A review by lumos_libros
I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler
4.0
I can almost guarantee that everybody knows somebody who has had cancer, whether it is you, a friend, neighbor, coworker, relative, etc. I think most people have seen someone go through this. I'm surprised actually of how little young-adult literature deals with this issue, but here Gurtler attacks it head on and gives a realistic portrayal of a family dealing with cancer.
Tess is not like her older sister, not even a smidge. She's artistic, nerdy, and not anywhere near to even be a blip in the social radar. Kristina on the other hand is popular, well-liked, and a star on the volleyball team. She's a senior in high school with a promising future, and she is basically on top of the world. All that comes to a screeching halt when Kristina gets checked out for a chronic pain in her knee, it turns out to be the worst case scenario, cancer.
The author really does an excellent job of capturing how cancer not only affects the person who has it, but the family has cancer to. The best and worst come out in people, and everybody reacts differently. I'd have to say that Tess's family isn't the most exemplary example. There are families who deal with it worse but also much better. The book is told through Tess's point of view, and I'm glad it was. You see her struggle with being a good sister and still wanting her own life not to spin out of control too. She still wants things, but at the same time tries to be the strong one in her family. Tess has a lot of the reactions people normally have. At first she can't believe it's true, that it can be that bad. Then comes the anxiety of what should be done and what can she do? How do you talk to someone who thinks they may be dying? Whose whole life has changed? It's beyond hard, it's almost impossible to know what to do.
This isn't a necessarily an easy book to read. You get mad at the characters and how each of them reacts to Kristina. And you want things to turn out right, but that's not how life is like. It's messy and we all are only human. It's weird but not how Tess herself goes through a transformation because of this. Things she once thought she was sure of and thought were important, become so trivial. She becomes more out-spoken, stronger, and learns who has her back and who doesn't.
All the characters are well fleshed out and bring something to the story. It was just so spot on, the only reason why I knocked off a star was because I would have liked to seen more of Kristina. There is a lot of Kristina in the story obviously, but I would have liked to understand her a little bit better.
As you can tell I'm doing a terrible of job of conveying how much I thought the book told a true story that is being a played throughout so many homes. I can personally attest that this felt real, sad but real.
Tess is not like her older sister, not even a smidge. She's artistic, nerdy, and not anywhere near to even be a blip in the social radar. Kristina on the other hand is popular, well-liked, and a star on the volleyball team. She's a senior in high school with a promising future, and she is basically on top of the world. All that comes to a screeching halt when Kristina gets checked out for a chronic pain in her knee, it turns out to be the worst case scenario, cancer.
The author really does an excellent job of capturing how cancer not only affects the person who has it, but the family has cancer to. The best and worst come out in people, and everybody reacts differently. I'd have to say that Tess's family isn't the most exemplary example. There are families who deal with it worse but also much better. The book is told through Tess's point of view, and I'm glad it was. You see her struggle with being a good sister and still wanting her own life not to spin out of control too. She still wants things, but at the same time tries to be the strong one in her family. Tess has a lot of the reactions people normally have. At first she can't believe it's true, that it can be that bad. Then comes the anxiety of what should be done and what can she do? How do you talk to someone who thinks they may be dying? Whose whole life has changed? It's beyond hard, it's almost impossible to know what to do.
This isn't a necessarily an easy book to read. You get mad at the characters and how each of them reacts to Kristina. And you want things to turn out right, but that's not how life is like. It's messy and we all are only human. It's weird but not how Tess herself goes through a transformation because of this. Things she once thought she was sure of and thought were important, become so trivial. She becomes more out-spoken, stronger, and learns who has her back and who doesn't.
All the characters are well fleshed out and bring something to the story. It was just so spot on, the only reason why I knocked off a star was because I would have liked to seen more of Kristina. There is a lot of Kristina in the story obviously, but I would have liked to understand her a little bit better.
As you can tell I'm doing a terrible of job of conveying how much I thought the book told a true story that is being a played throughout so many homes. I can personally attest that this felt real, sad but real.