Title: Someone to Love
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: HQ Young Adult
Format: E-ARC via Netgalley
Publication Date: 25th January 2018
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
I hate mirrors. Glass is dangerous. Anything that reflects me back at myself is a threat.
Liv Blakely knows how important it is to look good. Her father is launching a political career and Liv will be making public appearances. She has an image to uphold–to her maybe-boyfriend, to her new friends, and to the public who love to find fault on social media.
No matter who she has to give up to get there.
No matter what she has to lose to do it.
But as the high price of perfection takes a toll. Can Liv find something else to live for before she goes too far?
DisclaimerI received an uncorrected advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. This has not influenced my opinions, or the content of this review in any way.
Trigger/Content WarningsI always try to include a list of potential triggers that is as detailed as possible, to allow potential readers to make an informed choice when it comes to reading my review or the book itself. It’s important to be safe, and look after yourself, if this helps a person do that, then it’s time well spent on my part, because I know how terrible it feels to be caught by surprise by something, and to have it affect your mental health. I went into this book not knowing about the self harm, which was a difficult surprise for me, so I’ve tried to mention everything I can think of. If you think I’ve missed something, please don’t hesitate to let me know and I’ll be sure to update this section right away.
Eating Disorders, Bulimia, Self Harm, Abusive Relationships, Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse, Overdose, Sexual Assault
My ThoughtsMy experience with this novel was somewhat complicated. There are a lot of heavy issues dealt with here, at times I found it extremely difficult to read. I considered DNFing it about 20% in because I was getting triggered by some of the topics, and I didn’t want to risk my mental health. However I am glad I continued reading, because in the end it was a heart-wrenching, emotional read about identity and learning self-love.
Liv is an interesting main character. She’s very flawed, not always easy to like, but she’s also going through a lot, over all she feels like a very real, very human character, and it’s easy to relate to at least some of her struggles. She feels like she doesn’t fit in very well, with her family and at school, and she worries about it a lot, constantly second guessing and over analysing what she says and does. She’s a very anxious person, and I felt this was really well written, I can especially relate to the way her anxiety was triggered when good things were happening, causing constant worry.
Much of this book focuses on the eating disorder that takes over Liv’s life. Started by bullying, and fed by positive comments received in response to her initial weight loss, Liv’s desire to lose weight, and be perfect becomes all-consuming. It’s heartbreaking to see how much she struggles, and how low her self-esteem is, as her mental health declines.
This book does an excellent job of highlighting the different pressures that women face to appear a certain way. Especially with the prominence of social media, where thoughtless or cruel opinions can be posted anonymously for all to see. Liv deals with this more and more as her father’s campaign gains momentum, she feels an enormous pressure to appease the online media and commentators. It’s a lose/lose situation though, as young women in the spotlight are held to impossible standards. I found it incredibly frustrating at times when Liv was trying to say how hard things were on her, she was dismissed, and ignored.
In conclusion, this is not an easy book to read, it’s emotional and deals with some really heavy topics. That makes this book difficult to rate for me, because I was gripped by the story, emotionally invested in Liv as a main character, but reading this was somewhat emotionally draining. This book shows its main character on a descent to rock bottom, I just wish there had been a little bit more time dedicated to showing recovery. Someone to love is a powerful read, and I have a lot of more spoilery thoughts about it if anyone wants to discuss it. It’s a worthwhile read, but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone because of the potential triggers.
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