Love, Ish

by Karen Rivers

Things Mischa “Ish” Love will miss when she goes to Mars: lying on the living room floor watching TV, ice cream, her parrot Buzz Aldrin. Things Ish Love will not miss when she goes to Mars: mosquitoes, heat waves, missing her former best friend Tig.
 
Ish is convinced that she’ll be one of the first settlers on Mars. She’s applied to—and been rejected from—the Mars Now project forty-seven times, but the mission won’t leave for ten years and Ish hasn’t given up hope. She also hasn’t given up hope that Tig will be her best friend again (not that she’d ever admit that to anyone, least of all herself). When Ish collapses on the first day of seventh grade, she gets a diagnosis that threatens all her future plans. As Ish fights cancer, she dreams in vivid detail about the Martian adventures she’s always known she’d have—and makes unexpected discoveries about love, fate, and her place in the vast universe.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Family, Death, Young Adult, Contemporary

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2017

About the author

Karen Rivers is too thrown by the "Date of Death" drop down that has appeared below her name in the editing section of this page to actually write anything about her life. When she recovers, this box will be filled with imperative biographical information and may include SECRETS and probably also a few LIES. Now she is going to sit back and anxiously track that "Date of Death" box in case a date suddenly appears, foretelling her imminent doom.

Reviews

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book broke my heart. It was depressing as hell, but there were so many sweet moments that it was worth it. Also, almost nothing was resolved, but THAT'S LIFE. It makes sense for the circumstances, and it makes sense, not everyone gets to resolve everything in their life.

Highly recommend. Bring tissues... like, a whole box.

[Brandy Painter]

I didn't read the synopsis of this before starting it. Mistake. I just loved The Girl in the Well Is Me so much that I saw it was a new Karen Rivers book and snatched it up. If I had read the synopsis, I would have been less eager. I still would have read it eventually though. Sadly, I just couldn't make it through this one (and not entirely due to the subject matter).

There were 8 (yes EIGHT) product brand names in the first 20 pages. Before anyone gets on me for being nitpicky, I only stopped and counted because it was so obvious and I was tripping over them. Nothing ages a book faster than that. But my real problem was the main character. I'm a big proponent of unlikeable characters, especially girls who are allowed to be unlikeable. There's a difference between unlikeable and completely unsympathetic though, and Ish falls into the latter character as she's introduced in the first few chapters. She is one of those girls who are DIFFERENT from all the other girls. She doesn't do princesses and clothes and make-up. She is a scientist. And VERY sneery and pretentious about the whole thing. And she is constantly lecturing the reader to the point that I felt the author was lecturing me through her. It was annoying even though I agreed with more than half of the lectures. I flipped to the end to see if I felt finishing it was worth it. For me it wasn't.

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have absolutely fallen in love with Karen Rivers' writing style. Period. End of story. Her characters are witty, endearing, and just so freaking loveable. Seriously, if you don't love Ish's quirky personality, her insightful observations, and her hilarious quips, you're just wrong. I'm sorry, but you are. And if you're not bawling your eyes out by the end of this book, then there's really no hope for humanity.

[Scott Fillner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a moving story filled with strong emotion and a rich character. Ish just steals your heart and has you wanting to reach out to her throughout the story.

[Colby Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man. This book broke my heart. One of the saddest middle grade books I have ever read.

[Liza Fireman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A girl that wants to go to Mars can be a potential to something good. But oh, no!
I read about 80% of this book, and I just couldn't get myself to finish it. The main protagonist is so annoying, such misanthrope that I just couldn't stand her. Mischa is 12 and she is saying about herself Mom, I'm not fun.. All of her interest are boring things, such as environmental issues, and going to Mars to find people like her, and that's why she keeps away from people, because she doesn't want to be near them. She is commenting sarcastically on every single thing (from spelling intentional mistakes that exist in the world, to malls, to cellphones). If I has a bit more of a super small aspect to like about her maybe maybe I could find something good. But no, I just couldn't.

