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Teen SRC 2022 – The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green was a great and eye-opening book about cancer. It wasn’t the like the usual cancer book where the cancer patient is suffering, so they do a fundraiser to help others. Instead, it was about what true cancer is like and what cancer patients actually go through.

The main character, Hazel, has lung cancer and uses machines to help her breathe. She

This book deserves an 11/10.

Teen SRC 2019 – Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Ever since I saw this beautiful minimalistic cover at Costco, I knew I had to read it and I’m so glad I finally got the chance to.

Dumplin’ is about a girl named Willow who’s fat, obese, overweight, whatever you want to call it. And she knows, and she’s come to terms with it. She’s never had a problem with it… until she meets Bo, the star football player. Desperate to get her “spunk” back, Willow joins a beauty pageant, shocking just about everyone around…

I loved this book so so much and found myself laughing throughout because Willow’s charisma and humour just really made it relatable. A toxic body image is something that’s enforced upon us every time we go on social media, read a magazine or see a poster up in the mall. It’s a very prominent problem in our world that needs to be talked about. This book was an amazing and inspirational story that made my heart sing (ok maybe that’s an exaggeration but you get the point) and gave me a lot of hope and confidence.

My final rating is an 8.5/10 because I feel like the “wanting to change for a guy” is quite downgrading in my book but the fact that Willow overcomes that is an amazing feat to me. Would definitely recommend!

Teen SRC 2019 – Look Into My Eyes by Lauren Child

Look Into My Eyes by Lauren Child is technically a children’s book BUT the writing and plot are absolutely too amazing to not share. The rules for the SRC are that we may write reviews for Children’s Books as long as we believe they are not “childish” or “juvenile” and would appeal to teens which is exactly what I think of this series.

This book is about a girl named Ruby, the only child to popular socialite parents. However, she’s definitely not a simple party girl. She’s an honest-to-goodness genius who created a code at 8 years old which troubled Harvard professors. This level of intelligence is hard to go unseen which is why she is quickly invited into a spy agency called Spectrum where she’s to work as a code-cracker, nothing more. However, Ruby’s just a little too smart for her own good…

Thoughts: This is my all-time favourite series. ALL. TIME. And if you’ve read my reviews, you’d know how high my standards are so… GO READ THIS RIGHT NOW! It’s the most underrated series I know and deserves SO MUCH MORE love. This is perfect for mystery lovers and the plot twists are inSANE. I have literally never been able to correctly predict a plot twist in this series but now as I re-read I pick up on SO MANY HINTS that were written so well they completely escaped my mind. Another thing, I love romance in my books and this is the first book completely without a love story that has captured my complete and absolute attention (but if you survive on that chemistry this might not be for you…) so it may just do the same for you too! Final rating is a 10/10 baby, no flaws whatsoever.

Teen SRC 2019 – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Intense and quick-paced, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the perfect finale to a stunning series.

Disclaimer: There will be spoilers for the previous books here but none for Mockingjay itself.

Through perseverance, determination and sheer luck, Katniss has managed to escape the grasps of the Capitol once more. Peeta, however, was not so lucky, having been taken captive by the Capitol and suffering both mental and physical abuse.

Now known as the Mockingjay, Katniss is a symbol of the rising rebellion against President Snow’s dictatorship and is working with the rebels to support their cause. Throughout the book, the effects and consequences of war are explored, making this a very realistic story (which is a good thing!).

I thought this met and exceeded the hype put around it as the conclusion to such an exciting story. The ending wasn’t perfect, making it so much more believable because wars have casualties, that’s just plain fact. I really loved this book and the entire series to be completely honest. Would DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone! The messages from this book were received loud and clear, a full 10/10 stars from me.