A review by powisamy
Paper Avalanche by Lisa Williamson

4.0

4.5 stars

I had been interested to read one of Lisa Williamson's novels a long time before but when I was asked to join the Blog Avalanche I was super excited as this one seemed super interesting to me. I was completely in love with the story and fully related to the character's journeys especially Ro's.

I have to admit that I had no idea what the story was when I first started it but when I read that it was about hoarding and the daughter's reaction to this I was definitely interested in this as this was something that I had no idea about. Although I don't know about hoarding I think that it was dealt with correctly but it might be good to check other reviews to see if this is the case. In fairness, I had not really thought of the effects that hoarding can have on children so I think that I enjoyed reading this. Enjoying is probably the wrong word but I did find it interesting reading about something that I didn't know about before.

With the hoarding comes the relationship with Ro and her Mum, Bonnie. This was definitely the best part of the book for me. Seeing the complexities of the relationship throughout and seeing it grow and change was just so good. I think that it is the most emotional part of the story for me as Lisa Williamson conveys the emotions of Ro so much and this just pulled on my heartstrings. By the end, this is so developed and I just loved it.

In response to the plot, I definitely did not see the final twist coming but I would be lying if I didn't predict some hardships coming Ro's way but this is the case of all books that follow the three-act structure so I can't really criticise this that much.

Another of the strong points of the book was definitely Tanvi. I love her as a character and this definitely fleshed and pulled out traits from Ro which I really loved. I just loved all of her and she was just so good. I also liked the relationship with Noah but I would really love to see more of this throughout but this was just because of the character's story which I also enjoyed.

Basically I loved a lot about Paper Avalanche and I'm a bit sad that many of you won't read it until January but trust me it is worth the wait.

The Verdict:

Paper Avalanche is a moving and touching storying detailing a teenager's struggle through adolescence and her Mum's hoarding disorder. It is a must read when released and I could not put it down.