jmelauren's reviews
121 reviews

I Will Lead My People by Janet Edwards
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I really like the idea that the people who are strongest after the apocalypse are the ones who constantly at work at being strong in the world before.

All The World In Seafoan Green by Lauren Ring
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Merry Shitmas by Kristy Evangelista
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Textbooks In The Attic by S.B. Divya
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If This Was Talon by TJ Berry
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Kids These Days by Tansy Rayner Roberts
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Omarino by Andi C. Buchanan
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Rhizome, By Starlight by Fran Wilde
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The Science Of Pacific Apocalypse by Octavia Cade
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The Rest Is by Stephanie Gunn
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A Floating World Of Iron Spines by Tyan Priss
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Return Of The Butterflies by Emilia Crowe
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Leaving Dreamland by E.H. Mann
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Nothing But Flowers by Katharine Duckett
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The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair And Parade by Bogi Takács
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Friends to lovers 
Love triangle 
Bucket list
Heart condition
Addiction

Christmas 
Marriage of convenience 
Single dad
Forced proximity 
Disability rep 
Sick child 
Parent with dementia 

"I'm pretty close to positive that no one with a disabilty wants to be pitied. Not a one of us wishes to be looked down upon, or as though our experience of being a person is in any way less than that of an abled bodied person."

"I choose to find the good, and embrace the changes with grace when I can."

"It's the things we usually take for granted that are the tasks I have to work for."

I absolutely get behind "use it or lose it". There are so many things that I used to be able to do but I got lazy and found an easier way and now I can't even remember how I use to be able to do it. And there are other things that I do that I know I only still have the ability because I'm using those muscles all the time.

Last time I went to physio they told me they don't say that anymore. Now they think that you should keep what have in the bank and only use it when totally needed. I'm sorry but that is just wrong.

I feel like she really just skimmed through how hard and expensive adaptive equipment is and how inaccessible it is to so many people. She seemed kind of careless to. She talks about leaving her very expensive wheelchair out in a very public place and is surprised when it's stolen. News flash. People suck.

Something that also shocked me is that she drives. I understand that everyone has different capabilities and progression can be dramatically different for everyone. I just honestly did not know people with FA could drive. I never have and can not imagine doing so. However she did talk about how difficult it was just trying to handle a fork during dinner and than in the next paragraph she talks about driving her son to school. Is driving with FA safe?

Grumpy x sunshine 
Single dad
Disability rep 

This is a story about Patience, a severely disabled woman. Her mother (Louise) wants her to be part of a phase one clinical trial and her father (Pete) does not want his daughter to experiment on.

It's a tough book because I don't know what I would do.

Because of Patience's disability (Retts) she can not communicate and no one actually talks to her, just about her.

Louise doesn't think no is even an option and is expecting a miracle. She talks as if her daughter is going to wake up talking and walking and no ever disputes that as being completely ridiculous and I don't understand why. Maybe if someone flat out told her that wouldn't happen she wouldn't be so on board with it. Even if the drug did work she would need so much therapy for any changes like that.

Pete does not want this for his daughter when the risks include depression, brain surgery, and even death. Patience seems happy and content in her own little world. However if anybody would have pointed out to him the life expectancy of someone with Retts, he might have changed his mind. It says in the book that life expectancy is 30-40 and Patience is 30. What if this drug can give her more time?

It's an impossible decision. I'm not looking to sign up for clinical trials myself so I guess I have my answer. 

This is a lot heavier than your average ya romance. Ethan is struggling trying to watch over his addict mother, thinking he's the only one who can. Rebecca feels responsible for the car accident that killed her father and the feeling that her mother blames her. It starts as a second chance love story with multiple timelines and honestly I thought about dnfing. I don't like either of those tropes. However the "before" chapters were few and far between and it got messy and real pretty quickly. I related to Rebecca's struggle with inaccessible places, I was heartbroken when Ethan described something from his childhood, I was left in disbelief about a grown women sharing her drugs and alcohol with children. If you can handle that I would recommend this book.