Save the Date for: SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY by Julie Murphy

Save the Date is a fabulous feature created by the amazing Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner.  The idea behind this feature is to get the word out early for books we've read before the pub date, but our full review won't be posted until later, closer to its publication.

SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY by Julie Murphy is every bit what I expected, anticipated, and hoped it to be + so much more!  This debut novelist has blown me away by her ability to write such in depth characters, yet portraying them as someone you know or can relate to.  The heart wrenching story about Alice and Harvey will have you laughing one minute, only to be followed up with tears just pages later. 

Teen years are tough, and even tougher when you've been diagnosed with cancer.  Alice has some unfinished business to take care of before her time is up. But what happens when your expiration date gets lifted, and you have to live with the consequences of your actions?  There's an honest portrayal written between these pages, something so tangible that you see glimpses of your own life flashed back at you.  Expect my full review to come later, and definitely expect me to be pushing this book on to everyone's to-be-read list ASAP!

About the Book From Goodreads: What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.

Snippet From the Book (via Goodreads): Harvey laughed to himself in a sad way and rubbed his eyes. “You want me to help you with a list of things you won’t disclose to me.” He leaned forward and bit the skin around his thumb. “Classic.”
“You won’t regret it.”
“But—”
“Harvey,” I said, my voice low. “Trust me.”
I knew what this looked like. It looked like I was using Harvey. But here was the reality of the situation: the minute my life went from semi-permanent to most likely temporary, I decided to latch on to everything in my world that had always been permanent, and for me, Harvey was so permanent he was concrete.

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