Published: 21 July 2021
Publisher: Pan Australia
Pages: 216
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
I enjoyed this book but it also got me really invested in some of the bullying aspects so there are some smidge spoilers in here. I tried to be vague but there are some mini spoilers ahead as my impassioned response took over.
Being a book about a child with cancer is going to divide a few readers. I think though that sometimes having a book where it isn’t doom and gloom is a powerful choice. It isn’t about the disease it’s about living life with the disease and Master has chosen that route well. The fact this side plots with a case of severe bullying was a wild decision but again, Master manages to tie into Ana’s life philosophy and really highlights her character and strength, even if I wasn’t pleased with some of the directions the plotline took.
I thought from the blurb this would be a general mean girl taunting situation, not full scale years of targeted horrific abuse. The description of bullying, and the years of emotional and borderline physical abuse this girls suffers is enough to break anybody. If she were a different person she could have taken it to heart and really withdrawn, hurt herself, or worse. It’s only that she’s kept a positive attitude and acknowledges the bad behaviour to make light of it, while still mentioning the dread it causes. ‘Recognise it, but ignore it’ is her approach.
I understand her plan of not saying anything, and not standing up for yourself. It’s hard. But I thought her new plan was brilliant. There are laws now, she found the right law, and she had the evidence. The plan was great, she finally told her parents. The fact she stops because she discovers something about her bully is ludicrous.
What if she never discovered that? What if the bullying got so bad she’d killed herself to escape it? What if she harmed herself because she believed what this girl was saying? I cannot believe after all the great things Master was putting in here that that was the result. There is being the bigger person and there is justifiable consequences for this horrific abuse.
“As horrid as Alyssa had been and continued to be, her life obviously sucked and getting the police involved wasn’t going to help anyone.”
Disagree. It will teach her a lesson and make her realise her behaviour. It might give her some help or support, or some perspective about other people. Tell her there are consequences for her actions and it could stop her doing it to someone weaker than Ana. Disgraceful.
I know we have to teach kids to be nice, but I think there is also an important lesson about teaching them when to avoid someone, tell and adult, and leave each other be. You can’t make someone forgive you or be nice to you after years of singled out, targeted bullying. Especially when it continued after the news came out this twelve year old was dying for goodness sake. If that doesn’t make someone come to their senses nothing will.
I wished there was less ‘make the bullied kid stand up for themselves’ instead of having a teacher and parents address the issue in a one on one situation. Let the adults know about what happens but make the kids deal with it isn’t a great solution.
I will stop going on about it, but it really got up my nose how Master executed this plotline, especially when we came so close to a real solution that could have real world positivity for readers who experience the same thing. Or might change their own behaviour as a result.
Other than that I enjoyed Ana’s approach to her diagnosis and her plan for the last part of her life. There are random references to hospitals and Ana’s weakening state but Master filters these in so well you forget sometimes that there is a physical toll of Ana’s condition. It is sad, but with Ana as our narrator she never makes us feel too depressed, she goes on with life plans and a smile and is taking her life into her hands. Ana’s voice is definitely the tone setter. It is surprisingly light-hearted and funny, she navigates things like family drama and puberty with grace and with as much ease as she gives her terminal diagnosis. She has a time limit on her life but there is still life happening in the meantime.
Her friendship with Al was great, he is a wonderful support for her as well as a distraction and a sounding board for her troubles.
I loved the ending because as readers we’re given no definitive answers. Ana’s philosophy about life is to be lived and how everything matters and nothing matters is a nice message and not having a solid ending leaves readers with hope even with the knowledge of the inevitability of it all.
You can purchase Exit Through the Gift Shop via the following
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