By There is some incredible humour in this book. I can only pray to one day have half the wittiness of these characters.
Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index is written by Julie Israel. It’s a YA novel that follows Juniper Lemon’s struggle after loosing her sister in a car crash…
The book begins 65 days after Juniper’s sister’s death, and her family is struggling. Then Juniper discovers a mysterious letter from her sister to a secret-lover known simply as ‘You.’ But it was never sent… Determined to find out who this mystery love is, Juniper sets out investigating! That is until she loses something… A card from her Happiness Index (a little card on which Juniper rates her day – and the only things that has been keeping her together since her sister’s death) with a particular secret on it that Juniper would rather have remain hidden…
- It delves into quite a serious topic – grief and loss
- Although I wouldn’t say the ending is ‘realistic’ per se, it does resolve very well. Despite not receiving all the answers the book leaves you seeking for throughout it… You letting go of these mysterious answers helps you to empathise with Juniper’s own journey and what she herself had to go through
- I found it really intriguing getting so much insight into Juniper’s head as she begun to learn to cope without her sister being with her anymore in both school and life. Juniper tallies things like, “How many times I’ve caught people staring” and also discusses things like the ‘holes’ in her life that she is beginning to see everywhere. Juniper tries to deal with her sister’s absence in quite a few different ways and we also get to see some of the ways that her parents and friends have reacted to Juniper’s sister’s death and chosen to deal with their grief
- There are also other themes that are explored throughout this novel like love, sisterhood, mistakes and memories…
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