Here see for yourself if you would like someone that can't be a normal person for even one second, a robot per-se:
* I wasn't going to tell him about the island of plastic floating around the Pacific Ocean, killing seabirds and whales!
* People look at their cellphones
points for mars: no cellphones
* Cinnabon is gross. Empty calories.
* 22 is young, not aged, not dying. My frontal lobe will have finished developing

Funny is also that she is self contradicting:
I'll be famous on Earth. Mischa Love was the first girl on Mars. Mischa Love changed everything.. Didn't we just say and she all the book brainwashed the reader with the fact that she doesn't even care what anyone thinks about her?!
When she does meet other girl in the mall by mistake, she behaves like a nasty snob. Who names each one of the people in a group of more than ten people? I make myself greet them: "Oh, hi. Ashley Ana, Sophia, Camilla, Bea.. Zoe Amber, Alex,Kaitlyn".

Her mom is no less annoying. Talking with her seriously about Mars as if she is going tomorrow. Won't you miss this? (and of course she has only negatives Cinnabon? Malls? Crowds of people? Definitely not 50% off sale at Forever 21.).
The mom herself is really awkward too, at some point she rehearses a song she learned in grade school with the punctuation: carriage return type writer mom recites a song with all the punctuation

Overall, no reason to spend time on this book. Story is boring, characters are annoying, it is jumping by loose associations and just tries to preach to the reader about many different topics.
Oh, and of course Mischa has red hair (and she lost a friend that moved and that's why she is not able of being tolerated for even a single moment). A notch over 1.5 stars. Skip!

This is not the way that we want to encourage girl to aspire for more. If anything, this will achieve the opposite. Who would like to be friendless and annoying like Mischa? If this is how someone is behaving if they want to be an astronaut/engineer/any profession that is a "boys" thing, you would not find many girls signing for it. Normal girls that are successful and have dream, and investigate should be the protagonists in our books. Nice girls, that are both fun and smart, and want to be whatever they want to be.

[C.K. Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about Ish's unique point of view, from her feelings about former close friend Tig, her one perfect sister and other difficult one, and her obsession with Mars. This book doesn't pull any punches. Some readers won't like that and others (like me) will admire the hell out of it.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the synopsis of this story, I was really intrigued. I read a lot of books where the main character gets struck with cancer, but I think this is the first book that I have discovered where the character was only 12.

I really wanted to like this book. At first, I thought Ish would be really relatable to me, because of her interest in the environment and taking care of the planet. But, she just really quickly started to annoy me. She was just very negative (even before she knew she had cancer). She was always insulting everyone in the story. It just became very tedious.

So I love when characters are unique, but I get annoyed really quickly with characters that have absolutely zero qualities that are similar to anyone, and that is how Ish was written. For a good portion of the story, she resembles a robot (and calls herself a machine) more than a human. She doesn't seem to care when she hurts people, and it just doesn't make her likable.

I also felt like the author tried really hard to make her family super weird, and at times, it was really annoying. Her mom was almost as annoying as she was at some points in the story. Overall, she wasn't as bad, but still. Honestly, outside of maybe Iris, I didn't really like any of the characters.

I was just overall really disappointed with this story. I was really expecting a heart-wrenching tale of a young girl and her struggles with cancer, and it just left me down. I felt that it was really slow, and very boring. And I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.

This book just wasn't for me, and if you are considering reading it, I would check out some other reviews that are more positive.

*I received this book free to read and review, thanks to Algonquin Young Readers.

[Tianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, first of all, I would like to say that I only read the preview of this, in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

For a while after requesting to review Love, Ish, I didn't realise that I had read just the preview. I thought, stupidly, it was just a short story that ended very confusingly, without explaining anything. I was wrong. When I found out that it was the preview, I was very relieved.

From what I'd read, the story seemed interesting enough; young girl dreams of going to Mars and is silently coping with the non-responsiveness of her former best friend. But after I actually finished it, I realised... the preview doesn't even start on the super interesting part of the story! Only at the end did I find out that Mischa was diagnosed with cancer and just in reading that, my heart broke a little.

Mischa herself is definitely a fun character. She's intelligent (far more intelligent that I am and I'm seven years older than her!), funny and sarcastic - my kind of character. She also spends a lot of time fighting with herself over trying to convince herself she no longer cares about her former-best friend, Tig.

The story itself is really intriguing and though it's aimed for a younger audience, I would have absolutely no qualms about purchasing it for myself to read. Pshaw, who says age recommendations mean anything? I've even learned a few things, like what a biome is. I feel smarterer already.

I highly recommend reading it.

