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When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs. So she convinces her best friend to help her with a crazy bucket list that's as much about revenge as it is about hope. But just when Alice's scores are settled, she goes into remission, and now she must face the consequences of all she's said and done.
Contemporary realistic fiction fans who adore Susane Colasanti and Jenny Han and stories filled with romance and humor will find much to love in this incredible debut.
"Alice's anger is believable and a welcome change from portraits of cancer victims as saints, though her treatment of other people, including Harvey, can still be distancing." - Publishers Weekly
"Honest and unflinching, this is a compelling story of one teen's struggle with cancer, love, and living. A worthwhile addition." - School Library Journal
"Readers will turn the last page wanting to know where the next chapter leads." - Kirkus
"Julie Murphy weaves together a tender and funny tale of love, friendship, heartache, and redemption. Side Effects May Vary explodes with brutal honesty, brilliant wit, and unflinching heart." - John Corey Whaley, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for Where Things Come Back
"Julie Murphy's Side Effects May Vary is a funny, heartfelt, honest look at the beauty and the risk of getting a second chance. An inspiring novel about all the things worth living for. I adored this debut!" - Siobhan Vivian, author of The List
"A funny and touching novel about a strong-willed heroine who finds facing death simple, but facing life heart-wrenchingly complicated. A real original." - Jennifer Echols, author of Going Too Far
This information about Side Effects May Vary was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Julie lives in North Texas with her husband who loves her, her dog who adores her, and her cat who tolerates her. When she's not writing or trying to catch stray cats, she works at an academic library. Side Effects May Vary is Julie's debut novel.
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