I received an arc of Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

From the very first moment, I knew that I needed Sick Kids in Love. It sounded like everything that I needed. Sick Kids in Love follows Isabel as she tries to navigate life, being a teenager while also managing her chronic illness. to do this Isabel has a rule – no dating. All is going well until she meets another sick kid. And he might just change her mind – because he understands. Sasha understands what it’s like to be sick, what it’s like to feel alone. For once Isabel might consider breaking her rules.
Isabel was an interesting protagonist throughout Sick Kids in Love. I didn’t really fall in love with her, but I still was able to enjoy her as a protagonist. Isabel was really easy to connect with throughout the book that made me fall in love with the novel even more. I loved her resilience not just regarding her health but with life as well. She had a lot of things going on and was being pulled in so many different directions. And sometimes she did feel overwhelmed, but that was fantastic to see. You see it a lot in YA, especially in contemporary. Characters being able to deal with everything that is thrown at them without a care. But Moskowitz was able to really show the realistic side of any human in Isabel and that made the book that much better.

Like Isabel, Sasha was a fantastic protagonist. It was easy to connect with him and I loved seeing him grow throughout the novel. Sasha had fantastic characterisation and character arc. I really enjoyed seeing the way that he shared his emotions and the way that he looked at life. It’s not often that you see an honest male character. And I don’t mean honesty. Sasha felt very real. His emotions, his character and everything in between. I loved that he cared for his family, it added another dimension to his character and made me love him even more.
I adored the romance in Sick Kids in Love. Like the characters, the romance felt so natural and real. I loved seeing Isabel and Sasha’s relationship grow throughout the novel. It’s a very slow burn kind of romance and it was really nice to see. At times Isabel did pull away and because of this pause in the romance, it made it feel jarring. But it’s also what made it feel very real. Isabel and Sasha were totally adorable together and that just made me fall in love with them even more.

Now to the nit and gritty part. Reading books that focus on disabilities is always a hit and miss for me. Sometimes I adored and the representation and other times, it makes my blood boil. But Hannah Moskowitz did an absolutely fantastic job. Now I can’t talk about the preciseness of the medical conditions. However, in relation to chronic pain and illness, it was done so well. I have chronic illness and pain so I was really able to connect with the characters on this part throughout Sick Kids in Love.

Another reason why I loved this book, was the disabilities weren’t everything. Sometimes in novels, I find that disabilities take over and it isn’t about the characters anymore. But Hannah Moskowitz was about to find the perfect balance between representing disabilities and life with chronic illness and pain, while also letting Isabel and Sasha be characters, and people who just aren’t their medical condition.

Coming of age is a massive theme throughout Sick Kids in Love and Hannah Moskowitz was able to excel at representing it in an honest and real way. Isabel and Sasha are both at that stage in their lives where there is a lot to think about and decisions to be made. And the exploration fo this was really enjoyable. Along with coming of age, relationships of all sorts are explored through Sick Kids in Love. One of the highlights for me was the contrast of Isabel’s friendship with her ‘healthy’ friends and with Sasha. I really liked how Moskowitz explored it and I was really able to connect with the troubles.

Overall I really enjoyed Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz. It’s the perfect example of exploring disability and illness in a book without it being all about it. Sick Kids in Love explores coming of age, first love, and finding yourself. Isabel and Sasha are put through a lot throughout the book. And their honesty and resilience really shine through. Throughout the novel, Hannah Moskowitz is able to explore and represent chronic illness and pain through Isabel and Sasha in a way that worked so well. If you are looking for a book that would make you smile and cry, then this book is perfect.

It may seem a messy story. Isabel is a character that could appear as « unlikeable » for a non-disabled audience, but her path to acceptance and owning her illnesses is long and difficult. Being ill, being disabled, it is messy. It messes up with our affects, our ways of seeing the worlds, our values. Isabel is stubborn and hard, it is a fact, but I loved her more for it, because as time goes on, she learns to be soft despite the misconceptions that she needs to be strong to handle her pain and that she cannot trust herself. The character development in this book is genuine, deep and it is everything. She is a passionate character, kind and funny who writes a column where her alter-ego « Sick Girl » asks for advice on a precise subject. This element especially, reflects really well the psyche of Isabel as a character who finds it difficult to make decisions and to rely on her own judgment.

