Book Review :: Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne

Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne
ISBN: 1474933610
Published by HarperCollins
Genres: Contemporary, Mental Health, Young Adult
Pages: 397
Source: HarperCollins NZ
Find at Harper Collins NZ
Goodreads

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference.

A place offering a shot at “normality” for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for the new friends she never expected to make – who each have their own reasons for being there.

Luckily Olive has a plan to solve all their problems.

But how do you fix the world when you can’t fix yourself?

Last updated on 18 April 2023

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What is Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes by Holly Burne about?

Olive doesn’t know what’s wrong with her – she doesn’t want to know – but she knows it’s something. In an attempt to get her life in order and to stop displeasing her parents, she agrees to head off to Camp Reset, a new trial facility with other kids who have similar problems. A rehab for youth.

Olive goes with the hope of getting fixed, but what she gets is much more than she bargained for. It’s not just the noise, the other kids, the secret side projects, the American counsellors and the strange amount of alpacas that she has to deal with, it’s everything she thinks she is, colliding with the possibility that she doesn’t have to be this way. But collisions can have colossal consequences, and Olive may not be ready for what’s coming.

“I think real kindness, real compassion, is having the strength to stop and try and see where another person is coming from. To try and work out why they’re being the way they’re being. It takes time and patience. It’s not easy, but that’s real kindness.”

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My thoughts on Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes

This book was tough but terrific.

Olive’s journey in Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? is so wonderfully written; Bourne not only draws you into the story, but (though my understanding of bi-polar is somewhat limited) she does an incredible job at writing from Olive’s perspective, and all the changes in thoughts and moods that she goes through. The few reviews I’ve read on this book which have been written by people who know more than me about the illness have expressed the same thoughts.

The characters that surround Olive in this book each have their own back story, with their own reasons that they’re at Camp Reset. But somehow they put many of their grievances aside and become friends, and it’s in those friendships that a little healing really starts.

This is a story about finding your way and losing it, about the passionate pursuit of hope in seemingly hopeless situations, about recognising that everyone is different and is fighting their own battles. But perhaps most importantly, this book is about kindness; about being kind to yourself. You can’t be kind to others if you can’t be kind to yourself. It’s this lesson that Olive and her friends learn as they spend their days at Camp Rest, and while their ideas for creating a better world to live don’t always go according to Olive’s grand plans, it’s a start. And sometimes a step in the right direction is just the spark that’s needed.

Definitely a great young adult read!

Add this book to your Goodreads TBR list, and find it at HarperCollins!

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I received this book for free from HarperCollins NZ in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.