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i received a copy of sugar from text publishing in exchange for an honest review.



star rating


sugar review

before we start this review, can we take a moment to admire the cover please? isn’t it just stunning? the pastel colours are phenomenal.

anyway, on with the review.

sugar, written by australian author carly nugent, follows the non stop life of persephone. (yes, named for the greek goddess. although i found it amusing that her mother was called demi – usually short for demetria aka follower of demeter).

sorry. i love when names match up.

persephone isn’t like many other protagonists that i’ve read about. (well, she is, but she’s also different). firstly, she has type 1 diabetes. this book was very insightful regarding the things that people with diabetes go through. it sounds like a lot of effort, trying to calculate everything that you eat to ensure your sugar levels are okay.

secondly, persephone is a very angry teenager. she thinks she owes the world something (mostly because she feels responsible for someone’s death). it wasn’t until the last 20% when i really started to feel for her. when we found out that she thinks diabetes is her punishment for being a bad daughter.

the other characters in sugar were like every other side character. they didn’t make me love or hate the book. i liked how everyone was struggling with something of there own. demi wasn’t the best parent, but she grows and overcomes what troubles her.

i found steven to be the most interesting of the side characters. mostly because i watch a lot of true crime and he was giving off anti-social-school-shooter vibes. (which i regret thinking that way, given the way he had suffered, but he did some alarming things).

overall, sugar was a rollercoaster of a book. with the struggles of physical health and mental health (grief, depression, etc.) everything was non stop. i like how sugar has increased my awareness for diabetes as it’s not something i knew much about before. if you’re looking for a contemporary novel that focuses on mental and physical health, i definitely recommend this one!


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the nile | scorpio books

2 Comments

  1. avatar
    WendyW says:

    I like that you were able to learn more about diabetes by reading this

    1. avatar

      same. it was very informative!

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