Beyond by Georgia Springate

Beyond by Georgia Springate
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Burning Chair Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alex Duncan is just your average teenager concerned about his friends, getting bullied, and whether or not the girl he likes feels the same way. Then his older sister, Jenna, finds out that she has ovarian cancer. When she’s informed that it’s terminal, everyone starts cracking, and Alex begins having terrible nightmares about her death. Alex realizes these dreams may be trying to tell him something. He needs to know where Jenna will go when she passes away because it’ll make them both feel less scared about the future. It’s the least he can do for his sister even if his nightmares stick around. The only problem? No one seems to know the answer, but Alex and his friends are determined to find out where we all go when we die.

I’m not sure what possessed me to pick up this book when I’m very sensitive to stories where there’s a character dying from cancer. However, I’m glad I did because it’s an incredible book that’s well written and captures how difficult it is when a loved one is dying from cancer. We follow Alex, a 14-year-old who has been struggling ever since his sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It only gets worse when it turns out it’s terminal, and he doesn’t really know what to do with himself. Alex feels out of place everywhere. At school, he’s a moving target in the eyes of the school bully, but he’s also dealing with the whispers about him being the kid with the dying sister. At home, his parents are struggling and trying not to let Jenna know that they are having a very difficult time coming to terms with the fact that the cancer is there to stay. The only person who is bothering to check in on Alex is Jenna, and she’s the one person he doesn’t want to bother with his feelings.

Like I said, this is very well written. We see how much every person involved is affected, and that the truth is that there’s no right or wrong way to deal with things. Everyone is dealing with Jenna’s impending death differently, and sometimes people clash because they feel like no one is checking in on them or that the way they’re handling things is bad. We see Alex clashing with his mom and making up later, Alex and Jenna getting closer than ever, and this family being torn apart and coming back together over and over again.

Almost all of the characters are wonderful. I say almost all of them because there are some nasty folks. For example, there’s the school bullies, Bruce and his friends. While we never get to know Bruce, we do get a small glimpse at his own home life, and it’s clear that the author put a lot of work into planning the characters and how their lives intertwine with each other even if they only play a small part in the story. Otherwise, the majority of the characters are absolutely wonderful and many of them are very well developed.

It’s a truly incredible book that I think is very important because I think the target audience needs books like this. When a loved one is dying, it’s one of the most depressing and upsetting periods of your life. I know this from experience, and I can tell you that if you’ve experienced this yourself, you’re going to be crying from the opening chapter all the way to the final page. However, it’s important for books like this to be around, especially for young readers who will identify with Alex down to not always being told everything because of his age.