Side Effects May Vary
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4.1 • 7 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
What if you'd been living your life as if you were dying - only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?
When Alice is diagnosed with leukaemia and time is suddenly not a luxury, she convinces her friend Harvey to help her with a crazy bucket list. It's as much about revenge as redemption and warped or not, it gives Alice the focus she needs when everything else seems pointless.
Then she goes into remission.
Now faced with the consequences of her actions, can Alice repair the damage she's caused to those around her? And maybe, just maybe, show the one who loves her most how much she loves him in return?
'Side Effects May Vary explodes with brutal honesty, brilliant wit, and unflinching heart.' John Corey Whaley, author of Where Things Come Back
'Julie Murphy's SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a funny, heartfelt, honest look at the beauty and the risk of getting a second chance. An inspiring novel about all the things worth living for. I adored this debut!' Siobhan Vivian, author of The List
'A funny and touching novel about a strong-willed heroine who finds facing death simple, but facing life heart-wrenchingly complicated. A real original.' Jennifer Echols, author of Going Too Far
'Honest and unflinching, this is a compelling story of one teen's struggle with cancer, love, and living. A worthwhile addition.' School Library Journal
'Readers will turn the last page wanting to know where the next chapter leads.' Kirkus Review
'Alice and Harvey's relationship is raw, honest, moving, and unapologetic in its depiction of their individual, and collective, pain.' Booklist
'A tale of unlikely romance, impossible obstacles, and mortality, this book is a must-read.' Teen Vogue
'It's equal parts fun, cringe-worthy, and totally fearless!' Seventeen Magazine
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An embittered 17-year-old cancer patient and her lovelorn childhood best friend alternate narration in Murphy's grim debut. Harvey and Alice grew up together and were close until high school, when Alice quit dancing at Harvey's mother's ballet studio and started dating a popular athlete. After Alice is diagnosed with leukemia and begins treatment, she turns to Harvey for support and assistance with her short and surprisingly negative bucket list. When the cancer inexplicably goes into remission, Alice has to start thinking of her life in the long-term again. Though the story jumps around between Alice's initial diagnosis/treatment and her remission one year later, the characters and their problems are virtually indistinguishable in both time periods, making it tricky to keep the storylines straight. Alice's anger is believable and a welcome change from portraits of cancer victims as saints, though her treatment of other people, including Harvey, can still be distancing. Harvey is a sympathetic narrator, though, and it's a relief when he and Alice get a hopeful ending after a slow, dark story. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
OMG
This book is a romantic book for people aged 12+. EXPLICIT