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A review by leafblade
Friend or Fiction by Abby Cooper
3.0
I recieved an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had imaginary friends as a kid (and older, ngl), so I was very excited to read a book about them! There's endless posibilities for writing imaginary friends, and no set rules. Which played a bit against this book and its characters.
Zoe crossing over to real life felt messy, since everything happened too fast and before I knew it the book was over. I think the author focused too much on Jade's internal monologue and didn't spend enough time studying how Zoe coped with being who she was. Because it was a complex thing! She had no family, virtually no free will, and only a basic understanding of how the world works. We get a sneak peek at just how messed up this is, but I think that could've been explored more and still keep it middle-grade.
The cancer element was harsh af, even more so after Bo's evil guy's reveal. I really appreciated that as a future psychologist, I honestly think that scene can be given to kids as a tool to pick up on preocuppying stuff younger kids may be doing, since us adults aren't always that good noticing that kind of stuff. I don't remember what grade Jade was on, but I thought that catastrophic way of thinking about her dad's cancer was out of place, kind of? Her thinking her dad would relapse if she stopped writing felt way too childish, I would've liked it explored a bit more, or left out altogether. It didn't add much to the story, and sometimes it got in the way of some other subplot waiting to unfold.
The magic element was on point!!!!! The fact that magic can be hidden in places you've never looked at twice before, and that some kids can pick up on it more than others, and that it isn't inherently good or bad but rather a weird blank slate that you have to fill somehow... it's my favorite kind of magic, and I've rarely seen it done well in a middle-grade. Props to you, Abby Cooper!!!
But also, I wish the side characters were explored more, and that's why I would absolutely love to read a sequel, maybe even a YA one. The blooming friendship with the Glitter Girls and Clue at the end absolutely saved the book for me. It felt like the perfect moral of the story. Also there's a lot of room for LGBTQ+ growth, since we also see Clue has two dads, so I would like to see how this queer-friendly environment would come into play as the kids grow up. The fact that their city is just a town people live for a while before moving to Denver would make the existence of a sequel tricky, but long-distance friendships, people moving in and out of town and changing friends are all things that happen, and I would like to see this author's take on them.
I had imaginary friends as a kid (and older, ngl), so I was very excited to read a book about them! There's endless posibilities for writing imaginary friends, and no set rules. Which played a bit against this book and its characters.
Zoe crossing over to real life felt messy, since everything happened too fast and before I knew it the book was over. I think the author focused too much on Jade's internal monologue and didn't spend enough time studying how Zoe coped with being who she was. Because it was a complex thing! She had no family, virtually no free will, and only a basic understanding of how the world works. We get a sneak peek at just how messed up this is, but I think that could've been explored more and still keep it middle-grade.
The cancer element was harsh af, even more so after Bo's evil guy's reveal. I really appreciated that as a future psychologist, I honestly think that scene can be given to kids as a tool to pick up on preocuppying stuff younger kids may be doing, since us adults aren't always that good noticing that kind of stuff. I don't remember what grade Jade was on, but I thought that catastrophic way of thinking about her dad's cancer was out of place, kind of? Her thinking her dad would relapse if she stopped writing felt way too childish, I would've liked it explored a bit more, or left out altogether. It didn't add much to the story, and sometimes it got in the way of some other subplot waiting to unfold.
The magic element was on point!!!!! The fact that magic can be hidden in places you've never looked at twice before, and that some kids can pick up on it more than others, and that it isn't inherently good or bad but rather a weird blank slate that you have to fill somehow... it's my favorite kind of magic, and I've rarely seen it done well in a middle-grade. Props to you, Abby Cooper!!!
But also, I wish the side characters were explored more, and that's why I would absolutely love to read a sequel, maybe even a YA one. The blooming friendship with the Glitter Girls and Clue at the end absolutely saved the book for me. It felt like the perfect moral of the story. Also there's a lot of room for LGBTQ+ growth, since we also see Clue has two dads, so I would like to see how this queer-friendly environment would come into play as the kids grow up. The fact that their city is just a town people live for a while before moving to Denver would make the existence of a sequel tricky, but long-distance friendships, people moving in and out of town and changing friends are all things that happen, and I would like to see this author's take on them.