Book Review: You're Welcome, Universe

4/5 stars

We follow Julia who was expelled from Kingston School for the Deaf after creating a beautiful (illegal) mural on school property to protect her best friend. Julia's life is messy and complicated with friendships and relationships that don't always follow the straight path you're expecting.

I love the diversity of this book - Julia is a deaf main character and there are many illustrations of sign language throughout the pages. Also some of the conversations are incomplete because she isn't able to read their lips easily. Julia also has two mothers that are both deaf. I thought the characters all had their own personalities and I could separate them from each other. Sometimes having a big cast of characters means that they blur together. I like that the story wasn't romance heavy, it's just Julia and her love of art.

We have to follow Julia through the graffiti war as she tries to work out who this other artist is and why they are competing. I liked Julia's relationship with Mr Katz, her art teacher.

The most disappointing part was the toxic friendship that Julia rekindled towards the end of the book. If I was in Julia's shoes, I wouldn't have forgiven this person. That is why I have given this book 4 stars rather than 5.

If you liked this, you might also like A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard