The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas- Review

Publication date:
April 6th 2017

Publisher:
Pan Macmillan

Goodreads synopsis:
Sometimes I feel like everyone else was handed a copy of the rules for life and mine got lost.

Grace has Asperger's and her own way of looking at the world. She's got a horse and best friend who understand her, and that's pretty much all she needs. But when Grace kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, the world doesn't make much sense to her any more.

Suddenly, everything threatens to fall apart, and it's up to Grace to fix it on her own.

Whip-smart, hilarious and unapologetically honest, The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas is a heart-warming story of one girl trying to work out where she fits in, and whether she even wants to.

REVIEW:

Cover- Another typical cutesy contemporary looking cover with the pastel colours and simplicity. But as you know, this is something I love. I don't adore this cover but I do like it. The background colour is lovely and I like the size and font of the text. It really stands out but isn't too bold. I don't like the smiley faces (and one annoyed face in pink) overlaying the green, it just seems pointless and makes the book look more childish.

Plot- This book was probably one of the most eye-opening books I've read in a while. It really allowed someone without autism (me) to slightly understand and get a feel for what it would be like and how difficult life can be with this condition. It was at times heart-breaking, hearing all Grace's thoughts about life and herself and seeing how frustrated she got with herself when it was something that couldn't be helped was so sad and I just wanted to comfort her. Grace's world is turned upside down so many times, she has so many things thrown at her and I hate how some of the characters in this book couldn't realise that while at times she may have acted strange, it was something she couldn't help and they should have been more sympathetic of her condition. I really liked the idea of this book and the messages behind it which are to be kind to everyone and realise they might have things going on that you are unaware of, and that sometimes 'fitting in' isn't as good as it may seem, to just be yourself really.

Characters- So I want to start off by talking about Gabe. I loved Gabe, he was so sweet and understanding of Grace and how she could sometimes be a bit strange but the way he cared about her was adorable. He was deemed as the 'hot and popular' boy, yet he didn't care about this title at all. He liked her for who she was, even if this would have meant lowering his social position. It was another indicator Rachael used to show that not everybody fits into stereotypes and that you shouldn't judge someone without getting to know them. Grace's sister Leah was another character who was trying to fit in throughout the book, though she took a very different and potentially dangerous approach to doing this, which was sad to see but also eye-opening. I don't want to repeat myself but all the characters had storylines that really made you think. The main characters I didn't like in this surprisingly were the parents of Grace and Leah. They were just really neglectful and selfish towards their children and this was never really talked about or commented on until towards the end of the book. I just feel like their actions were totally unrealistic, especially as one of their children has an illness which affects their every day life and they need care. I didn't really feel much of a connection with Grace but I did like her character and find her story emotional and insightful.

Writing- The writing in this book was very descriptive, especially when attempting to explain how autism feels which made it easy for the reader to sympathise with the characters. Although we only heard from Grace's point of view, it didn't feel as though anything was missing as hers was the only insight we really needed for the story to feel captivating and emotional.

Overall- I did really like this book and found it to be enlightening and interesting. Definitely worth the read.