[Matthew Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the way Ish is portrayed. It felt so real, that struggle people have when they feel like they don't fit in -- that mixture of prickliness and vulnerability. Really, all of her relationships rang true. Rivers also did such a good job bringing strong emotions out in the reader -- Algonquin/Workman was not wrong when they included the note with this galley that I'd need tissues. (They even sent a pack with the book!). I couldn't put the book down, even though parts of it just made my heart feel so raw.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story about a girl who is obsessed with Mars - she keeps apply to go. She also misses her best friend who moved. Ish collapses on the first day of school and finds out she has a brain tumor.
What follows is her dealing with it.
Ending is ambiguous.

[Karen Parisot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve year old Mischa Love is one very determined young lady. Her ambition is to be one of the first humans to colonize Mars, and she is doing everything in her power to reach that goal. Then life throws her a curveball.
A new book for middle grade readers, Love, Ish, is an excellent read. Told in the first person, Ish is smart, funny and wise beyond her years. It’s good to find a female character who is so into science and astronomy. The author has done an incredible job of weaving a lot of information about Mars into the story. I certainly learned a lot about the red planet by way of this entertaining tale. The book is about much more than Mars, though. It’s about dreams and friendship, families and love, life and death. Highly recommend!

[Suzanne Maley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sad but very well written.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 plus! I love this author’s style. How she delves into the thinking of the main character. Unique and compelling. I get totally sucked in and am exhausted afterwards.

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Middle-grade books, especially those targeted at female readers, seem to contain little more than what I call "fluff."

From their stereotypical pink covers to the oh so dreamy boy the main character has a crush on, Middle-Grade books for girls SUCK!!!

I LOVE that LOVE, ISH is different from any other book targeted at Middle-grade readers.

The cover of this book is awesome. It shows off Ish's long red hair, and the artist's decision to have her standing on the globe of Earth and looking towards Mars is 100% perfection.

I was not as happy with the description on the back of the book as I was with it's cover. It does not really do this book justice, but I have the feeling that this was done on purpose to grab the interest of the target age group. Once they begin reading and are pulled into the story, they will realize that this book is unique. They will discover that even though there are some very serious issues discussed in this book, they will want to keep reading despite the fact that they will be learning in the process.

Parents who do not try to keep their middle-grade children in a bubble and who realize that kids are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for, will want to buy this book for their sons and their daughters. Just because the protagonist is female, does not mean that this is a girl's book. In fact, both boys and girls will be able to relate to Ish and to her struggle to find her place in the world [or, maybe on Mars instead.]

The writing style of author KAREN RIVERS draws middle-grade readers into the story instantaneously. Her knowledge of what clothing and footwear appeal to this age group is an example of her attention to detail, sibling rivalry and the jealousies that seem petty to adults but feel so very important to tweens and teens are another example.

Ish's dream is to be the first woman/girl to live on Mars. In pursuit of this goal, she has read anything and everything that she could get her hands on that has to do with Mars and about the difficulties of colonizing a new planet.

I love that this book encourages readers to dream big. Ish found a website where people can apply to be part of the first Mars colony expedition. She is only twelve years old and has already applied more than 40 times. She has received a rejection every time so far, but she will not give up hope. She plans to keep applying until they finally accept her. The message implied by Ish's actions is twofold. First, young people have dreams and aspirations and should be encouraged to follow those dreams, no matter how unlikely they seem. Secondly, the message to others is to be tenacious, and to not allow setbacks (or the opinions of others) to stop you from pursuing your dreams.

This book deserves a very high rating. There is so much contained in it's pages that is unlike any other middle-grade book on the market. In fact, even though the target readership is ages 10 through 15, I believe that readers of all ages will fall ìn love with LOVE, ISH and that upon completion, they will recommend it to their friends and families.

To read more about this book's contents and the issues it discusses, visit my blog at AmiesBookReviews.wordpress.com 

I rate this book as 5 out of 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

FAVORITE QUOTES:

"Living with Elliott is sort of like coexisting with a talking, breathing shard of broken glass. You never know when it's going to poke you in the foot and leave you bleeding all over the clean floor."

"My brain is basically a salad spinner, whirling unrelated ideas."

"The thing with chemo is that it is the worst and also, it sucks all the energy out of me, leaving me as floppy as a piece of paper. I feel like I'm constantly carrying something heavy, but that heavy thing is me."

