Book Review: The Thing About Jellyfish

Well, I have never done a book review on here before, but I just read the book The Thing About Jellyfish, and it was AMAZING! So I thought, why not?!

Title: The Thing About Jellyfish
Author: Ali Benjamin
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-0-316-38084-3

Back of the Book:

“Suzy Swanson  has always known things that other kids don’t. She knows there are 150 million jellyfish stings on the planet every year. She knows that the average middle schooler contains about 20 billion of Shakespeare’s atoms. But she can’t understand how Franny Jackson’s lifetime could be cut so short … before Suzy could make up for the worst thing she’d ever done to her friend.
As Suzy retreats into a silent world of her imagination, she finds that the universe won’t allow her escape into her grief. Astonishing wonders are all around her … as is the hope she desperately needs to forgive herself. This achingly heartfelt debut explores the defining moment when we first realize that not all stories have happy endings … but that brand-new stories are waiting to bloom, sometimes right in our own backyards.”

The front of the book.

The back of the book.

I was introduced to this book by my mom. This was the September book for her book club. Immediately when I saw the cover, I felt like I had to read it. The biologist in me will be drawn to anything involving any animals, so the idea of a book about jellyfish was right up my alley. However, it was so much more than that. Suzy lost her best friend at a very young age. When I was 16, I lost my brother who was also my best friend. I really connected with her at this level.

There were a lot of biological facts within the book, and Ali Benjamin even used correct scientific names! This may not be a big deal to you all, but to me, this is super awesome!

If I’m being quite honest, I’ve never really been much of a reader. You probably read about that in my Book Lovers Tag post (if you didn’t, you can read that here). However, I am really starting to become one now that I am swamped with free-time. I sat down with this book, expecting to maybe make it through the first 25 or so pages. When I picked it up and started reading, I could not stop! I think I finished the entire book in about two hours. It is meant to be for middle school-aged girls, so it is a very quick and very easy read.

For the intended age, this is an incredible book. Reading as an adult really brings you back to your younger days. Middle school is the hardest time for most kids, and this is a really wonderful book for the kiddos that might be having a hard time dealing with everything life throws at them.

I would easily rate this book 5/5 and recommend it to anyone who asks (and even those who don’t)! It is probably now one of my favorite books I have ever read, and it will definitely be added to my personal library!

If you would like to purchase the book, you can find it on Amazon here!