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moonlitemuseum's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a quintessential Jacqueline Wilson book, stuffed with her typical character archetypes and all kinds of her favorite things to include (especially references to her other books, which were delightful).
The story follows a young girl, Em, who is trying to keep her family together right after her passionate but commitment-phobic dad leaves their family on Christmas Day. While Em is written with kindness and interiority unlike many other Wilson protagonists, she has a galling inner monologue that never stops heaping on criticisms of her own body. The book is astonishingly fatphobic even for one with such a record as Wilson. It also drops slurs towards Romani travelers with aplomb at one point and there is a lot of "comedy" aimed at how Em's younger brother sees nothing wrong with wearing girl's clothes and acts in an outwardly neurodiverse manner.
In general I found this story to be exactly what I needed for a quick, tense but ultimately comforting children's read but I would be careful with recommending it to actual children, especially because of how noxious the fatphobia is.
The story follows a young girl, Em, who is trying to keep her family together right after her passionate but commitment-phobic dad leaves their family on Christmas Day. While Em is written with kindness and interiority unlike many other Wilson protagonists, she has a galling inner monologue that never stops heaping on criticisms of her own body. The book is astonishingly fatphobic even for one with such a record as Wilson. It also drops slurs towards Romani travelers with aplomb at one point and there is a lot of "comedy" aimed at how Em's younger brother sees nothing wrong with wearing girl's clothes and acts in an outwardly neurodiverse manner.
In general I found this story to be exactly what I needed for a quick, tense but ultimately comforting children's read but I would be careful with recommending it to actual children, especially because of how noxious the fatphobia is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping
Minor: Racial slurs and Transphobia
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