One of my favorite thing about this book, just after the fact that this is one of the only YA books that offer a proper disabled and ill representation, is the fact that it deals with sick kids in love, as indicated by the title, and not only sick kids falling in love. Romance often focuses its attention on the when (when will they kiss? when will they confess their feelings to each other? when and who will make the first move?) and not enough on the how. It is really rare to find books that explore relationships after the big « get-together » moment. Sick Kids in love dives deep into the adjustments and struggles of teen relationships. Isabel has abandonment issues since her mom left her and her father on their own. She is against romantic relationships and sure of not being fit for it, as attested by her family tree. Through her relationship with Sasha, we see her learning to own her narrative and her labels as a chronically-ill teenager but we also discover how a teenager can grasp the concept of couple, of romance and of relying on another person for affective intimacy and for caring when until then, she managed to only rely on herself. It is not, in itself, an epic love story, full of dramatic declarations and grand gestures, however for people who are second-guessing their worth and their ability to love and be loved in return, it is everything. It is the most epic that a mundane romance featuring two sick kids can get.
I thought I was accepting of my condition and of the limitation imposed by my body. The truth is…I was not. And I am still not. This book is unapologetically representing the disabled experience of the one who « does not want to give the impression of faking it ». In one scene, Isabel decides to walk instead of taking a cab to get home, even though she is in pain, because it’s well known, if you can do it, you have to. Pushing yourself to your limits because you are able to do something is a common experience and more often than not, a disabled person shuts down what their body is telling them, in order to gain validation, in regards to abled-people. Seeing it forehand, printed black on white, in an actual book, is a wonder. It was really interesting to see two perspectives on disability. On one hand, Isabel, at the beginning of the novel, is completely disconnected from her invisible illness while Sasha, on the other hand, has a strong support system and is much more accepting of his own illness, Gaucher disease, a much more visible illness. This pair of characters and their visions in terms of disability could never have been conveyed by an author who would not have chronically-ill. She manages to make co-exist these realities of disabled lives without down-playing one or the other. There is a number of details that only an #OwnVoice author can provide. Hannah Moskowitz has been there. You can feel it in the way she takes care of her characters, nuanced and never pushing judgments on them, and of her readers, letting them the space to process at the same pace as Isabel does.
The strong point of Sick Kids in Love is obviously its characters. The panel of secondary characters is really compelling and realistic, which includes a cast of queer characters and characters of color. Their relationships are deeply organic and I loved how complex the portrayal of friendships was. Once again, dealing with ableism when it is from a stranger on the bus, you will never meet again, is one thing. Acknowledging your friends and your family have integrated ableist notions, is way more complicated to deal with. Her group of friends composed of Siobhan, Maura and Luna, does not get it, no matter how hard they try, her father who is working in the medical field, does not get it. Managing honest relationships without overstepping your boundaries, or hurting your abled-friends’ feelings is hard. The more the book progress the more Isabel frees herself from the pressure and succeeds to have truthful conversations with her friends on her needs and her wants. I love how the book challenged and called out inappropriate behaviors. This book reinforces some strong messages addressed to the disabled youth.

This was just so wonderful to read. I cannot believe that I waited so long to pick it up. I guess I was just worried that the illnesses that the main characters had would be romanticized or dramatized in ways that were harmful to those who were represented. However, I felt like this novel really stayed true to real life. Not only were the illnesses and the status of being chronically ill done exceptionally well (hell yeah, #ownvoices), the romance that developed was so beautiful, natural, and clever. I adored Isabel and Sasha's characters. They were wonderful protagonists to follow. Reading their love story reminded me how much fun it was to fall in love. I saw a lot of my own relationship and the ways that we fell in love in how they fell for each other. I really resonated with Isabel's tendency to overthink. Her thought processes were so relatable. I love her so much. SASHA! What a sweet, soft boy. I cannot fully describe how much I adore him.

