This book follows the story of Juniper, her family and friends and how they are coping with the loss of Juniper's sister, who died before the start of the novel. We get flashbacks of what happened, along with learning about the present and the guilt that Juniper faces.

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, and I'd say the characters were the saving grace. Some of the relationships and the characters are really cute and I loved getting to know them all.I've read books similar to this before, which I have found more interesting and generally cover the topic a lot better.

There are plot holes left and right, especially relating to Juniper's index cards, and the choices she makes can be questionable at times. This led to me feeling quite underwhelmed at times and I found that I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. I don't think it will have left a lasting impression on me, and a year down the line I'll probably struggle to remember anything about it.

Overall, this is worth picking up if you are looking for a novel that deals with the death of a family member and you have already read lots of other options. If you haven't read other books, then there are plenty out there that do this better.

This book blew me away. I went into this without expectations, and found myself emotionally invested. Told through the perspective of Juniper Lemon, who recently lost her sister. The book starts at the beginning of the school year, and Juniper is struggling with her grief. Grief and loss are prominent themes in this book and I really appreciated the different portrayals within this book.

Juniper can’t help but notice the holes left by her sister’s absence, and she is dealing with a lot of unresolved feelings. She is also incredibly aware of how other people are reacting, from her best friend who has been avoiding her, and now when they see each other, it’s awkward. Then there are the teachers who taught her sister previously, and make the connection. Her emotions felt incredibly raw and real throughout the book, especially in the beginning. One of her coping mechanisms is her Happiness Index. An exercise her sister started, where she rates the days happiness level and lists why on an index card at the end of each day. Some of these cards are actually shown in the book, which help give further insight as to what impacts Juniper the most.

One of the things I found really interesting in this book is the notes Juniper begins to collect as she searches for her missing index card. Not only does it give her insight into various classmates, leading Juniper to interact and form relationships with certain characters. They also allow her to process her own feelings surrounding her sisters sudden death. This also made me think about all the things I write down, all those random notes that get lost or thrown away and forgotten.

Juniper has her pain and grief, but so do all the other characters in this book for one reason or another. Something I really appreciated was that each character was given room to grow and face their emotions. Whether they were related to the death of Juniper’s sister or not. There was a big focus on friendship, which I always love. Gradually Juniper’s friendship group expands, and I loved each of the group. There is also a romance, which I actually really enjoyed, they were really supportive and openly talked about their emotions and what was going on.

All in all, while this book is about grief and death, it is also about living and healing and being kind and honest. About remembering. This book hit me emotionally, making me feel the grief, but ultimately it was positive, hopeful and uplifting. If you are looking for a good summer contemporary with some depth, good friendships, and a cute, supportive romance, look no further. This book made me think, and has stayed with me, I highly recommend.

Juniper Lemons Happiness Index by Julie Isreal is a book that has left me torn.
I admit that I love the concept of this book and personally feel inspired to somehow record my days like Juniper does. I love how friendship is such a key theme of this book and how grief is portrayed. 
I do however have a huge problem with the main character Juniper. The main premise of this book follows Juniper as she searches for a lost index card with great anxiety and worry. During her search she finds anonymous notes left behind from others that hint at the authors feeling down. She makes it her mission to find and fix these people. This for me just didnt sit right, The idea that the main character was extremely worried that someone would find her note and know her secret when shes done exactly that is what ruined the book for me. I'm sorry but this wasnt for ,me.

I liked it...but I didn't love it? 

I enjoyed it...but it's not fangirl worthy?

It's 3 stars...but definitely not a 5 stars?

To be honest, I think contemporaries and I have lost our touch. I remember a time when they honestly used to move me so much and I used to think about them all the time. Gosh, I miss those days when I could give a contemporary 5 stars. 

Like I said, incredibly enjoyable. We got your typical set of characters, the bully, the shy friends, the nice boy. I'm trying to stay away from the negatives so I can mention them later so...I really enjoyed seeing the friendships bloom in this book. I feel the developed almost too quickly but they were amazing. Normally there's so much hate and to see a focus on amazing friendship groups was amazing to see in this book. DID I MENTION I LOVE BRAND??? 

The writing was a bit plain...NO POSITIVES ONLY it's not boring or hard to get through. I finished this book within 2 hours and it was so easy to devour and fly through. The mystery kept you hooked and it dealt with grief quite well BUT...nope positives only and it was really interesting to see how Juniper dealt with that with the Happiness Index and all incorporated.

Finally, can we talk about what I didn't like about this book? 

