In Your Shoes - Book Review by Naomi

 Hi everyone! It’s Naomi and I’m back with another book review! This time, I’ll be reviewing the book I just finished, In Your Shoes by Donna Gephart.

First, I’ll begin with a summary. SPOILER IN THE LAST SENTENCE. The book starts off by introducing the two main characters: Miles Spagoski and Amy Silverman. It’s important to note the book changes through the characters POV’s between chapters, allowing the reader to know about both their lives fairly equally. Right off the bat it gives you the basic information about them. They’re both middle schoolers and death has greatly impacted their life. Miles has a lot of anxiety regarding death after Bubbie Louise (his grandmother) passed away. Asides from worrying constantly, he enjoys bowling– one of the times he doesn't feel stressed about everything (and he hustles kids so he has enough money for his grandfather's 75th birthday present), talking to his grandfather and family, and reading about strange ways people died. Meanwhile, Amy is still devastated from her mothers passing which had occurred very recently in the novel and is struggling to accept her new home after they moved. Additionally, she’s frustrated by the fact they live in Eternal Peace Home (a funeral home her uncle runs) while her father is away training to help his brother run it. She also spends lots of time writing. Later on in the story, Amy and Miles continue to cross paths and Miles tends to embarrass himself a lot (his “first impression” occurs after his bowling shoe hits her in the head while he’s fighting his friend, later he spills a cup of root beer on her lap… I think I’ve made my point.) Nevertheless, they end up becoming friends that like each other and are able to help each other through the hard things in their life, such as when (the following information is necessary, sorry to spoil) SPOILER Miles’ grandfather dies.

So, I have both critiques for this book and things I enjoyed, I’ll begin with what I didn’t like.

1. This book is definitely intended for middle schoolers. I realized this early into reading, however, decided to continue reading it because I had to write my blog about something (and I’m glad I did, because after getting over the somewhat cringe aspects, I enjoyed it).

2. The author makes commentary throughout the book and I’m not a huge fan of it, I honestly feel like it just adds pages some of the time. However, I suppose it was an interesting supplement to her author's note at the end. 

3. The author includes the story Amy’s writing, which is meant to show how life is impacted by talents and vice versa (there are common themes in her life and writing for example, the character in her stories' mothers deceased as well), however, I feel like the author could have shown this another way, as again, it just adds pages.

Now for what I did like:

1. The overall message of the story. The simple truth is that Amy’s mother is deceased. Miles’ grandparents are deceased. Time won’t fix it. I love how the author never makes it seem as though they are healed through time, because that’s simply not how it works. Rather, through their actions they’re healed (the idea is they’re also healed through each other, which can hold some truth as well in real life.) Overall, the message is that although life isn’t perfect and we will inevitably face hardships, we can heal and seek help from others, if we allow ourselves to. Additionally, we don’t have to be scared for life. SPOILER: After Miles’ grandfather's death, Randall has an asthma attack and stops breathing. Miles freezes in place worrying Randall will die and Randall ends up in the hospital (Randall’s life is saved because Amy and Tate took immediate action). While visiting Randall (who ends up being fine), Miles promises to never freeze up or let his fear impair him from helping anyone else.

2. I really like how anxiety is depicted. Miles often lies in bed awake at night in fear of death, yet he reads about it constantly (which has a lot of different explanations for why psychologically– if you google “why do people seek what they’re afraid of” you can find a lot of explanations). While reading I also saw how he’s constantly afraid and being triggered, yet doesn’t always say things because he’s worried he’ll be a buzzkill, so remains silent and hopes nothing bad will occur. Although this is sad, it’s very accurate as for many, most fears don’t make sense unless they’re your own.

3. The characters are extremely compassionate. Throughout the story, the characters are aware of each other and try to help one another which I thought was sweet and satisfying to read.

4. Everything makes sense once you’ve finished reading. All questions feel answered and it honestly ties together really well.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I thought the characters and plot were well developed and I could sense how passionate the author was while writing (and after reading the author's note I understood why). My main regret is that I wish I read this book in middle school as I believe I would’ve appreciated it more and certain aspects wouldn't have bothered me as much. Overall, I’d rate this book an 8/10, if I didn’t spoil too much and you can get over some of the cringy aspects– it’s 100% worth the read. Thank you for reading my final blog!