Entangled: Teen and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Sick Kids in Love. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

As a teenager with a chronic illness, Isabel has not let her limitations get in the way of what she truly wants to do. Until she meets Sasha in the treatment room, however, Isabel does not realize that she has been excusing the behavior of others in deference to herself. The high school newspaper column she writes allows Isabel to stay at a safe distance, but can Sasha help to expand her horizons?

The author does a good job of bringing her characters to life and it is clear that she knows the mindset of someone with a chronic illness. I liked the story itself, but thought that too much time was spent on the questions and answers from Isabel's newspaper column. It felt more like filler to me, that the novel would not have been long enough without it. Without spoiling the book for others, I can only say that one particular side plot regarding Isabel's mother is so implausible and unrealistic that it need not have been included. I also found it unlikely that Isabel's father would have been that detached from his daughter's illness, especially considering that he is a doctor. Overall, Sick Kids in Love is a good YA realistic romance that may appeal to the target audience.

Welcome Back!


So last week, I ended up getting no reviews posted (which is odd because I have been doing so much reading) but it was honestly a busy week. I had some big projects at work, new bookcases at home to organize, and I was feeling sick. Even though I did not get a lot of posts written, I did get a lot of reading done and yet again my Goodreads currently-reading shelf is a hot mess (much like my real-life bookcases which I still working on organizing now that I have a third shelf). One of the books that I sat down with last week was Sick Kids in Love.


SPOILERS AHEAD


Isabel is an excellent student, has a good group of friends, goes to a top high school, and even works on the school paper with her own column, she also has rheumatoid arthritis and a rule that she will not date. But she has to go to the hospital for treatments every so often (her dad also works there and she volunteers her time there as well) and when there she meets a boy who is also getting treatment. He has an illness she has never heard of! So she starts her research but she also starts trying to figure out when she could see him again. They see each other again and again and Isabel finds herself falling for this guy who understands her more than her dad and who she loves spending time with, but she has her no dating rule. However, when Isabel decides she can break the rule for this guy it changes her whole world!


First, I want to just say this book is too cute! Isabel's story of her first love was super, adorable, and all the cuteness I needed to ring in February. I also found this book very relatable in so many ways (if I am honest it's a lot of things I am not really wanting to share right now but wow can I relate). I also think the author could definitely do a sequel with this same world or set of characters I would love to see more of their relationship or even his family (his sister was super awesome and I loved reading about her). Additionally, I thought the cover on this book was super adorable and I loved the colors that were used. One last thing I wanted to talk about was the audiobook copy of this book. I found an audiobook copy on Hoopla (via my local library) and was able to listen when I could not physically read because I was doing other things around the house or working and it was amazing! The audiobook has a wonderful narrator and I highly recommend it! I am giving this book five stars on Goodreads!





**I was given an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I think that this book was a well crafted YA contemporary romance with great representation. There aren’t many books in the contemporary romance or YA space that focus on those living with chronic illnesses, so I was happy to read this book, and I was even happier that I enjoyed it.
Sick Kids in Love follows the stories of Isabel and Sasha, two teens both living with chronic illnesses and them falling in love. I loved both characters, and I think they were built up perfectly as well-rounded human beings who had their strengths and they weaknesses. I really enjoyed seeing the changes that they came across as they grew as characters and as they grew with each other through their relationship.
Their relationship, I believe is one of the most realistic portrayals of a relationship I’ve sen in the YA space for a long time. Oftentimes in books, there tends to be instalovey relationships and the relationship is absolutely perfect with barely ever any realistic disagreements or arguments or any of the other learning curves that comes with navigating a new relationship. But in this book, this was extremely realistically portrayed with there being swoony moments, but also moments where they’re going through their rocky waters and working through it.
I was happy to see such representation in the YA space, and to see it expertly done and gave me more insight into the lives of those with chronic illnesses and the challenges they may face. All in all, I strongly recommend this book.
I received this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Ahhhhh this was just such a great read. I just didn't want this book to end and I was sad to turn the last page. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Entangled teen publishing for the ARC. I recieved this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am lucky to have read this book early. I considered reading this book only because it was stated that no one doing to die at the end. I really wasn't looking forward to cry my eyes out. I figured , as I started reading this wonderful story that its unique and easily one of the best YA fiction I have read in a long time.

