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ARC Review: Welcome to the Slipstream by Natalka Burian


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Rating: 1.5 stars. 

I received an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. (Thanks!)

You know that feeling you get sometimes when you are watching a foreign film? The feeling that something of the importance that is happening is a bit lost on you because you're missing that context? That's sort of how I feel about this book. I would say that this novel was definitely unique, but I just wasn't knocked off my feet by it. I'm sure some people will like it, but I just don't think the writing was for me.

Welcome to the Slipstream is about Van, a girl who moves a lot because of her mother's mental illness. Van's mom is a genius, but her mental illness makes her a bit difficult for people to deal with so she constantly changes jobs. The constant in Van's life is her surrogate grandmother, who helps to keep her mother sane. They move to Vegas, where Van discovers her dream of being in a band. But when her mother goes off to a self-help cult, Van has to drop everything to save her.




I think my favourite part of this book was the cult scenes. Unfortunately, this part wasn't described in too much detail, but I did like what I saw. I like that mental illness was part of this book, but I don't think it was handled that well. The characters' mental illnesses were never really addressed by the characters and I would have liked to see them gain some progress towards healing.

I think one of the main issues I had with this book was Van. She comes off very distant, mostly because she really only socializes with tutors and her immediate family. I really don't like reading books where you really can't understand the character because it feels like there is a brick wall between you. I want to know what this character's favourite things are so I can relate to them and understand how they react to things. THEN I can follow your character's crazy adventures.

If you like YA books about cults, like The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly or This Side of Salvation, you might be interested in reading Welcome to the Slipstream. This book is out now, so go grab it if you're interested!

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