Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
Ratings12
Average rating4
This review can also be found on my blog.
I can definitely appreciate the points this book hit, but it just didn't vibe with me very well! It's a relatively quick read and I certainly recommend picking it up if you're interested in it, though. As a YA book, it touches on a lot of important issues from abortion to drug addiction to teen pregnancy. One of my issues was that I felt like it was trying to touch on too many things and thus lacked a bit in focus. I'd also look up trigger warnings for this beforehand, as there are a lot of potentially upsetting topics at hand. My final criticism is that it read more like a MG book than a YA book as far as voice goes. I kept surprising myself when Gabi would say something about graduating from high school or applying to college because I honestly kept thinking she was 13.
2022 re-read: despite my review below, I couldn't remember what it was about this book that really clicked with me (it's part of the blur of books I read in grad school) so I decided to take another look at it. And turns out, all of the things past-Amity said are still true! Who'd have thought. Still a solid 4.5 but once again I must round down because it made me so hungry.
***
The diary-format novel is always appealing to me, but generally doesn't reflect how people (or at least how I) write in a journal. There were still some instances of that in this novel, but I thought it did a good job of capturing the thought process of an artsy, nerdy teen girl in her final year of high school. This is just one of the reasons I loved it. The other reasons include:
1) poetry
2) a feisty-yet-naive protagonist who felt like a real person
3) the fact that her friends were equally important to her sweet, dreamy love interest
4) nuanced looks at addiction, body image, family relationships, sex, and more
5) Gabi is seriously great (I know that is basically the second point, but I want to reiterate this fact). She isn't always likable (who is?) and makes a lot of mistakes (who doesn't) but she is a girl who you'd want to hang out with. Or at least I want to hang out with her.
4.5/5, only knocked down because her frequent mentions of delicious food made me hungry and there is nothing to eat in my house.
...and then you read something that reminds you how GOOD ya can be and you feel bad for dissing it.
