A review by betweentheshelves
Parachutes by Kelly Yang

dark emotional inspiring tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This isn't exactly what I was expecting, but in a good way! This book is heavily about sexual assault, harassment, rape, and the ways that teenage girls aren't believed. Especially teenage girls of color, when there are power imbalances involved. Yang does such a good job with these topics, and there are parts of this book that made me so angry because I know this happens in real life. 

I wish we got to see more interaction between Dani and Claire. They live together, but they're kind of just orbiting each other's lives. Also I wanted more of Dani's mom! She played a pretty big part at the beginning of the book, and then kinda just disappeared until the end. I wanted to see more of her and Dani's relationship, since we got to see Claire and her mom's. 

The pacing also felt a bit off at times. The resolution felt rather abrupt, and there were sections that it was difficult to tell how much time was really passing. While I'm okay with open endings, I just wanted a little more at the end of this book. I wanted to see a little more growth from both Dani and Claire. 

That being said, the discussions about racism and sexual harassment in here are just so powerful. I absolutely recommend it for that reason!
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