When it comes to flying under the radar, Ro Snow is an expert.
No friends. No boys. No parties. And strictly NO VISITORS.
It may be lonely, but at least this way the truth remains where it should – hidden.
Then Tanvi Shah, the girl who almost died, comes tumbling back into her life, and Ro finds herself losing control of her carefully constructed lies. But if Ro’s walls come crumbling down, who’s going to take care of Bonnie…
Bonnie. Never Mum or Mummy or Mother. Just Bonnie.
Title: Paper Avalanche
Author: Lisa Williamson
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Date: January 2, 2020
Genre: YA Contemporary
Note: I was sent a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
I’m hosting a special giveaway in this post, so keep reading to find out how you can win a set of three books by Lisa Williamson!
Review
I’m excited to be on the blog tour for the paperback release of Paper Avalanche by Lisa Williamson! I’ve met Lisa a couple of times now at YALC, but I’ve never read one of her books (except Floored, which was a collaboration between seven YA authors). Paper Avalanche has been on my TBR for ages now, so I was glad to finally get it off my shelf and read it.
For the past couple of years, contemporary YA novels have been at the forefront of my TBR list. The books I’ve read have contained so many different themes, from addiction and abuse to sexuality and trying to fit in when you feel like you don’t belong. But Paper Avalanche deals with a theme that I haven’t yet come across in YA, and that’s hoarding.
The story follows Ro Snow, a 14-year-old girl who lives with her mum in a run-down house filled with mountains of her mum’s stuff. Cards, letters, bills, rubbish, piles of dishes, and extras of everything if they were on sale—the house is filled to the brim, and Ro doesn’t know what to do. She’s sick of pretending she doesn’t live there, and she’s so used to pushing people away so they won’t want to come over and visit.
When Ro meets Tanvi Shah, a girl who returns to school after beating cancer, and Noah, a boy who moves in next door, her life changes as she discovers that maybe having friends doesn’t have to be so bad, after all. Maybe they can help her see that she can live the life she wants to live, instead of hiding in shame. And maybe they can get through to her mum that something needs to change.
Paper Avalanche dives into the devastating and suffocating effects that hoarding can have on the lives of people who don’t realise things have gone too far. It shows how hard it can be on a teenager who feels like she’s the mother of the house, when she should be going out and having fun like other teenagers.
You can’t help but feel bad for Ro, who has missed out on a childhood because of her mother’s hoarding habits. You can also see how her survival instinct has made her hyper-aware of who she becomes friends with or even who she can have a conversation with.
At first I thought Ro was being overly harsh, and wondered why everything that came out of her mouth seemed to be mean or spiteful. But I soon realised that its this survival instinct that makes it difficult for Ro to be friendly to people. Because if she is, she knows that it could lead to someone wanting to meet her mother or come to her house, and then they could tell the whole school about her situation—or even worse, alert Social Services.
The book is written in a way that doesn’t sugarcoat or water down their situation for younger readers. It goes into the harsh truths, and emphasises the hardship families face when a parent faces something like hoarding or addiction the children are left to fend for themselves, care for their parents, and hide away from the rest of society in fear of their secrets being discovered.
On top of this, there’s also Ro’s dad who seems to care more about his new family, and often leaves Ro out of the picture. I don’t think he really knows how much this is affecting Ro, but to us, it seems clear that he’s made up his mind and his whole life revolves around his new daughter. This brought an interesting family dynamic, and I think it’s definitely something that a lot of teenagers might be able to relate to.
The character I loved most in this book was Tanvi. Her relentless optimism seems overbearing at the beginning, but it’s a good way to balance out Ro’s more downcast personality. When you learn about Tanvi’s medical history and how much she’s been through, you start to see why she’s so positive about everything. She’s one of those characters that seems excited just about being alive, and her positivity is infectious!
Paper Avalanche is a perfect YA novel: with complex characters, unique family dynamics, and a moral that teaches you to follow your heart even if it means changing everything, it’s a book that every teenager and adult should aim read in their lifetime. If this isn’t already on your TBR, consider adding it right now.
Click the links below to find out more or buy a copy of the book:
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Giveaway!
The lovely people at David Fickling Books have sent me all three of Lisa Williamson’s books, reprinted with beautiful new covers and sprayed edges, to give away to one of you! The giveaway is open for one week only, so make sure you get your entries in.
Enter the giveaway using the widget below:
Terms:
- There will be one winner who will win all three books.
- This giveaway is only open to residents of the UK and Ireland.
- Please ensure that if you enter, you’d be okay with giving me your address so I can send the books out to you. I won’t share your information with anyone.
- The giveaway will remain open for one week, and will close on Thursday 16th January 2020.
Good luck!
Make sure to check out the other stops on this blog tour:
