I’m not
certain how this book came to be our book club read. It’s a Young Adult romance based on a
screenplay. Like The Fault in Our Stars, it’s yet another book about teenagers with
a chronic/terminal illness.
Stella Grant
and Will Newman are teenagers in a hospital for treatment for cystic
fibrosis. The two begin a budding
romance though, because of concerns about infection, they are, at all times, to
remain at least six feet apart. Stella
follows her treatment regimen religiously because she is hoping for a lung
transplant; Will, however, is ineligible for such a transplant because he has contracted
B. cepacia, a bacterial infection that is highly transmissible and drug
resistant.
As is to be
expected in YA romances, Stella and Will are opposites who are immediately attracted
to each other though they do not make positive impressions when they first
meet. Stella is the rule-follower and
Will is the rule-breaker. Despite their
differences, they make a connection and in a short time change the other’s
outlook and make him/her a better person.
“It’s like seeing everything for the first time. I didn’t know it was possible for a person to
make old things become new again” (188).
Yikes!
There are
many unrealistic events. A nurse breaks
confidentiality and tells Stella about Will:
“’A CFer and then some. B.
cepacia. He’s part of the new drug trial
for Cevaflomalin’” (36)? Stella and Will
and their friend Poe have the run of the hospital so that it becomes their
playground? The birthday party scene is
totally unrealistic! Stella has an
infection and the doctor says that staff will keep an eye on it (98 – 99); the
next time it’s mentioned, that doctor says, “’We need to take care of
this. It’s too far gone’” (126)?! Stella has a surgical procedure under general
anesthesia even though her lungs, functioning at only 35%, may not be strong
enough. Nonetheless, hours after the
procedure, she’s sprinting across the hospital, even up and down stairs (158 –
160)!?
There is
also unnecessary melodrama. The
narrative involving Abby is just too much, as is the plotline involving the one
character of colour (who also happens to be gay). And don’t get me started on the scene on the
ice. There is just too much emotional
manipulation.
The book can
be commended for raising awareness about cystic fibrosis, but I have concerns
about the realism of the portrayal of the disease. CFers often have major digestive problems and
mucous tends to be much more of an issue than any of the CFers in the book
experience. It seems to me that we have
a sanitized version of this genetic condition.
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