Wow is this title wordy. The description allow you to perfectly see and feel as the author intends you to. To make it easy to imagine you are in the world they have created.

Fast pace and moving. Overall a good read.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

The story is heart-breaking, and there are scenes of self-harm. Nothing too graphic, and certainly not gratuitous; each scene was necessary from a story and character point of view. It was difficult to read at times, but impossible to leave unfinished.

I found this incredibly difficult to read to the point that I found myself avoiding reading altogether. The problem is not with the writing, which is beautiful. Too many people close to me are struggling with the various aspects that Beth (the main character) is struggling with. Some of it I could see as a reflection of my own life as a teen. Basically, it was too close to home. Beth is a teenager on an accelerated path to college because she’s academically brilliant but she’s in a dark place mentally and emotional. She has a mother who is bipolar and a well-known artist. Her parents are divorced so she moves to her father’s house but he is physically absent. Part of her accelerated course to college is that she sees a counsellor.

Any review I write is unfair to the author because I had to disengage so far from the story that it became meaningless but I also couldn’t quit because I needed to know what happened. In spite of my disengagement, I needed to know that Beth would be okay and that Lizzie would be okay.

I definitely gained some insights by what Beth was going through. The one thing that did occur to me was that Beth’s voice was more of someone looking back on their youth and seeing it with the clarity of hindsight rather than being the teen living through it at the time. It’s a good YA novel but hard for me as a parent to read.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

This is a complicated book, because Beth is a complicated person. When you get the point of view of someone with a mental illness that cause them to hallucinate and self harm, you know this is going to be a deep, emotional read. I've never read a character quite like Beth, I felt so much for her and just wanted her to trust an adult and get help. Her parents aren't really parents, they aren't present and her mom is emotionally abusive. Beth struggles with suicidal ideation, self harm, and PTSD to name a few things. She's also denying her feelings for girls by forcing herself to sleep with men. I am so glad Nancy came into her life and was able to make a difference.
I was a bit confused at times because Beth is keeping secrets even from herself, but it did add to the authenticity and really put you in her head.

There's a lot of tough issues addressed in this and it's well written. It's not too long and keeps a decent pace. I wish there were more books like this and definitely recommend reading!

I received this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first read by this author and certainly not the last. What a crazy emotional roller coaster of a ride. Very very deep.. The main character will lure you in as the pages practically turn themselves. A well written story with strong meaning. I'm really looking forward to hearing what my students think.

This book wasn’t for me. I struggled with the writing style, the subject and the characters.
The book is very dramatic, I would believe anyone who says they cried, but I don’t really like that in a book. At least not in this type of book.

Beth left her mother’s house as soon as it was possible. Her dad, who was never around, had a home in which she could stay. She goes to therapy and hopes for this amazing transformation. To become someone she isn’t land leave her past behind her for good. But will she ever be able to forget what happened at summer camp 2 years ago?

The book was first published in 2012, I didn’t know this, but I also don’t mind. What I understand is that not much, or anything has changed in this new edition. But this book just wasn’t for me.

4.50 Stars. This book might have been more than I bargained for but it’s what the doctor ordered. This is straight up emotional and very dramatic. It’s one of those books that are pretty hard to read but when you finish you are glad you read it. I’m a fan of Stevie Mikayne, I like her Jil Kidd mystery series so I didn’t hesitate to grab this. Mikayne can really write and while this was tough to read emotionally, I think it’s her best book yet.

This was originally published in 2012. If you did read this back then I don’t think it changed much or at least Mikayne doesn’t make any mention of changes in the beginning or end of the book. And while it was written in 2012, I think the book was supposed to take place in the late 90’s. The main character just about hates herself for being gay so the earlier time period with more common homophobia fits the story. Besides some homophobia, I do need to mention some other trigger warnings for talk about suicide, self-harm, death and also child abuse that is either hinted at or discussed. There are also some semi graphic m/f sex scenes. While the main is a lesbian, she’s’ afraid of being one so she sleeps with men. This book is not a romance, it’s pure drama.

I know a lot of the things I mentioned in the above paragraph are hard to read about but this book is really well done. I would be surprised if people can get through without crying at least once, and it will sure make you feel, which is always great when an author can do that. This could have been a full 5 star book, but I only give those to books I would read multiple times. I think this is a little too tough for me to read again but it was really good. Mikayne can sure write and I hope we won’t have to wait long for a new book from her.

I was having a bad day when I began reading Jellicle Girl. It happens, it’s okay now. The reason I mention it is that I didn’t read the blurb before picking this book. All I saw was that it had been written by Stevie Mikayne and since I love her Jil Kidd series, I didn’t look any further. Do not do what I did. This is not a book you can read whenever. It deserves your full attention and it will get under your skin if you’re even just a little raw.

Beth left her mother’s house as soon as it was legally possible. At seventeen, she’s squatting her absentee father’s place, going to university and working in a group home for children who are at least as broken as she is. Mandatory support therapy is part of the bridge program that took her early to university, so she goes head to head with the no-nonsense Dr Nancy Sullivan on a weekly basis. Like Grizabella in Cats, she’s hoping for her own Jellicle Transformation, the day she’ll leave this person behind and become someone else. She can’t picture her future because she can’t let go of her past, namely what happened with Jackie at camp two summers ago.

First published in 2012, Jellicle Girl is Stevie Mikayne’s debut and it’s both brilliant and disturbing. It totally spoke to the teenager that never left my brain, and brought back all the angst and malaise of that time. I could have done without that, but I can’t fault the author for writing it so well.

This novel is reminiscent of one of the best films I never want to watch again, Girl Interrupted, and of the book that shaped my adolescence, J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. It also reminded me of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys. It’s full of teenage angst, internalized homophobia, life and death, terrible parents and too-smart-for-their-own-good kids.

I’ve been known to rate a tad too generously books that make my heart happy, and I hesitated to give this one the 5* it probably deserves, because it made my heart want to explode, not with love and joyous feelings but with pain. I don’t know, maybe I’m overrating it out of fear of underrating it. So, facts: the writing is excellent, the characters are complex and relatable, the pace is a bit slow at times but not overly so, the story feels real. Read it, but choose the right time.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Brilliant, but heavy read. Sometimes, there is more to one person than what you see from the outside. Stevie described this perfectly. Beth, by Keeping things closed off, had issues moving on with her life. Drama in this book is beyond what you can imagine. You can almost feel what Beth is feeling. It is amazing that good writer can put all that on the paper and you as reader get to experience. You think into the issue here. What is the meaning of life and death? Why is the first important when you know the second is only matter of time.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Ok Read.

Beth is suffering from keeping secrets that involve her friend Jackie. Beth is basically alone her father travels a lot and her mother is a whole lot.

When she wants to get into this bridge program at college so she can start her life her teachers suggest she talks to a therapist because they believes she need it she also working as counselor in training with a group of kids.

Dr. Sullivan has her own problems as she tries to get Beth to open up about her life as they both tries to heal it seems like no way out but can they both rise above the darkness that surround them.

I'm half and half I like it but also didn't at the same time. I don't know I like the characters but maybe it's way the story was written that had me wanting to skip toward the end. But I'm giving it four stars because of characters and I like the author and I'm going still recommend the book.