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Rules for 50/50 Chances by Kate McGovern is one of the most eye-opening books I’ve read this year. This book talks about rare genetic diseases, some of which I didn’t even know existed, and discusses them in a way that is easy to understand. There is also a calm and understanding main character, and an incredible use of ballet dancing. I suggest that everybody read this book, as I certainly enjoyed it!
Title: Rules for 50/50 ChancesAuthor: Kate McGovern
Publisher: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult Fiction
Publication Date: November 24, 2015
Rating:
A heartrending but ultimately uplifting debut novel about learning to accept life's uncertainties; a perfect fit for the current trend in contemporary realistic novels that confront issues about life, death, and love.
Seventeen-year-old Rose Levenson has a decision to make: Does she want to know how she's going to die? Because when Rose turns eighteen, she can take the test that tells her if she carries the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease, the degenerative condition that is slowly killing her mother.
With a fifty-fifty shot at inheriting her family's genetic curse, Rose is skeptical about pursuing anything that presumes she'll live to be a healthy adult-including her dream career in ballet and the possibility of falling in love. But when she meets a boy from a similarly flawed genetic pool and gets an audition for a dance scholarship across the country, Rose begins to question her carefully laid rules.
❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃
Review: Rules for 50/50 Chances by Kate McGovern
❀ A Teachable Book
Rules for 50/50 Chances definitely taught me a lot about genetic diseases. The main character’s mother has Huntington’s Disease, and her friend’s sisters both have sickle cell. I honestly don’t know much about these diseases, or any genetic disease, actually, so this book really opened my eyes. Kate McGovern explains the details of Huntington’s Disease so well that I really feel like I understand it now. Rules for 50/50 Chances is such a great way to raise awareness!
❀ An Understanding Main Character
I loved Rose, the main character in Rules for 50/50 Chances. She is very patient with her mother, even though she is slowly losing her personality and skills. Rose continues to try her best to live her life normally, and continue with extracurriculars, and not spend every moment of the day with her mom. An understanding main character like Rose is the perfect one for a book tackling issues like Huntington’s.
❀ Lots of Dancing
One of my favourite things about this book is the use of dance. Rose is a dancer, and is actually quite good at it. I loved the descriptions of the ballets that she performs in, and especially appreciated the description of her worn-out ballet clothes. I feel like not many books really acknowledges that ballet is a really tough activity like this one does. Knowing that ballet is really competitive, Rose still auditions for a scholarship to the best dance school in the country! I really loved how this book didn’t focus entirely on Rose’s mom’s disease, like most books, and more about her life and how it is affected.
❀ Lots of Fun
Rules for 50/50 Chances by Kate McGovern is a great way to raise awareness for genetic diseases. There is a patient and caring main character, and plenty of ballet dancing. I absolutely recommend this book to everyone, because I learned so much, yet had so much fun reading this book!
About Kate McGovern
Kate McGovern is the author of Rules for 50/50 Chances, which was called a “standout contemporary read” by Booklist. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a house full of books.
About The Candid Cover
Olivia ❀ Canadian YA book blogger, Starbucks lover, & professional bibliophile.
I read this last month, too, and a review will be up soon! I gave it the same rating & I agree with a lot of the things you mentioned 🙂
I am glad that you enjoyed it! I look forward to your review. <3
Wow, I’ve never read a book that tackles genetic diseases, so this is a very interesting novel to me!
Great review, this is definitely going on my TBR!
I hope that you enjoy it! <3
This sounds like a fantastic read. Thank you for sharing your review with us.
This book sounds completely heartbreaking! Like you I never heard of the disease before but I’m glad this novel gives people an insight into it and just make people aware of it. To know that you have a 50/50 chance of inheriting the disease would be undoubtedly a scary thought and to also have to look after your mother whilst going through it is even scarier – it just shows what a tough protagonist the character is. I’m glad though that the whole novel isn’t just about the disease and that Rose’s dancing is also an important factor. Great review as always!
I’ve never read a book about genetic diseases before – this should be fascinating!