Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi packs a punch. Jayne is in college and barely keeping it together, stuck living with a freeloader who isn’t her boyfriend, her only friends are those she parties with and she has an eating disorder she’s in denial about. Despite all this, she’s happy she’s in New York City, at least it’s not Texas. Her successful sister June is also in the city, but the two sisters have been estranged and haven’t spoken in years. Suddenly June contacts Jayne to tell her that she’s sick with uterine cancer. Their lives are slammed back together with this news, which isn’t always easy sailing. But will the sisters be able to help each other through their illnesses?
Jayne is a hot mess, for a number of different reasons, yet I still found her compelling. Sometimes when characters are written like this, as unpredictable and unreliable, it can be over the top. But it felt authentic with Jayne, as more of the story goes on, you can understand how someone would spiral like this. The book is so raw at times, painfully so. The portrayal of an eating disorder is brutally honest and could be potentially triggering to some people
Family is at the centre of this book, the ways they support and hurt you, sometimes at the same time. Jayne and June have a tumultuous relationship, which at the core has a lot of love. I enjoyed seeing the sisters reconnect and seeing Jayne rebuild other relationships (including the one with herself). This is being marketed as a YA book but I would say it’s more New Adult. Jayne is in college, I would say she’s 19-20. I think teens could read it, but this book covers a lot topics like racism, eating disorders, sexual assault, cancer with raw honesty and anguish
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