This story circles around a high school teen Isabel who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. She has been sick for as long as she could remember. Her father is a doctor and apart from him she has no one. But despite of being sick, she tries to lead a normal life. She has friends at school, seemingly good grades and she is also the writer of her school's popular column 'Sick Girl Wants to know'. Now coming to this column, it was one of my favourite parts of the book. Here , all her friends answers one of her random questions which not only make us know more about them but also about Isabel. We also get to know about the mysterious (and seemingly dead 'Claire Lennon'.

Coming to the opening of the book , we get to meet the protagonists Isabel and Sasha, both of the sick kids meeting for the first time in the Hospital during their individual infusions. They bonded in a short time and this story 'mainly' centers around them. I liked the way the story was told. It , while focused on Ibby and Sasha , shed a lot of light on their friends and family too. We get to know the hardships associated with these diseases and the major changes it brings on a person's day to day life. I was completely into this book from the beginning to the very end. I got to know a lot about rheumatoid arthritis and chronic illness called Gaucher’s. The best part of this story was that both Sasha and Isabel get each other inspite of being polar opposites. There was a few misunderstandings in the beginning but soon their story got right back on track.They know what comes with being sick and they both supported each other all the way. I loved their dates and the small things that made their relationships very cute. All the supporting characters were pretty great. Maura, Ashley, Sasha's loud and big family and also Isabel's father contributed hugely. I a nutshell - it was a pretty amazing book and one of a kind. I really loved reading it and I would recommend every book lover to surely give it a go. This book is a tribute to first love , family , teen years and what is it really like to be a sick kid. It was very honest and refreshing story told with a bold voice. It was my first ever Hannah Moskowiltz book and I would love to read more from her in the future.

Hope you all like it as much as I did.
Happy reading.

In this book we meet Ibby, used to hospitals as her dad's a doctor who spend all, his time at work while she also has to go get IVs for her rheumatoid arthritis every so often which is how she meets Sacha.



Sacha has Gauchers and the pair meet by chance during their separate infusions and the pair fall for each other over the rocky path the novel sets for them.



However as anyone with a chronic illness knows, health can fail you whenever randomly and can cause you to fear others judgement and make you feel uneasy, can the pair overcome their fears and doubts to stick together especially when an hospital emergency happens.



I loved this book, not just for raising awareness of kids and teens getting sick with chronic illnesses which is never repped in young adult fiction but the love story isn't straight forward especially as Ibby has mom issues with her disappearing from her life when she needed her and the females in het family being shockingly awful too!



If you want a book full of drama or relatable issues health wise or just a sweet love story, pick this book up you won't regret it!



Many thanks to the publisher for allowing me to review this book for them!

Friends. FRIENDS. I have been reading some EXCELLENT books these days! I’ve been a little pickier in choosing what I’m going to read, so that probably helps. But in any case, this was AMAZING and I’m so tickled that I got to read it!

In Sick Kids in Love, Isabel is the writer behind the popular advice column in her private school’s newspaper, Sick Girl Wants to Know. She’s been sick for as long as she can remember, even though she doesn’t look it most of the time. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis, and she gets monthly infusions for it, to try to deal with the swelling and the pain. And she has one rule – she doesn’t date. Ever. No exceptions.

Well. No exceptions until Sasha.

Isabel met Sasha at one of her infusions. He was getting an infusion as well, because he’s also sick. Which means his GETS IT. He gets what it’s like to be sick a lot, to have to cancel plans, to want to spend an entire “date” napping. Sasha has a different invisible, chronic illness called Gaucher’s, and he quickly becomes the person Isabel prefers to spend time with, outside of her healthy friends at school. Because he gets it more than anyone. Even more than her doctor dad.

