I thought this was super cute. It had good things, and some not-so-good things, but overall I enjoyed this book and am glad I had the chance to read it. I actually received this as an ARC from the publisher and net galley, but this did not impact my review.

The good
It was a quick easy read.
I liked the writing - I could really picture the characters and the world they were in.
I giggled out loud at times with how clever Mari could be.
I loved the individual stories of each character.


The not-so-good
I didn't always like Jase - I thought he was a bit of a jerk, at times. I know he apologized, but he wasn't as sympathetic as the author probably intended.
Yes, high school kids are mean, but I had a hard time believing the mean girls - nobody is really that mean or stupid, are they?

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this, and devoured it pretty quickly.

Super-realistic when dealing with such serious matters, yet touching and emotional in so many ways! “Finding Balance”, by Kati Gardner (Flux), could be hard to read, but there’s so much hope in these characters, particularly in brave Mari. The leads’ personal and unique stories are more interesting and genuine than the romantic relationship, which is sweet but has some dimensions I didn’t like (Jason’s nastiness towards Mari, Mari’s doormat tendencies sometimes). But all in all an amazing, gripping story.
Kudos for Kati Gardner for having written this story with these characters and for giving so much of herself to us, readers.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of FINDING BALANCE by Kati Gardner in exchange for my honest review.***

3.5 STARS

Nobody at school knows Jason had cancer when he was three. Cancer took one of Mari’s legs so she can’t hide that she’s a survivor. Friends and maybe more from Camp Chemo now attend the same school and Jason has everything to lose if his peers find out.

Kati Gardner is a cancer survivor who lost her leg and it shows with how much she gets right about survivorship. Though everyone’s experience is different, Gardner captures a variety of stories. BTW my surgeon let me keep my port. At first he said it was medical waste, but he gave it to me anyway and I still have it.

Jason spends a good part of the book acting like a jerk to Mari, we know a good person exists under his unkind behavior, I still liked and rooted for him. I wondered if Gardner wrote Mari after herself. Some of the minor characters felt like tropes, a little too nasty to the new girl with the disability. Kids can be mean, for sure, but most older teens aren’t pathologically nasty like some of the characters.

Gardner’s writing explained a little too much when it could have showed or trusted readers to understand how a character would feel. At times FINDING BALANCE dragged, like pages devoted to chit chat during x-rays.

Reading FINDING BALANCE was enjoyable. I finished in one sitting.

I was so happy to be approved for this, but it seems like the file has a problem, because it has only three chapters. I hope the new file will be uploaded.