Blended - Sharon M. Draper - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Sharon M. Draper
GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction.
PUBLICATION DATE: October 30, 2018
RATING: 4 stars.


Eleven year old Isabella has a black father and a white mother. Her parents are divorced and each is now involved in a new, serious relationship. Isabella's life is already divided between the two parents, two houses, two nicknames,.... How would her life change with potential stepparents coming in the picture?

If the book had stopped only at narrating the ordeals of a child caught in a divorce battle, the book would have been a 5/5. But Sharon Draper tries to include every possible issue in the book: racial bias, skin colour, marital issues, stepparent problems, gun shooting, police discrimination,... After a point, the book feels like it's going overboard with the social causes. The last few chapters are absolutely over the top with a completely unnecessary twist. I wish Draper would have stuck to 2-3 major plot points and developed a story revolving around those. 

But even with this emotional overload, the book is quite good. (It did have the potential to be excellent.) It is full of humour and sass. I really loved Isabella's character as she tries to take every thing in her stride even when her parents act like buffoons. Unlike typical stories, the stepparents are gems and truly supportive. 

I loved the book cover too; it represents Isabella's confusion aptly.

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