A thoughtful and fun read for YA confident readers, this story follows Clara as she faces her fears and tries to remember what happened to her the previous summer. It has a fantastic twist I didn’t see coming, and for a YA novel, doesn’t talk down to its readers, instead making them part of Clara’s inner thoughts in an endearing way. Set in Jamaica, the reader is immersed in the culture and is one of those books where you look up confused where you are. Thoroughly recommend to readers, this deserves to be a real hit! Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the free advance e-book copy of the title.

4.5 stars

I was not expecting to love ‘When Life Gives You Mangoes’ as much as I did.

I honestly did not know where this book was going to go when I started it but I loved reading about Clara’s life and about her friends and family. This book also has a hint of a mystery in it as throughout there are mentions of something which happened a year prior to the start of the book and it is also something which Clara does not remember.

The twist in this book I did not expect to happen. I did have a few guesses as to why Clara couldn’t remember what happened to her the year before but my guesses were not correct at all and the twists really did make this book even more amazing.

My favourite parts of this book was seeing Clara with her friends and her family, especially the scenes with her father, and the scenes where Clara and Rudy are playing together and growing closer to each other.

‘When Life Gives You Mangoes’ is an amazing middle grade debut book and I loved it so much.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley. I found it hard to get into the story and considered giving up but I’m glad I persevered.

Clara can’t remember the events of last summer and this year, she is going through a difficult time with the few friends she has in her village. Her uncle is a recluse who is branded as the witch doctor by the local pastor. When Clara meets a new girl and they go exploring to her uncle’s house, it sets in motion a series of events which explain what happened the previous year.

Once the truth is revealed, the story makes sense but I have read other books which do this better.

The author includes lots of description of a tropical island and does a good job of bringing the characters to life.

Clara behaves differently; something happened last summer, which is hard for her to recall, or I might say she refuses to. Even her best friend Gaynah ridicule her for not remembering what happened. But with the arrival of the new girl Rudy in their village, her friendships nurture, and so her equation with her uncle Eldorath, who was allegedly abandoned by the entire village.
Kereen has written an adorable middle-grade book. It’s a beautiful story of letting go and forgiving oneself, of friendship and loss. The best part of the book is the TWIST! the REVELATION! It blew me. I was like- what? wow! Was it that way all along? I read that part again to make sure I read it correctly. Honestly, I did that. I was very much astonished, and that surprise just made all the difference. I loved it. I sincerely recommend this if you’re into middle-grade books. 
The only thing that bothered me was that the twist came only after when the seventy percent of the book was almost done. So, for the earlier part, it seems a little unadorned narration. Otherwise, it goes great.

This book was a good discovery ! We follow Clara, a young girl of 12 years old and I really like her and follow her through this story. She has been fighting with her best friend, Gaynah, and met a new one. Her life is a mess since last summer when something happened. Clara can't remember what happened and the story is based on this event. The plot twist really take me by surprise and I loved this book much more after that. This book talks about trauma and what our memory can do to help us forget an horrible situation. It's a great book and I recommand it !

Oooh this book is such a gripping one. It hit me right in the chest. Clara has lost all her memories of what happened the previous summer. Now, she can't go near her surfboard for her fear of the water. Will the arrival of a new girl into this tight knit island community help Clara regain her memory? And why is her best friend acting so strangely? Great writing, an exciting mystery - more please Kereen!

I adored this book so much I did an Instagram live with my friend Rhiannon (@what.rhi.read - also a bookseller) discussing how much we loved Getten's book. It's a heartfelt 9-12 novel about grief and friendship, and I will definitely be recommending it upon publication in October.

Strong debut novel by Kareen Getten, her writing style is unreal!!! fast paced with well thought out complex characters both kids and adults! The story is about friendship and understanding each other and playfulness and being young and carefree until something happens that changes your life but with the help of your family you can over come everything. 

I love when adults don’t just disappear from middle grade or YA books. I love that families can listen to their kids and care for them the best they can with the tools they have. I really enjoy having somehow realistic people around our main character, Clara. 

Though i really enjoy the book and the characters it was a little short for me, I’d like to see more about her family, yet the end felt a little long and I felt the aftermath of the storm that hit near the end was kind of rushed. Maybe I’m not used to middle grade books? 

I highly recommend this book to anybody who love adventures, friendships and mangoes off course!

I am person who loves reminiscing about how carefree I was when I was younger and all the shenanigans I used to get up to! Sometimes I’m really tempted to pick up middle-grade novels just to relive or be back in a time where my biggest concern was what has mum made for lunch? (Which by the way I still do that now but moving on…)

This started off as such a light read about a young girl who has been living in this beautiful island all her life and we’re slowly introduced to all the characters. We’re introduced to Gaynah her closest friend and their little hideout, and we slowly explore the island through their adventures.

