Saving Charli

by Di Walker

Who are you when your other half is gone? Twelve-year-old Charli knows no other way of being than as a twin. But when her twin sister, Freya, succumbs to a lifelong battle with illness, Charli, consumed by grief, retreats into a tent in her backyard. Closed off from her family and friends, Charli risks losing not only her other half but her whole self. Without her twin, who is left to save Charli? From Di Walker comes a story of loss, the importance of friendship and the transcendence of love, even if it is sometimes hard to see.

288 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2023

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad sad sad but it is honest with amazing adult characters and friends. I wish such books are read more and hyped more so that young readers read and discuss about grief and loss; how to handle it and how to take help in such situations.

[ruby ꨄ︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an easy read, and here is my honest opinion about this book.

To start off, I would just like to say that, I did not have high expectations when I purchased this book BUT I was expecting to get a good cry out of it. It didn't quite hit that soft spot. It tickled that spot, but not enough to get raw emotions flooding through. So, if you're expecting to feel deep sadness when reading this book, unfortunately, I do not believe that will happen unless you can relate to the plot of this story. But I also do not believe that the intentions of the book were to get the readers to to feel misery, but to instead tell a heartwarming story about friendships and the tragedy of going through a difficult loss of a loved one.

I think this book was a much younger read and it was not aimed towards my age group (would recommend to 8-10 year olds) so this may affect my review and views on this book.

The book goes through a tragic story about Charli losing her twin sister, Freya. (not a spoiler as this is mentioned on the blurb).

Bluntly, I thought the book was boring. The first 1/3 was great and had me turning the pages but after Freya passed away, it just became a bit of a drag. We had to go through the entire school days with Queenie and Blair (Charli's friends) before they attempted to get Charli out of her hiding place, which, to me, became repetitive and tedious. I felt like there was a good 1/3 of the book before we heard directly from Charli's perspective and I was getting very bored of Queenie and Blair doing the same thing over and over again.

During the 2/3 of the book, I was unmotivated to finish reading, but pushed through. I am happy to report that the ending was wholesome and sweet, with Charli, still in a state of grief, beginning to rebuild her life and continue on, even though it is undoubtedly difficult after going through such a tragic life event.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to those of younger age as this is such a beautiful story of hardships, friendship, and loss, this is a good book for those of ages 8-11 trying to get into reading and wanting to begin with something lovely yet simple.

My rating out of 5 would be a solid 2, this rating is entirely because I was expecting the writing to trigger raw emotions, but I do now realise after completing the book that the target audience is those at a younger age, so my rating may be a little unfair, and I understand that, but I still feel the need to leave this review.

Thank you Di Walker for this beautiful story and happy reading to all.

[Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Hospitalisation and death of a child and sister from a physical illness, grief and loss depiction
Score: Six out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

Saving Charli isn't what I thought it was. I saw this one as a new library arrival at the time before someone transferred it to another library, but months later I transferred it back. I then glanced at the blurb, making it seem like a heartbreaking novel about grief, similar to Call Me Adnan, but when I closed the final page, I thought Di Walker didn't deliver.

It starts with Charli and other characters, Blair and Queenie, recounting their last days of Year Six (the Australian version of sixth grade) and the summer holidays. Charli briefly mentions her twin sister, Freya, at times but I only get one chapter from her POV, but plenty from the other characters in the first third.

Towards the start of the second third, Freya dies from an unnamed illness, but I didn't care much about that, nor could I relate or connect to the protagonists. Putting more depth into them, especially Freya, could've increased the impact. For a YA novel, the central cast is surprisingly young since I can imagine them being 12 or 13 when they enter Year Seven, so I might not be the right audience for Saving Charli. Grief is only a minor theme in this one as it steps aside for other themes like friendship and love in parental and sororal relation--a reason why the author didn't fulfil my expectations, and if you're looking for a hard hitting story about loss, this is not it. Perhaps giving more attention to the theme of loss would've improved Saving Charli. For a work of fiction under 300 pages it's slow (that only works if there are characters that have depth, not lack it,) and has lots of filler that if removed could tighten the reading experience. The writing style is basic, too.

Multiple POVs didn't work in Saving Charli as each character lived their disconnected lives, making it more disjointed, and the title's called Saving Charli, so why not focus on the person whose name is on it? Switching to one POV would've made leaps and bounds in terms of narrative structure. At least I enjoyed the message that friendships can even withstand loss and bullying, even though it looked like it all fell apart, and the conclusion is a high note.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a young read, despite the content. I was expecting a heart breaker, bawl my eyes out kind of story, but that’s not what this is. This had more about fitting in with your peers and friendship than dealing with grief in it.
It starts out really slow, and takes over a third of the book to get to the point where Charli loses her twin from an unnamed illness.
I think the thing that really made this drag for me was all the alternating viewpoints from Charli’s friends. We get as much from Blair and Queenie as we do Charli (and in some sections, more chapters from their POVs) so it’s more like you’re outside watching, as opposed to reading the character experience everything. Plus Blair and Queenie aren’t even hanging out with Charli, because she’s locked herself in a tent in the backyard, so it’s literally them starting high school. Not quite what the blurb led me to believe this was.