Sasha might just be worth breaking her rules for.

skin

3 Things I Loved
Isabel. Oh, wow, Isabel was an intensely relatable main character. She’s funny and smart and realistic about her condition. High school is rough enough as it is, and dealing with a chronic illness at the same time is depicted remarkably through Isabel’s eyes in this book.
Sasha. Talk about someone’s foil. Where Isabel is realistic and possibly a little jaded, Sasha is optimistic and enthusiastic about just about everything. But because they are deeply connected by chronic illness, they balance each other out wonderfully. Plus, Sasha is just a lovely love interest.
Queens. I’ve spent a decent amount of time in New York City with a former job that I had, but I’ve never even been to Queens. This book made it completely come alive for me. Now I want to visit intensely (and immediately!).
Dislikes/Problematic Content
This book was #ownvoices. This book was diverse in so many ways (Jewish MC! Queer friends! to name two examples). This book featured chronic illness (!!) in a way that didn’t show anyone DYING AT THE END OMG quit killing off all the sick book characters, good grief! I didn’t find anything problematic here.

A slight dislike was Isabel’s dad’s character. I have a pet peeve about young adult fiction where adults are rarely present, which just isn’t realistic or fair. It was discussed and handled fairly well in this particular book, but it still bothers me as a premise. (It’s even a premise I’ve used, and I hate myself for it sometimes.)

Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:

Red = DNF, I hated everything
Orange = Ugh, no thank you
Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
Green = This was good!
Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
I’ve been giving out a lot of high ratings lately, and I’m completely okay with it. Another high rated book for the win! I’m giving Sick Kids in Love a BLUE rating. Please go read it!

Thank you oh, so very much to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’m a little late with the review, but I’m here and I’m thankful!

Happy reading!

Sick Kids In Love was a refreshing, lighthearted read about devastating life circumstances. Illness is a hard topic to write about in a way that will grab readers, and in my opinion, Hannah Moskowitz did a wonderful job. It wasn't overdone like a majority of other books with this topic - it was light yet heavy at the same time. Good job!

What I was hoping for when I started reading was for something sweet and pure. I wanted to read a book about two kids with chronic illness, and I wanted a happy ending for them. Isabel and Sasha were really cute together. I loved their dark humor. Isabel would make a joke about being sick, and Sasha loved it! They had a balance between them that worked. Sasha, especially, was super sweet and infectious. He was the light that brightened Ibby. He made me glad I chose to read Sick Kids in Love.

I love absolutely love to read books about mental/chronic illness. I’m unsure as to why all I know is that I love them an this one was no different. There should be a lot more books on these types of issues because they can relate to kids and they can maybe help them.
This book is the first that I have read by this author and the title of the book had sucked me in. so I couldn’t wait to read it.
Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis, Sasha has Gaucher Disease I must admit, I have never heard of Gaucher Disease so when I looked it up, I was shocked to know what people with this is disease go through. Sasha and Isabel are two characters that I couldn’t help but adore, they have their illness’s and they don’t let it bring them down. They have this humor about it which I think bright light to the situation.
The relationship that these two have is unlike no other, there interactions kept me smiling from ear to ear. This author did such a great job on telling this story and telling us about the illness’s that they had.

For more reviews visit me at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

**3.5 Stars**
Isabel always felt like there was something wrong with her, something overlooked that nobody else knew but her. So when she was finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, she felt justified to belong to the sick kids group. When she meets a cute boy while at her quarterly infusion treatment, she thinks nothing of it. Little did she know that he would become such an important part of her life.

I was so excited to read this story, you have no idea. Everyone who knows me knows of my crazy irrational love for all kinds of illness books (death books as my family lovingly refers to them) ever since I was little. Anything having to do with illness and yes, potential death, I find super interesting and I gobble up. When I saw that this was about two chronic illnesses that really not mentioned in the grand scheme of being sick literature (I may have spiraled down the rabbit hole of researching both conditions once I started reading to gain a better understanding), I knew I was going to read the story. Add in the fact the author mentions that they don't die and I was looking forward to this YA contemporary love story.

I found the relationship to be cute, the banter seemed endearing and all the medical treatments and symptoms (based on previously mentioned research) seemed pretty realistic. I loved Sasha and his upbeat life view, I kind of wanted to adopt both him and his quiet sister Nadia, I found them so adorable. I really liked how open minded Isabel's friends were towards trying to understand at the end and I think that is something everyone can attempt to do with those in their life.