Honestly, contemporaries are getting TOO typical these days. Sure some reveals were surprising like about Nat, but they didn't punch you in the face. You knew half the story already, nothing was surprising. It felt so unoriginal as well. i feel the characters weren't too flat but more like pancakes with toppings. NOt 3 dimensional at all. And they're basically SO perfect...Like hey, they have flaws but then turn out to be amazing things too. They're all sappy and forgiving each other and UGH...I don't think I like fluff.

Everyone was no nice (apart from bully OH THERE HAS TO BE ONE BULLY to balance it all out. And we get to know next to nothing about his bully but hey lets throw her in here just for the sake of it) to Juniper? I find this IMPOSSIBLE to believe. Like no one is that nice in real life? Her teachers and everyone treats her like she's going to break any second and I GET THAT HER SISTER DIED but everyone was too perfect to be true. 


Second, Juniper confused ME SO MUCH. Like her grieving. SO there's this one scene where she's done pottery with the clay of some sort and it triggers her back to her sister's accident. THIS MAKE SENSE once you read it okay? SO I'm still following and then later she goes into her sister's room and she doesn't feel triggered at all? LIKE WHAT, you're going through all of her stuff but it doesn't even bother you? This wasn't a problem for her.

OH AND WAIT for her family. honestly, they're absent half the book (like most characters: Shawn) and we hardly get to see how they deal with things. I honestly know nothing about her parents? Like...no. And Cammie, the sister who died, seemed honestly so perfect. Juniper never mentions one death (apart fro the fight) that was bad about her. The perfect sister trope right here. 

I also mentioned earlier how the writing was easy to read but honestly, I felt the flashbacks were horribly incorporated and did not like them. I LOVE FLASHBACKs but these don't even make sense anymore? Just me...? And everything just felt anti-climactic. 


BUT HEY I enjoyed it. the ending was nice and the book was nice and it was all nice. I just wish contemporaries actually DID something? I definitely recommend it if you have spare time

I received a copy from Netgalley. 

This wasn’t necessarily a bad book, I certainly didn’t flat out hate it, it just did nothing for me. I wasn’t’ wowed by the storyline or the characters. The novel tells the story of teen Juniper who is trying to cope with the death of her older sister Camie. Juniper’s parents aren’t really coping well at all, her mom is in a state of zombie like shock, and her dad seems quite passive. All understandable given the circumstances. Juniper copes by writing down the positive things about her day on a series of index cards she keeps hidden.

I remember very little about the plot really, nothing about it stuck with me. It felt almost like this was something in some variation or another I have read before. Juniper wasn’t a bad character really. A reasonably nice girl though she did have some anger issues and was a bit sneaky in some respects even though she was trying to help others her actions wound up doing needless emotional damage to other people. 

She finds a letter her sister wrote to someone addressed as You. No names. The bulk of the novel centers around Juniper trying to work out who You is and how to get the letter to them. As well as dealing with her own actions the night Camie died. The other storyline involves one of Juniper’s index cards going missing which sends her on a hunt to find it which involves going through the school dumpsters. She winds up connecting with a troubled bad boy with a snarky sense of humour who becomes more of a friend than she would have thought possible given the way they seem to antagonise each other at the start of the novel. She meets another cute boy in joining the school Booster club. She makes a few other friends. There’s a mean girl who keeps popping up being nasty.   The search for her index cards leads her to learning some things about other students’ secrets. She tries in her own way to help the more troubled students. Which of course goes wrong at some point. 

The end was quite touching when she finally figures out how to do a tribute to her sister’s memory.  

Not bad, as I said, but just kind of okay. There was nothing remarkable about the story that stood out for me as a reader.

Okay, firstly, look at that cover, what's not to love? But, as the old adage goes, never judge a book by its cover.  Happily, it's just as lovely on the inside.  I love stationery and lists and organising, so Juniper's habit of tracking each day's positive and negative aspects on an index card and storing them away, instantly appealed to me.  However, her reason for doing this and the fact that she marks each with the number of days since her older sister died, is what really starts this story. 
This is a story of friendship and first love and everything you would expect and want in a YA book, but it also looks at grief and how Juniper and her parents cope with it.  And I think it was dealt with really well in the book, to the point where it had me in tears in the end.  But the driving force behind the story is a secret relationship that Juniper's sister had and is only uncovered after her death when Juniper discovers a letter.  This was the thread throughout the book and whilst I understand that the plot needed it, at the end of the book it felt a bit redundant (so hard to really explain without spoilers). 
On the whole, I love the cover, I like the story and I really like the concept of index cards as day trackers!

Sometimes the absence of something, the gap, the space, is just as important as the stuff. Juniper Lemon has a lot more space in her world after her sister dies. And leaves behind a mystery that Juniper tries to solve, resulting in new friends, amazing projects and a way to appreciate those spaces. I loved this book. Well written, acerbic in places but well balanced with a sensitive approach to love, death, self-doubt, domestic violence and sexuality. You don't consciously acknowledge that the author is dealing with some very serious issues because they are handled with such grace and care. I hope we all take a leaf out of Juniper's book, and start to be less afraid of sharing our secrets, because who knows when you might not have the chance to any more. Fantastic book. Thanks for letting me read it!