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mischa “Ish” Love is a precocious 12-year-old who is heavily into science and environmentalism, to the chagrin of her mom, who wishes she would be more relaxed and enjoy life more. (Ish says her mom “has obviously mistaken me for an ice dancer or a regular girl…”)

Ish for her part is frustrated that she is the only one who seems to be taking the planet seriously, while other kids “run around and throw their candy wrappers into the wind and assume someone else is going to clean up their mess.”

Ish did, however, have a great deal of fun when her BFF, Tig Diaz, lived next door, but he moved away nine months prior, and she hasn’t heard a word from him since. Tig shared her concerns and dreams, but just dropped her without a word. She tries to pretend he is just “dead to her” now, but she misses him, and is lonely and hurt.

She tries to think about other things, and occupies her time planning for her eventual immigration to Mars as part of the “Mars Now” project that purports to be equipping Mars for settlements in ten years. She will be 22 then and just knows she will be perfect, if only they will accept her into the program. She and Tig had spent six years planning for what they would do on Mars and how they would survive. She muses:

“If people were all either flowers or weeds, I’d be a weed. Weeds are survivors. Weed are what they need on Mars. Nothing fragile. No one who will die at the first sign of trouble.”

But alas, Ish turns out to be a flower after all, when it is discovered that she has an aggressive brain tumor. She is told it is the size of a Brussels sprout, so she calls it that, or Nirgal, which was how the ancient Bablylonians referred to Mars - Nirgal meant “death star.”

The rest of the book takes us through the states Ish goes through - the sadness, the anger, and the fear. But eventually she manages to find acceptance of her situation:

“Like you imagine your life is this elaborate line that twists and curls and makes beautiful pictures, but the real beauty of life is that it isn’t like that at all. It’s a meteor, streaking across the sky. Meteors don’t twist and turn. They just cut straight across, faster than you ever imagined.”

Ish undergoes chemotherapy and radiation, but the tumor grows fast, and takes over larger portions of her brain. She loses more and more of a sense of her surroundings, increasingly imagining herself living on Mars, planting things, and waiting for everyone else to come. Finally, all she can see are prisms of light - a symphony of light, “playing inside me, singing about all my beautiful forevers.”

Evaluation: This book is not as depressing as it sounds, but it is by no means a “happy” story. The author does an excellent job of describing the processes of hospitalization and chemotherapy, and portraying what it might be like to have brain functions gradually slip away. This little girl’s journey will help kids understand similar situations of sick relatives or friends in their lives.

Rating: 3.5/5

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotionally captivating, and raw Love, Ish, will rocket readers to into a new trajectory of emotions from dreams, cancer, love, and understanding. This book is an exploration deep inside the mind of a young girl struggling to make sense of a tragic diagnosis. Heartfelt and deep, readers will plunge deep into the character's mind as she tries to make sense of her rambling mind, making new friends, all while losing her hair and being horribly sick.

Karen River’s ability to capture the angst behind true, heartfelt emotions within the pre-teen mind is truly a treasure. Rambling thoughts, feelings, and emotions, that are sometimes complicated, confusing, or illogical only lends to the authenticity of her character, opening a platform for discussion. A great book for teens searching for someone who understands and can capture real emotions while dealing with an unforeseen event. While this book deals with cancer, it also can be identified with readers dealing with any emotionally grappling event that leaves them struggling for their place.

You can find the rest of my reviews and giveaways in my weekly newspaper column: For the Love of Books-Dixon's Independent Voice

[Britt Buckenroth · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought this was a really interesting book about a truly quirky and likable girl named Misha Love. She goes by Ish and she is whole-heartedly determined to be the first woman on Mars when humans venture to go out there. As it turns out, this is a book about a 7th grade girl battling a brain tumor. A horrible cancer she refers to as her Brussels sprout. Ish does not have a lot of friends, in fact, her best and only friend, Tig, moved away right before school started and Ish's tumor presents itself on the first day of 7th grade, limiting Ish's ability to make new friends. Despite that, Gav or Fish Boy, finds a way into Ish's life.

Spoiler Alert!!!! Do not continue reading if you don't want to know how this ends...I was surprised by the ending, but I know how important certain books are. We need books about 7th graders with cancer, because that happens and it's real. And this book is beautifully written. It is hopeful, despite what the cancer takes from Ish's family and the world. I did not expect it. I did not like it, but it was an excellent book. But students should be warned that it's intense.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the voice of the narrator in this book - Mischa, or Ish, is both funny and practical rolled into one, older than her years, but still full of youthful dreams. Her single-minded focus on getting to Mars shapes almost everything else about her, although as the story goes on, you come to see that the loss of her best friend is now having a similar impact. When these plans, and what you think may be the arc of the story, are disrupted, it happens quickly (almost too quickly). Masterfully, all these other little pieces that were present previously as small bits of information essentially dropped in conversation come back to play a much larger role in shaping the meaning of the story and really the meaning of Ish's life. Although I didn't like the last third of the book as much as the first two-thirds (it felt too different in tone and happened too quickly without enough reflection), I appreciated how the desire to go to Mars continued to play a large role and how all of the things Ish had been wrestling with previously come back to be resolved, even if only in a small way.

"love"

[Ellewillow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well,I am not one judge before fully reading , but this GARBAGE so far.I have only read three pages(I kid you not) and this girl has an ATTITUDE . She is super rude.And stars made humans ? Who wudda thunk it ? Lemme get this straight and narrow .Ish? Ya really thinks so loud clash banged and some stars magically appeared and came alive and said ''Oh , Jack Would'ya really look at that Imma thing!, Oh ya know what?,Lets kill ourselves to make humans(All other stars nod in agreement)''? Sciences idea of how the earth came and things were made is honest to goodness fake and it so sad this girl is is effected by it.I guess sounds knowledgbe when you are sitting in fancy suits talking to high ranking scienI am turning 15 in a few months , and even I know this isn't what happend.SOMEONE created the earth.In case you didn't read the book through - As a planet,the earth is mostly OK I guess .Ok lets pause RIGHT THERE .Lets be grateful we have somewhere to live ,ok ? Can you people just Heckingsworths stop complaing ? Yes they are problems , yeah can't deny that . Disapointed with this book all in all.




ELLA -WILLOW

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Miscah “Ish” Love is a smart, self-aware, young girl with big dreams. She wants to be one of the first people to live on Mars. Together with Tig, her BFF (Best Friend Forever), they researched and planned everything together, even applied online, but now Tig is DTM, Dead To Me (her), because he moved away and she hasn't heard from him. Struggling to cope with his loss, she is trying desperately to keep their/her Mars dream alive. Even though it’s difficult without Tig and this monster headache that won’t go away, Ish's first day of seventh grade doesn’t seem to be going too badly, that is, until she passes out and wakes up in a hospital room. Funny, sad, heartfelt, honest, this tween novel takes you on a compelling, rewarding emotional journey that’s definitely worth the trip.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting through this book. Looks like most everything has been covered in other reviews so I'll speak just to one of the main relationships. I felt bad for Mischa that she had lost her best friend because they've been separated by a move, and he hasn't contacted her since. I was disappointed in her to find that she had made no effort to contact him either. That's one of my pet peeves - people jumping to conclusions and then holding tight to their assumption rather than following up to get the rest of the story.

Ish is a porcupine. She intentionally keeps others at arms length with her prickliness.

And what's up with the adoption storyline? That needed WAY more fleshing out! That's probably the reason I chose this book, because of my interest (as both an adoptee and adoptive mother) in the portrayal of adoption in juvenile and young adult literature. The topic was just kind of thrown in there, and focused on the negativity of adoptive parents waiting WAY too long to tell their daughters, and consequently causing mental distress and distrust.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really didn't know if I wanted to read this book, until I started reading it. Karen Rivers writing style threw me off a bit as it was from the point of view of the protagonist, Mischa Love. 'Ish' as Mischa is called throughout the book, has a dream of going to Mars, which gets derailed. She's also quite angry at her social situation, as well as her family's shortcomings, but manages to keep her dream in focus until the end. The book grabs you at a few points, compelling you to read it, almost as if you would be incomplete without knowing what happened to Ish. Along the way a few themes are explored only to remind us of the changing world around us, but truly it is Ish's story, and it will grab heartstrings you might have forgotten about and tug on them hard. The ending of this book made me pause for about a day to consider it, as the quality of the writing, and the depth of the story are that good.

