This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
Kelley Kay Bowles’s Down in the Belly of the Whale follows Harper Southwood, a self-deprecating, whip-smart girl convinced she’s a changeling. She has read myths about it and now thinks she is a troll swapped at birth because she feels so out of place in her beautiful, confident family. She also has a unique “gift” that lets her sense when someone near her is falling ill. Her best friend Cora attempts to take her own life, and Harper learns the devastating reason: years of sexual abuse by Cora’s uncle, who has suddenly returned. Harper makes up her mind to help and makes a recorded “pretext call,” posing as someone else to coax a confession from the predator. Her mother is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she has questions about her crush. How can she be useful and helpful with everything happening around her?
Kelley Kay Bowles has crafted a contemporary YA with a remarkable balance and heart, creating a heroine whose voice is the pulse of the book. Harper is everything you expect an intelligent, sensitive teenage girl to be: anxious, funny, and endearingly prone to looking everything up. The supporting cast includes eccentric, fully drawn characters like her novelist mother, Uncle Pasta, and the Tai Chi foursome. The pacing is fast, and the snappy dialogue, the timely paragraph breaks, and the short chapters make it even better. The story takes you from abuse to a suicide attempt, chronic illness, and the search for self-worth. Down in the Belly of the Whale is delivered in a first-person narrative voice that brilliantly captures Harper’s quirky worldview. It is a metaphor for paying attention to others’ pains and struggles. The beauty of this book is how a young girl discovers that she is not only useful but loved and deeply human.
