecurities onto their children. Juniper's mom doesn't listen to Juniper's experiences or wants just so she can project her own crappy school experiences when she talks about attending a public school. Juniper's dad choose to cite medical terminology he doesn't actually understand and debunked vaccination research instead of listening his daughter so he can protect the feeling of superior he feels for "all organic and natural" lifestyle. I really love the conversation that Nico and Juniper have about organic food and her parents inability to see their own privilege. There privilege is directly reflected in their anti-vax position and what leads to Her parents are also a reflection of the idea that "parents teach their children how to walk and talk and then spend the rest of the childhood telling them to sit down and shut up" without even realizing that. They feel superior in there homeschooling because they are "teaching there children to critically analyze instead of regurgitating state standardized testing" but they don't even acknowledge that ignore any analysis that contradicts there beliefs. The refuse to listen to Juniper. At the same time, the book shows that like many parents they do love and care for their kids. Not everything is bad, they just refuse to acknowledge there flaws. That's also the biggest issue I have with this book. Juniper and Nico are the only characters that grow. The whole books core is about Juniper's relationship with her parents, and the conclusion just seems to forget that. Her parents don't grow to even at at least acknowledge her position, and the book just ends without any sort of conversation acknowledging what happened. It just hints that things will be okay and skips over a meaningful conclusion. The closing is just too short and lacks the substance the rest of the book has.
Spoiler
baby Katherine's death and how incredibly sick Juniper gets. Juniper is intensively hospitalized with the measles and her siblings are young. There are so incredibly lucky that they didn't die, and that luck is used to justify baby Katherine's death in there mind because their children were fine. The don't even acknowledge how lucky they are that it was only Katherine that died.Spoiler
Juniper wins her court case to be vaccinated, and the book just ends. Her parents have been straight up ignoring her existence. They drop this huge bomb that her mother had two miscarriage before her in their court argument. After that, there is no resolution. She just gets her first vaccine. Her parents didn't need to change there position, but why never even acknowledge her's which is all she wanted. There is no acknowledgment of the way they treated her after the court notice. They don't even accept her just legal outcome. She doesn't even talk with her parents after the court scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Medical content
betweentheshelves's review
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thanks to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of this to review! Maris Reichardt is an author who has been on my radar, but I’ve never read anything by her. I was excited to get the chance, and the story line sounded unique and interesting!
At the start, I did enjoy the conversations Juniper has with her parents when she disagrees with their beliefs. They felt like real conversations, and Juniper brought up good points. However, her parents were extremely stubborn and frustrating, which is part of the point of the story. A lot of people who are anti-vaxxers are very, very grounded in their beliefs, and Reichardt portrayed this well in the book.
For me, none of the characters in this book were particularly likeable. I just don’t think they were quite fleshed out enough. A lot of the book is focused on Juniper trying things out for the first time and getting outside of her bubble, being able to find her own voice. Which is great! But it meant that some of the character development fell to the wayside. I would have liked to see some of the side characters developed a bit more, as some of them felt quite one-sided.
All in all, this is an enjoyable book that gives power to teens who just want to make their own choices when it comes to their bodies. Maybe not all teens will relate to Juniper’s specific situation, but there’s some level of it that will feel relatable to them. A quick read that’s sure to leave you thinking.
I struggled a bit with this, honestly. More to come in a review tomorrow!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, and Medical content
caseythereader's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
📚 Whew, meet the book that's going to be the most-banned book in no time! A SHOT AT NORMAL looks antivaxxers in the eye and doesn't back down.
📚 I loved Juniper and how curious and smart she was - she took her parents' "think for yourself" ethos to heart.
📚 I'm having a hard time articulating it at the moment, but this book walks a fine line between not turning the parents into cartoon villains while also not taking a "let's hear both sides" approach.
📚 Though, sometimes, when Juniper is arguing with her parents, she does so in paragraphs of talking points that don't sound like the real words of a teenager.
📚 I loved Juniper and how curious and smart she was - she took her parents' "think for yourself" ethos to heart.
📚 I'm having a hard time articulating it at the moment, but this book walks a fine line between not turning the parents into cartoon villains while also not taking a "let's hear both sides" approach.
📚 Though, sometimes, when Juniper is arguing with her parents, she does so in paragraphs of talking points that don't sound like the real words of a teenager.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage
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