[Rocco Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressing and really dark.
In the beginning of the story, Mischa seems like a well-written character. Believable and realistic. But, hang on, there's a BFF. Tig. He's a jerkface! Even after she gets the brain tumor and stuff, does he care? No! And she believes him and thinks that they're "best friends" now! Total crap.
After she gets the tumor, it's like she apparently starts hallucinating these weird and dark "dreams" of going to Mars and dying. How creepy can you get??? And then, in the last few pages of the book, she really just loses touch with reality and goes insane before dying. 0_0
Don't read this book if you get scared easily/ or you don't want to watch the MC slowly go insane.
Probably what scared/ haunted me the most was that she is So. Much. Like. Me. It's terrifying. Especially the fact that I can totally see myself doing what she did in the book. Realistic, but kinda scary. And also! the random "romance" thown in there as a second thought! Like, what the hell????

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ish, or Mischa, really loves Mars. She knows fact after fact about this planet, and she has submitted several applications to "Mars Now" which would allow her to be the first girl living on Mars. Her former best friend, Tig, was her partner in this pursuit before he moved away. Struggling to make friends and fit in at her new middle school, Ish's days revolve around her plans for Mars and her headaches. When she is diagnosed with a brain tumor, however, her plans to leave Earth for good go awry and she begins to appreciate all this is good about our beloved planet. The author spends a lot of time detailing her main character's thoughts at feelings in this book- it feels like you step inside her mind and witness her musings as you read. This writing pattern, along with the difficult subject matter of cancer, might lend this book better to fifth or sixth graders.

[Akinotori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that follows the odd ball that is Ish. Right away you're thrown into Ish's head, strapped in, and taken for a ride. It's not even first person, it's brain delving.

Ish can come off as rude and just too weird a times and potentially turn readers off. I found I personally liked her and enjoyed learning all about her and how she sees the world.

The synopsis gives away that she gets cancer but nothing more. So to say the least things get weird pretty fast. One day it's a normal day at school for Ish, the next, hold on! Ish is thrown for a loop and the world she sees and experiences change from day to day.

Overall I quite liked this book. It's a short read with lots of feels and I'm glad I got to know Ish, even through the loopy ride that became her new life.

I recieved a physical copy of this book from the publishers at Algonquin and left this honest review!

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, but several things quite frustrated me.
I really don't care for the quirky kid gets cancer trope. We need to find other ways to pull conflict into our stories without this. I can't imagine reading this book while I or someone I loved had cancer.
Also I detest main characters with red hair. Why couldn't she have brown eyes and black hair? Why is white the default race? Why do authors think blonde hair is beautiful? Why is that characteristic part of the sister who is beautiful? Uniqueness / beauty goes beyond hair color and eye color. The main character is super cool, missed opportunity for her and her sister to be adopted kids of color. Those few critiques aside, the book is very readable, I loved the references to Mars and Andy Weir's The Martian.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I received this book as an advanced reading copy from Algonquin Young Readers.

For a book meant for 8 to 12 year olds, this book sure packs an emotional punch. The story of Ish starts as one where she is beginning middle school, missing her best friend and dreaming of living on Mars. Her world soon changes when she receives a cancer diagnosis. Through it all, she's also navigating new and old relationships, while trying to remain true to herself. Even as a thirtysomething reader, I found myself captivated by Ish and the rest of the characters. This was an unexpectedly beautiful read, and one I'd absolutely recommended checking out.

[Stephanie Lucianovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started Love, Ish thinking that I would be savoring it over several nights and after the first few pages, I was excited by this prospect.

And then it didn't last as long as I wanted it to because I ended up finishing it in a day.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of it and I can't stop thinking about it today. It's under my skin. This book went through something and took readers to a place that I don't know any book has ever done. At least none I've read.

And it hurts a lot today.

Given my wimpiness with books, I'm glad I didn't know what all this book was going to be about before I read because I might not have read it.

But holy crap.

[Alyisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

So unique! The style is intentionally disjointed & is almost "stream of consciousness" at times. (I've read books like this before, but never a children's book.) I didn't devour this but I do appreciate it. I don't know if kids will feel the same.

Rivers' sense of humor and voice are wacky & strange -- in a good way. Her sentence construction can also be strange -- not in a good way (e.g. "Maybe it's the place where people go who are happy). However, the writing can also be very beautiful (e.g. It's over and then there's not nothing, but not anything either, just a humming in between gold and warmth and love"). I have strong (but mixed) feelings about this one.