Bird by Crystal Chan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This started with a great first line, and by the end of the first page I had a lump in my throat and my eyes were threatening to tear up.
Reading this book was slightly heartbreaking but also very hopeful. Jewel was an amazing young girl who definitely was original. She was so clever and determined but I could feel her loneliness and so many times I wanted to jump into the story to just hang out with her. It was lovely seeing her friendship with John develop and how he made her feel, like she was real and that she mattered. They shared many happy and fun times together. And then it all went to shit.
But after making it through all of the hurt and heartbreak, through the grief of her parents and the anger of her grandfather and the betrayal of John, the ending was so hopeful and uplifting. Yes I was crying but they were happy tears. Because of Jewel’s bravery and honesty, her family were able to give themselves permission to live again.
“I nearly broke open with joy” – pg 99
“What do you do when your worries won’t go away? When even the entire earth can’t hold them? At some point, the wind quieted down and I slowly climbed onto the boulder, but I felt like a stranger there, alone and uninvited” – pg 188
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