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The Diamond Girls Book Review & Nov. 26 Reading Update

I wanted to update you all on my reading progress, and also post a book review for a book I just finished last week, so I thought I would combine them both into one post again. I’ll talk about the book review first, and if you continue reading, the update will be underneath it!

Book: The Diamond Girls by Jacqueline Wilson

Genre: Children’s/Middle Grade Fiction, Contemporary

Thoughts/Review: I loved reading Jacqueline Wilson’s books when I was young. She was one of my favourite authors, and I had a TBR (to be read) list with all of her books on it. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to read them all, but I loved all of the books I read by her! I was extremely excited when I found a book club that featured her books, so I joined right away, and The Diamond Girls was this month’s read.

This book is from the perspective of a little girl, named Dixie. She has 3 sisters, and they all live with their mom, who is once again pregnant with a baby boy. Their mom is very excited to welcome a boy into the family, and they move into a new house, which isn’t exactly what they had expected it to be. The Diamond girls have to find ways to adjust to their new living arrangements, and very quickly their mom is off to the hospital to have her baby. While their mom goes through having her new baby, one of Dixie’s sisters gets into fights, another is hiding a secret, and the last is beginning to date. Dixie also meets a new friend. When her mom returns, Dixie is the only one who notices that something is wrong, and must navigate how to deal with all of the difficult problems she encounters.

I really liked this book! It was a fun, easy read, and I really missed Jacqueline Wilson’s writing. I’m so glad I was able to read this book by her this month! There were so many things going on in this story, and I found myself being frustrated by so many of the characters, specifically Dixie’s sisters and mom. It was difficult at times to read about how each of them was trying hard to hide what they were going through, and not talking to each other about it. I loved the subplot of Dixie’s friend, and the ending was really nice and sweet. Bruce is also a very fun character, that is introduced originally just to help the Diamond girls move into their new house, but ends up becoming family very quickly. He becomes Dixie’s Uncle Bruce, which was super sweet to read.

This book discusses some important topics, but from the perspective of a 10 year old girl. I won’t go into details because this is a no-spoiler blog, but within this story readers see discussion of pregnancy, mental health/illness, abuse, and dating at a young age. These are all important topics that I was surprised to see within this book, but it reminded me that this is one of the things I love about Jacqueline Wilson’s books. That she writes children’s/middle grade fiction that addresses important topics, and speaks about the perspectives of young people who are struggling or facing new challenges. I would definitely recommend this book, if you’re looking for an easy and sweet read! Reading this was a really was a nice way to end long, busy days because it was a light read before sleeping.

Rating: 9/10 Stars

Reading Update:

I just started reading Gulliver’s Travels, for a class, and also The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, for another book club. Gulliver’s Travels is an interesting read so far, and I’m curious to see what happens next. I’m absolutely loving The Invisible Life of Addie Larue! It is so well written! It’s the first book by VE Schwab that I’m reading, and I definitely understand now why her books are as popular as they are. It caught my attention as soon as I read the first page. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue reading that this week, but it’s starting to get busy with classes again, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish it before December. Even so, it’s amazing, and I can’t wait to continue it!

That’s all from me today, but thank you for reading this, and I hope you’re having a lovely day!