[Kim Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a gorgeous story that deals with so many important issues: grief, guilt, friendship, trust, bullying and love. Everyone deserves friends like Queenie and Blair, to stand by them no matter what, to believe in them and to never give up.

When Charli loses her twin sister, Freya, she is wracked by guilt and grief. Not knowing how to cope, she retreats into a tent in her backyard, no longer seeing or talking to anyone. But her friends aren’t about to lose their best friend and hatch a plan to help her rejoin the world and start high school with them.

Included are some fantastic playlists that pleased my 1980s soul. And I got to reminisce about my own mother’s peppermint slice 💚

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I would highly recommend to anyone in primary school and especially those about to start high school. If you enjoy stories about friendships then this is definitely worth your time.

[Laura Farrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book I cried in was 'the fault in our stars' and that was only the last chapters. At page 92 I had to put the book down. I was sobbing so loudly my husband put his phone down to see if I was ok! After I stopped sobbing uncontrollably I continued reading with a soggy handkerchief (as I was still crying non stop tears) until now - 1:30am -so I could get some closure!!

This is a story about Charli and her twin Sister Freya. Freya has been sick her whole life, and charli has in the past year distanced herself from her sister until tragedy strikes. Hiding in a tent in the backyard until her best friends save her, this tale of grief pulled at my heart strings really REALLY hard.

This book is shelved (in my opinion quite rightly) with the young adult books, however has been placed on list for:
CBCA Notables 2024 -Younger Readers

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

✍️ This is the story of twelve year old Charli and her life after the loss of her twin sister to illness.

I Love a good Middle Grade book and this one hit the mark perfectly.

A Warmly written and Heartfelt Story, I was filled with various emotions and feelings that were deeply rooted within the heart of the story. Loss, Sadness, Grief, Friendship, Growing Up.

The first part of the story had me pulled to my core as the balance between grief and reality presented a genuine and compelling characterisation that was so deeply embedded in the heart of the story and the characters.

A perfect story for young readers about a message of hope and growth in a young age.

[Kelly Sgroi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming.

This touching story is about the loss of a loved one, deep grief, and guilt. Di has done a wonderful job with this tender subject. Her delicate characters and strong voice, deliver a story with all the feelings that we can feel when life gets tough. Then friendship comes in like a shining sun.

Beautiful.

[NotGrgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely heartwarming and heartbreaking book! (No Spoilers!) But I totally cried at the end! 😭❤️

I also love the author and my expectations for this book were not only met but exceeded.

No only was this book about grief and getting past it, but it was also about starting a new school, friendships, school issues and family drama.

A great read that I recommend to girls 11-15

[Capri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book itself is beautiful, the struggle and grief that Charli had to deal with following Freya's death is both heartbreaking, yet courageous. After listening to the song played at Freya's funeral, Photograph by Ed Sheeran, I can picture the whole scene perfect.

[Grace Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Di Walker

[Kay-Anne Archdeacon-Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely aimed at tweens but I am easy to cry so this was a tear jerker for me. An easy read to get back into the swing of reading books after a long break. Quite enjoyed it overall.

[Elise Witnish · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am a twin so i realy liked this book, but it mad me cry a lot. do not read if you get sad easily and don't like to cry. if you like music, sad or teenage life books this is for you.

[Kaitlyn C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a sweet emotional book where Charli’s sister perishes sadly and her recovering

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and the emotions are very explained making it very understandable

[Jamie Lonza · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sweet. My niece recommended this for me.

It’s very sad but a nice way to show loss to younger readers.

Yes I cried alot at the one part.

No Luke Evans. This is Aussie.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of emotion, Di Walker’s Saving Charli will have you smiling and crying all the sad and happy tears! Although acknowledging and unpacking the grief that Charli is experiencing, this book focuses strongly on the important friendships and adult relationships that bring Charli through to the other side. It is heartwarming to see how hard her friends work to come up with a plan to help Charli and not leave her behind, without ever losing hope or considering walking away. Walker also places a strong emphasis on the fact that illness can change relationships within a family but that at the core, the love is still there, even if at times it may be hard to see.

Although aimed at younger readers, this book is sure to break your heart and put it back together all in 273 pages!