Girl Against the Universe

by Paula Stokes

[boghunden]

I had high expectations for this book, but I didn't expect for it to grab me the way it did.

This is a story about a girl who's struggling to stay above water, but finds herself drowning time and time again. I think we can all relate to this. It's about being afraid of things happening to other people more than oneself. About taking on too much responsibility and survivor's guilt. I think we've all been there, more or less. And that's the thing about this book: It's so relateable!

I don't know whether I actually learned something from this book, but it definitely made me think about some stuff. Stuff that's been piling up for a long time, and that I was now able to think about and figure out. I don't know if I would've worked up the courage to do so on my own, but this book definitely inspired me to just do it. I'm grateful for that.

I loved Maguire. I loved the therapist. I loved the love interest Jordy. I basically loved everyone!
The way Maguire fell in love, but still struggled with her life was so realistic. Love doesn't just cure everything! Sure, loved ones can be helpful through hard times, but they can't just make everything better like that. It takes hard work from the person themself. This book got that part exactly right and I really loved reading about it. I feel like maybe this book could help break down some taboos.

The writing style is working really well too. This book is full of humour, heart and wise words. I love how it made me go from laughing to tearing up within the same paragraph. I don't care what Paula Stokes writes, because I'll read it all.