Queen B’s Decree: I had high hopes about this story. A teenage amputee with a history of cancer? That’s not a normal character I read about, so I was definitely excited about that.
And Mari was amazing. She maturely accepts and deals with her disability and has adjusted well to having a single leg and walking with crutches. She thrives at her yearly summer camp for cancer survivors and has made lifelong friends there. One of them is Jase.
When she transfers to Jase’s fancy and expensive high school, she thinks she’ll have a built in friend to help her adapt. But N.O.P.E. Jase…Jason at school…hasn’t told any of his classmates about his cancer and doesn’t want anyone to know that part of his history. So he claims to have never met Mari on her first day of school.
Turns out Jase is a mean girl.
And the rest of the book is basically Jase being a dick and Mari accepting his apology. Over and over. By the end I didn’t feel that Jase was truly apologetic or had learned from his mistakes. That boy needs to develop some empathy.
All my problems with this book were Jase and his mean girl friends. Mari and her family were the only bright spot.
Book: Finding Balance by Kati Gardner
Series: Break Enough #2
Genre: YA
Hotness: mild salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: cancer