Reviews

Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

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tippettreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

margaret's review against another edition

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5.0

UMMM THIS WAS PERFECT???

ktmiller_14's review against another edition

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4.0

I couldn’t put this book down.

All of the characters felt so real, as if I were watching this on TV. The story was compelling, the characters well written, and the message that asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness was amazing to see.

Finola “Fig” lives with her dad in Florida, and he has bipolar disorder. This lead them to one instance where her dad shows up to school one day, wanting to take her home. Fig’s teacher, Miss Williams, calls CP&P, the equivalent of Child Protective Services. This coming of age novel follows Fig as she watches her father’s disorder ebb and flow, and tries to help him through it as she discovers more about herself.

Overall, I loved this book. It covered topics of bipolar disorder, mental health, child protective services, and LGBTQ+ beautifully. I would highly recommend any of her books to anyone.

brianna_4pawsandabook's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 Stars

While I am definitely not the target audience of this book, I can see the merits and benefits of this. This is a soft queer story about a 12 year old girl that has way too much to handle for a 12 year old. Her dad is dealing with a mental illness and she's singlehandedly trying to hide that from the world so that child protective services don't come and take her away. She's also trying to navigate feelings for a girl. It was really sweet and if you like middle grade, I think you would enjoy this book.

aelis_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

sde's review against another edition

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4.0

I am reviewing an Advanced Readers Copy of the book.

This book is hard to rate. It is billed as a middle grade book, but it reads more like a YA book. The protaganist is in 6th grade, but she has to deal with her bipolar father, who is raising her alone. There is little that would be traumatizing or inappropriate for younger kids in this book. It's just that younger kids might not understand what is going on unless they had experienced it themselves. It is not really explained until the end, which makes sense given that is the way the main character, Fig, is grappling with it all in her mind.

Although Fig's life is difficult, and she is as much of a caretaker of her father as he is with her, this isn't a dark book. The love between Fig and her father is obvious and endearing. They also befriend their new neighbor, Mark, and it is nice to see an adult character in a kid's book who is just basically a good guy.

You learn early on that Fig's mother left the day after Fig was born, and I wish there was more explanation of that. It seems that Fig has never seen her since, but that doesn't seem to enter her thoughts much. It seems like it would be a major part of a kid's coming of age, but it isn't really addressed.

I have no idea if the symptoms and behavior of Fig's father are an accurate portrayal of bipolar disorder, so others with more knowledge may quibble with some of this. But if it is accurate, it seems a decent portrayal of how a 12 year old might perceive it.