This is a really quick read. I honestly read it in two sittings – and only because I fell asleep the first time. Juniper’s grief is so real, as is her family’s, and the author writes it really well.

I did think the story wraps up a little too well, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. There’s a good cast of characters, and the romance isn’t too in-your-face. The writing is fast-paced enough to keep you interested but not rushed – the story moves at an appropriate pace for its content. This is definitely as poignant as it’s described.

Loved it. Such an unusual topic for a book but I thought it was brilliant!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 
Juniper Lemon is dealing with the death of her sister by trying to keep her memory alive. The main character, Juniper is written so well, the grief she's feeling is almost real. The romance wasn't too in your face as a lot of YA books seem to be lately, I could see it coming from the start, but it wasn't the main theme of the book, which I liked. I did feel as if everything was wrapped up a little too well, all except for who actually is You? I suppose that's the point in the ending though, it doesn't really matter who You is, Juniper has accepted the fact that she will most likely never know. One thing I wasn't the biggest fan of was just how often Juniper gets herself involved in other people's drama, in the beginning it's almost as if she's trying to keep a low profile. 
4/5 stars

The idea itself is lovely. Dealing with grief by tracking it daily via a happiness index. For each person the index would be different of course, because what makes one person smile or feel a moment of happiness isn’t always the same for another person.

Think about what kind of things make you happy each day. Even the smallest things count. A memory, an interaction, a piece of chocolate or perhaps just relaxing after a long day. Since the death of her sister Camilla, Juniper has been desperately trying to find her happy. She is so grief stricken that she is trying to grasp what she can from life.

She is also trying to fulfil what she believes to be her sister’s last wish. A letter to her love. So Juniper takes it upon herself to find the mysterious recipient. She is also really invested in making the people around her happy. She does this by playing matchmaker, by saving those around her from possible negative thoughts and bad intentions.

In her quest to survive day by day and to not crumble under the weight of her personal loss, Juniper inadvertently finds herself building friendships, experiencing love and learning a few hard lessons along the way.

The focus is on the people left behind, as opposed to a lot of books that seem to make the dead the main characters. What’s done is done and those who are gone aren’t coming back, so let’s concentrate on the living.

The author tries not to delve too far into the teen drama or rather make the scenarios too candy floss sweet or unicorn eccentric. It is passionate without being soppy, witty without being ridiculous and is realistic in a down-to-earth way. Definitely a read I would recommend.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of Juniper Lemon.*

I've just read a great contemporary book! 

4 Stars! 

Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index follows Juniper Lemon as she deals with the grief of losing her sister, Camilla in a car accident that she was a part off too, as well as trying to follow the clues that lead to Camie's secret.  

The Happiness Index becomes like a way to live on after Camilla. It's like Juniper is reporting to her in some way. 

Spoilers below...

We join Juniper when she's going back to school, for a new year without Camilla. This is strange for her. 

"My throat is tight with all the changes I carry"

shows just how different life has become without her sister. She is trying not let it affect her but without any friends and her being on her own she's struggling with doing that.

"I can't escape the holes. My life is braided through with my sister, and now that she's gone, everything is coming apart" 

details how Juniper is struggling without Camilla. As this is a contemporary novel, the author would have tried to make the grief realistic, I think. This shows that struggle. 

We see Juniper fall in love gradually throughout the story with Brand. 

"But I no longer feel I'm leaving empty handed" 

is what Juniper says when she and Brand start to be more than just acquaintances. This happens over half way through the story so there certainly isn't any instant love. This made the story quite realistic too. 

Juniper and the friends that she makes throughout the novel try to work out who was writing to Camilla. The anonymous writer and Camilla referred to themselves as "Me" and "You". This was the only thing that I didn't see resolved anywhere in the story. We might be just meant to draw our own conclusions as to who "You" is but this isn't made clear and kind of leaves the story without any real substance, I feel. That's the only reason this wasn't a 5 Star read for me. 

"I really didn't know my sister" 

is what Juniper thinks when she's depressed about not being able to tell just who "You" is. Not much is going right for her at this point in the story so I think that plays a part in her depression too. Also she finds out lots of things that she never knew about Camilla when she was alive. 

Brand has a drunk/abusive father, although no abuse is ever actually shown happening. 

"He used to hit my mom. Now he's started hitting me"

is evidence of Brand's dad's violence. 

"You probably spent it on booze already, you drunk"

is Brand's response to a question about money from his father, proving that he's an alcoholic.

