Slip by Marika McCoola, Aatmaja Pandya

Slip by Marika McCoola, Aatmaja Pandya
My Rating: ★★★★

Jade is excited for a month away at the summer art intensive with other artists. It’s an exciting time where she gets her own workshop and the chance to win college scholarships. Unfortunately for Jade, she learns that her best friend attempted suicide just as she’s about to leave for the month. With her mom’s encouragement, Jade takes her place at the summer art intensive only to find that her mind is elsewhere.

When I picked up this book, I wasn’t expecting it to be as moved by it as I am. We follow Jade shortly after she learns that her best friend, Phoebe, has attempted to take her own life and we see how heavily it weighs on Jade. She goes through so many emotions and feels guilty about growing as an artist, making new friends, and even finding romance. The more she tries to run away from her problems and the guilt she carries because she feels like she’s leaving Phoebe behind, the more she finds that the problems are not leaving her alone. It’s a beautiful story that shows how much Jade struggles with her own mental health but also how she views her friendships. I like that she grows during this time and that eventually facing everything leads to her learning a lot about herself in addition to strengthening her own relationships.

I think that this is one of those stories that can be difficult to read, but I also think that it was handled very well. Since the story follows Jade, we watch her journey as she deals with the aftermath as well as her own struggles and discovering that she needs more support than she’s getting. If the story followed Phoebe, we would be following her struggles with her mental health as she’s recovering and it would be a different but equally as powerful story. However, since we’re following Jade, we’re watching her go through a different journey full of different raw emotions.

From an artistic standpoint, the artwork is absolutely beautiful and really helps communicate the different emotions Jade is going through before she can even say anything about it. I also love how much focus there is on Jade’s journey as a ceramic artist, and I enjoyed watching her work progress as she unknowingly starts to put her feelings into her work. Watching ceramics come to life through this medium was also wonderful. It also made me miss ceramics more than I already do.