Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - Sick Kids in Love

Spring 2022 updated review:
The way disability is shown in this book is nothing short of amazing. I read it for the first time in 2020(through iBooks); during a time when my health issues were getting significantly worse, very quickly along with my mental health, and I immediately fell in love with this book within a few pages. My ‘Sasha’ may not have been a single person but starting to learn that I wasn’t ‘less then’ or a burden because of my health was truly life changing.

Isabel has RA and she has a lot of internalized ableism but when she meets Sasha who is also chronically ill (with gaucher’s) he helps her realize that it’s completely ok to be chronically ill and to need accommodations. This book discusses the daily things that come with chronic pain in a way that made me feel seen to an extent I’ve never felt before. Again I can go on for hours about specifics so if you want to see some annotations check out my Instagram @brokenbodybitch .

The story itself is adorable and I love the dialogue between Sasha and Isabel, they are funny, and have the type of spoonie humour that just hits the spot. I liked how Sasha’s bi-ness was so casually mentioned as I too was someone who very casually came out to majority of people in my life. Also, the side characters are well done and the way the teens talk to each other in a way that was very realistic from personal experience. Her dad and a few of her friends are quite awful and hate-able at times; however it was intentionally done (at least I think) in a way that was a good illustration of how dangerous casual ableism can be and how disabled people are treated by able bodied people regularly, including, by drs and loved ones. Although it is good to keep in mind the privilege these characters would’ve had and how much worse it can be, though they do touch lightly on this.

It can be triggering to read this book if you are disabled but it is also incredibly validating and can be a great way to explain things to your non chronically ill friends.

My original review:

This book is fantastic. It’s An amazing read for those who are disabled and want to feel less alone and have someone explain the life of being chronically ill very realistic without it feeling like inspiration p*rn and if you aren’t disabled this is also the perfect read to understand your disabled friends more.

Content Warnings

courtneyfalling's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I really loved this!!! Two chronically ill main characters growing up and falling in love for the first time, written by a chronically ill author who actually knows what it's like? Yes. Wow. I needed this and I loved all of it.

I'm going to get into specifics in the next section, basically all spoilers:

I loved the little jokes about how healthy people wouldn't get it. Absolutely the biggest moment when I was grateful this was written by a chronically ill author. I've felt this way so many times and I love how Ibby and Sasha could bond over it.
When Ibby's dad thought her negative test results were great news... even though her symptoms were the same or worse... ugh, rip my heart out. And then Sasha just knew why that actually wasn't ideal at all.
Okay, the ending: overall satisfying and true to the characters. I appreciated how Ibby started standing up for herself more, including to her dad (with a pretty positive outcome) and Ashley (with a pretty satisfying outcome). One of my only main critiques throughout the book was how Ibby sometimes wrote off her friends, who generally seemed like nice but ignorant people, without at least asking them to educate themselves. But I think the complicated ending with Maura (she's not there, but she's trying and it's foreseeable that she can grow) deals with a lot of that.
More on the ending... It makes sense to me that Ibby wouldn't want to contact her mom, after everything. She shouldn't have to be the bigger person, she should get to be a kid, and if this is what she needs, good for her. I thought the book might force a meet-up or cathartic scene but I'm glad Ibby was able to find inner peace instead. And I thought her choice to message her sister instead worked. But I do wish her sister had been introduced as a character a little earlier; that came a bit out of nowhere at one point, and it could've been dropped in earlier chapters nonchalantly without that delayed effect. Plus like, there are worse things than credit card fraud? Idk, the acceptance of "crime" as crime here without a moment of thought, in a book where everything is open to thought, could've at least been considered.
Isabel was kind of a bitch at points, but I think in the specific way I was a bitch when I was 16, so I still found myself connecting with her and wanting her to grow. Which she starts doing, by the end. Sasha, meanwhile, was lovable from the start. Absolutely wonderful love interest.
The moment in the end where Ibby is like, wow, today would've been 5 months! And we wouldn't even have actually seen each other again! Oof. I feel like this book gets the complicated relationship to time a lot of young chronically ill folks have. Very here for it.
Ibby's peripheral friend group (i.e. not Maura or Ashley) was a fun addition, even if their names sometimes became a bit jumbled in my head. I loved how Hannah Moskowitz brought in queer rep through side relationships (and allowed Sasha to casually explore his bisexuality!) and a little bit of Black rep. There's one small scene where one of Ibby's friends who immigrated from Jamaica describes how she started using makeup shortly after arriving in the US, then her aunt showed up with makeup actually designed for her skin type, and what that meant to her. It wasn't always done perfectly but I did appreciate this piece.
Something still rubs me the wrong way about Sasha's moms living and working in Tanzania. Like in a "progressive" book, we get this unexplored take on voluntourism and individual saviorship instead of political economy or, even more specifically, how chronic illness might look different internationally depending on social and political factors. Obviously this is a YA fluff romance and not an educational resource, but this is such a peripheral part of the book that I have to wonder why Hannah Moskowitz added it at all instead of another plot line, or why she couldn't allow Ibby and Sasha to have even one conversation or two thinking critically about it.

Content Warnings

_skyler's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective 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

3.5

Loved the concept. I haven’t read anything about chronic illness before. Would have loved to seem some more things resolved but since it’s YA I can let that slide a bit. I’d LOVE to see about about these characters when they’re a few years older.

Content Warnings

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