The one thing I struggled a little with was Isabel herself. She was moderately abrasive and combative, making me have a hard time liking her. Sure she was interesting as a character, but as she even admitted, she was more selfish than Sasha was and didn't want to change. Which is fine, don't change for a boy, totally on board with that, but she was a little inflexible when it came to all her relationships, everyone else had to get with her plan. Also, it seemed a little like being sick was her personality/identity, which might be true but I could not relate since I personally have so many things to identify as- but keep in mind I am not sick, so this might be true for those who struggle with chronic illness and I have no frame of reference.

Overall this was a fast, cute romance (where nobody died) and I would easily pick up another read from this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Teen for an advanced copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sick Kids In Love
By: Hannah Moskowitz

*REVIEW* ♿♿♿♿
As a person, adult-not teen, living with two very rare chronic autoimmune disorders, I appreciate the viewpoint of Sick Kids In Love. The invisibility of it is so frustrating because you look totally fine, but your body is destroyed on the inside. Quality of life is a joke. This type of sickness is a horrible reality to experience day in and day out , and I wish more stories addressed the issue of invisible illnesses. I felt complete sympathy and sadness for the characters because I understand their plight. This story is so important, and everyone should read it for the sake of awareness.

Sick Kids in Love is an adorable read.
The characters are amazing, and the relationship that develops between them is really fun and dynamic. I enjoyed the plot and how it all moved, it felt like there wasn't a single dull moment. I liked the writing, it felt airy, and it perfectly complimented the story.
This one is definitely one of the must-reads of the year. I recommend it.

This book was pretty awesome to read! It's pretty short though a bit slow paced, and between chapters were snippets of her column, of her asking different questions to different people, and it was interesting to see their views! And her romance, yeah, it's different, Sasha is adorable, and Isabel isn't always as likable as he is, which isn't something that I've read a lot of!

This book was a really fantastic look at what it's like, living with being sick with something that probably won't kill you, but makes your quality of life not so good. I really enjoyed who Isabel was, quirks from a broken home and from various issues through her life.

There was this one thing with her imaginary friend that died at the same age that Isabel currently was, so who has died each year, basically, as Isabel grew up. She was mentioned, but it felt a little cut off, like I felt there should've been a transition that happened in the end, and there's stuff about her changing, but nothing quite on her imaginary friend.

I kinda wonder if there's a bit of a metaphor in fulfillment-how she knows there's something wrong but the doctors can't find anything so shrug it off, and we don't find out what it was, the thing with her imaginary friend-and being a representation about how life is like with a chronic illness. I have no idea, I'm not a high literature understanding kinda of girl.

Really enjoyed reading this book, it was a really fantastic read!

Friendship, love and perseverance!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz!
Two teen main characters meet at the hospital while they’re getting treatments and they become immediate friends. Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis and Sasha has Gaucher Disease. Both illnesses have horrible consequences and daily struggles. Isabel and Sasha have such different personalities that they sometimes they struggle to get along, but mostly they are perfect for each other. I giggled many times while reading this book because of the humor, which is balanced out well with the tough reality of what Sasha and Isabel have to deal with on a daily basis because of their “invisible” sicknesses, their school lives and family dynamics. I’m impressed with this book, its maturity and realistic portrayal of what life deals out, 5 stars!

I quite liked this. I didn’t love Isabel and I was worried that something bad was going to happen a la fault in our stars but actually it was a nice exploration of chronic illness and love when you’re a teenager. It’s quite angsty, but on the scale of some YA I’ve recently read it’s positively restrained. An interesting read.

This was such an amazing book! I hoped and hoped for a book like this where chronic illnesses arent treated as something tragic and something inspirational for some reason, its their life, its part of their life and it sucks sometimes because not everyone will understand but its there. I love the discussions on 'being sick' or 'identifying as sick'. So much of this book was cute and funny but also all the banter had me smiling and grinning. I love this love story, I think we need more like this. 10/10 would recommend to everyone around me and i can't wait to buy and own this book!