Both of the quotes above show that not everybody has a good upbringing but with the right support, they can still be good. Brand quite clearly, won't be like his father.   

Parents show up a lot throughout Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index, which is something I feel we don't see too much of in YA contemporary. Juniper's parents ground her at a couple of points throughout the story. One time it's for going in her sisters' room to find clues for "You". 

"No effort has been made to continue that conversation—probably cause mom doesn't want to and dad doesn't know how"

shows just how much they're all struggling with Camie's death. 

Juniper's parents play a role in getting her to see that not everyone copes with grief in the same way. 

 "Oh. I'm, uh kind of grounded right now. I don't know if..." 

This shows that Juniper wants to go out but is trying to be mindful of her parents' wishes. 

"My parents and I aren't on great terms right now"

denotes how Juniper can admit to friends that her and her parents don't get on.

I've read this for the "friendship" part of the Summer Flings Reading Challenge on Facebook because friendship is a big element within the story. Juniper doesn't really have any friends until she starts trying to work out who "You" is. She knows by the end of the story but we don't.

There is a gay character in the story too, although it's not expanded any more than just a character saying this character is gay.

In Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index, I loved the camaraderie between Juniper and the friends that she makes. At first it is just because of her sister, but by the end of the book she realises that they like her for being her. Friendship is really what this book is based on so I'm glad that I read it for this challenge. If I was rating the theme of friendship, I would give Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index book 5 stars but because we didn't actually get the answer of who "You" was anywhere, it's getting 4 stars from me. 

Juniper starts out as depressed and wanting answers for why her sister was killed. By the end of the story she knows all that she wants to and feels she no longer needs her crux of index cards because her friends are there instead. 

I think I'm going to buy Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index if I see it in my local bookshop so if this sounds like you're sort of read then you'd probably enjoy it too!

I really enjoyed this story about coming to terms with loss. Juniper Lemon has been in a bad car accident. She lost her only sister in the same accident, and this is the story of how grief affected her, her parents and her friends in the year following the accident. It is ultimately a story of hope, with new friendships forged and old ones mended, but it is very sad in places.

This book is clearly intended for young adults, so I am not in the target audience, but I feel that it has a lot to say to us older folk as well.

I would like to thank Netgalley, the author and the publisher for giving me the chance to enjoy this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book is bittersweet. It gives a good insight into grief and loss particularly from a siblings viewpoint. But it's not all sad.Suitable for all ages.

I must start this review by simply stating that this is perhaps one of the best YA books of it’s type I have ever read. Here the emotions are truthful and raw without being mawkish. The story approaches loss and grief in such a way that rather than going for the “big weep” as I like to call it, it is more a process of repetitive cracking and solidifying like an ice flow, those fissures creating weaknesses that might be forced open at the slightest pressure of the ocean below.

Juniper is a marvellous character and I loved her unconditionally.  Her love for her sister and the guilt she feels over her own emotional outburst that is the catalyst for her search -not only for answers about her sister’s secret, but her own perceived culpability in her sister’s death, made her desperately relatable to me.

Her previous relationships and  friendships are fragile and brittle, but the collection of outliers she draws close during her personal journey are the seasoning to this glorious ragout. I fell in love with each of them, the dreamers, the thinkers, the geeks and the rebels in any other setting would seem to be overused tropes but here they became vital and fresh additions. There might have been a love triangle, but Julie Israel never allows her Male protagonists to become truly adversarial which for me is such a boon particularly in a genre where this device has been overused.

The book never allows the reader to know the identity of The Secret love, but this reader has her own ideas about the person Camie might have loved.. the bravery of leaving the question unanswered is a master stroke, in the same way that grief cannot be dealt with uniformly,there are no definitives in love either. We know that Camie’s message is conveyed and that brings peace.

Overall this book was a delight and made me very happy that I shared those chaotic mysterious months with Juniper.

A book that made me smile, despite its theme of grief. Excellent contemporary YA that hits the perfect balance of light-hearted fun and genuine, poignant looks at loss and loneliness. There's also a sprinkling of mystery and surprise throughout the plot, which kept me hooked from beginning till end.

Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index follows Juniper in her daily life after the death of her sister. The main plot arc may be Juniper's search for a specific person related to her sister, but the real focus is on how she deals with grief, how her friends help her and how she impacts the lives of others.

Sweet, engaging and poignant. Recommended for all contemporary fans, especially those looking for something light but that doesn't shy away from difficult emotions.

Love love love, I absolutely loved this! A definite keeper. Juniper is awesome, Brand is a brilliant bad-boy, Kody and Angela and Nate are great fun and oh so real, the story is heartwrenching and beautiful at the same time... I just loved it!