Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World in Crazy Challenge Connection

Feb 06, 2019 Ashleigh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: diverse-reads, favorites, uno-2019, romance, sapphic-wlw-ff, 2019-favourites

DISCLAIMER: Do not read this book in public as it will make you want to ugly cry!

When a tornado destroys Ivy Aberdeen's home, her family is forced to live in a cramped motel room until they can find something more permanent. Ivy has also been good at drawing, and her favourite drawings include a treehouses with two girls standing in them. In each picture, the girls are holding hands, and 12-year-old Ivy is struggling with her feelings towards girls and boys.

It doesn't help that her older sister DISCLAIMER: Do not read this book in public as it will make you want to ugly cry!

When a tornado destroys Ivy Aberdeen's home, her family is forced to live in a cramped motel room until they can find something more permanent. Ivy has also been good at drawing, and her favourite drawings include a treehouses with two girls standing in them. In each picture, the girls are holding hands, and 12-year-old Ivy is struggling with her feelings towards girls and boys.

It doesn't help that her older sister's best friend came out to her sister a couple of weeks ago, and Layla didn't take the news very well. Also, since her twin brothers were born, she feels like her family doesn't have time for her, and she's feeling very left out.

After the tornado hits, she finds herself becoming closer to another girl at school, June, and discovers that maybe she does like girls, and maybe she likes June, in particular. This heartbreakingly beautiful book follows her struggle with her sexuality and her identity, whilst also trying to fit in with her family.

I loved this book. Loved isn't a big enough word for how I feel about this book. It's beautiful, and it's heartbreaking, and I was close to tears multiple times reading it. While Ivy's sexuality is a big part of this book, the part that I related to the most was when she felt like she was being forgotten about in her own family. There's a scene near the beginning where she draws a picture of her family, with her parents each holding one of the twins and her sister in the middle, but she can't figure out where to put herself in it, and she shows her mom, and the mom says 'oh my, that picture is perfect'. It broke me. I've experienced those feelings. I've been in that situation where I didn't feel like I fit in with my family, and I felt left out, and I felt very emotional reading those parts.

Ivy, as a character, is my sweet little cinnamon roll and I would kill for that girl. A bit dramatic, but as I've said, I've definitely seen parts of myself in her. I loved her friendship with June, and how even though she was becoming friends with her, they didn't leave Taryn out, and they could all be friends together.

Overall, this is one of the best books I've read in a long long long time. Can't wait to read more from Ashley Herring Blake!! ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2022 Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022, lgbt, read-on-my-kindle, all-of-the-feels, childrens-and-middle-grade, f-f, great-side-characters, sapphic-favorites, contemporary, fantastic-heroine

4 stars. Beautiful, heartfelt, emotional, charming. Those are just some of the words I would use to describe this book. This was my first book by Blake but it will definitely not be my last because I loved the writing in this. I got super emotional and had tears in my eyes by the end.

Ivy is such a lovable character and my heart hurt for everything she was going through. She’s just a kid trying to figure things out and her life is in chaos after a tornado destroys her family’s home. The growth a ...more

4 likes · Like · see review