As we read through the story we get to know about our main character Clara and her loving for surfing, and that after some traumatic incident last year at the beach (which she can’t remember) she’s developed this phobia of the sea. This book had a very elegant way of portraying relationships and betrayals such that as a 22 (almost 23 ) year old I found myself connecting with Clara and empathising with her. This story is about betrayal, trauma, growth and while older readers may find the ending predictable I definitely feel like this is a book that everyone can escape into and enjoy!

When Life Gives You Mangos is a sweet story about family, friendship and grief. Clara is a twelve year old Jamaican girl, and it’s easy to immerse yourself into her narrative, understand why she does the things she does and feel genuine sympathy for her despite not understanding her trauma until the end of the book. The characters don't feel like caricatures, set in roles they're given by Clara's narration. Instead they are vibrant and it is easy to imagine them all in Sycamore, interacting with each other as the novel progresses. 

I really enjoyed the sense of community in this book. It was Clara's story but everyone in her village pieced together to make the story whole. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the beach and also Clara's hesitancy to to the things she used to love, and also how the past unfolded and fit neatly into the future. This book was very wholesome and a nice, fun, quick read. This is a book for younger readers but I really enjoyed it.

Kereen Getten manages to really capture the way that children play together at this age, the shifting in and out of fantasy play, the rivalry, the moments of high drama over small things. As a reader I enjoyed the company of the characters, I was also intrigued about the central mystery but not at the expensive of the characters or the feel of the novel as so often happens in mystery books written for this age group. This book felt fresh, fun and immersive. I'll be heavily promoting it to my readers when it's published.

When Life Gives You Mangoes
by Kereen Getten
Published by Pushkin Press

This exciting story explores friendship & elements of real life that can be so tricky. A smooth blend of drama & normality,  we really get to share the characters' feelings. A fantastic debut novel by Kereen Getten, I feel like I grew familiar with the island locations. The traditional island games amongst mango trees & banana groves remind us of simple childhood innocence & fun. The eclectic mix of real characters on the island who'd almost all lived there many years is superb & includes a shunned uncle labelled a witch doctor.

The reason for Clara's memory loss & feelings of painful isolation stays a secret for a lot of the story, but she manages to grasp every moment of fun she can. A slow summer really takes off with the appearance of Rudy from England. New arrivals to the island were very rare & Clara was delighted by Rudy's detailed role-playing games, enthusiasm, daring fashionista style & fantastic imagination.

Old family disagreements surface & long term grudges get in the way of life but the discovery of some old letters & surviving a devastating island storm turn everything around revealing old truths & sparking true community spirit.

This story has mystery, adventure, fun-factor, & explores the joy & simplicity of island life games but gives us layers of emotion & human strength in the wonderful mix from cover to cover.

Bravo Pushkin!

Thanks to Pushkin Press for letting me read this book for a review.

I have When Life Gives You Mangoes 5 Stars.

When Life Gives You Mangoes follows Clara who lives in Sycamore with her best friend Gaynah. However, there's one thing she can't remember; what happened last summer. When Rudy arrives from England, the two hit it off and go on adventures across the island, discovering secrets along the way. Slowly, the memories from last summer begin to come back.

I loved this! It took me on a journey I was not expecting to go on. I haven't read many middle-grade recently so I wasn't sure what to expect going into this but I'm truly glad I did. So many emotions were brought out while reading this and I couldn't put it down. I loved reading about the relationships across the village and what life is like in Jamaica. Seeing Rudy and Clara's friendship blossom as they go on their adventures to the fort and down to the river brought back childhood memories and when Eldorath was introduced to the story, I couldn't help but fall in love with the family bonds.

I really do recommend this book to nearly everyone!

A beautiful, heartbreaking story. One of the best written middle-grade books I've read in a while with themes of grief, forgivesness and acceptance. 
I loved the story of Clara's uncle, who's a Boo Radley like figure, an outcast on the island who has wild stories made up about him. 
The descriptions of the island during Summer were so vivid, reading this in the sun, I felt I was there. 
The book had me guessing until the very end, and I did not see the twist coming. A beautiful story for the young and old(er). 
(I'll be posting on my blog closer to release date).

Middle grade isn't normally my thing but this was a heartwarming, authentic story about friendship, family, loss and grief. Clara is 12. She used to love the sea and surfing, but now she can't even step in the water. She can't remember last summer at all, and is acting out of character.

This summer, Clara wants to have the best time with her friend Gaynah, and maybe get to know the new girl Rudy. I loved Sycamore, the imagery Kereen Getten gave me from her writing was spectacular, with mango trees and Clara's Uncle's home being standouts.

Clara goes on such a journey in this book, having to come to terms with her trauma. What she goes through at 12 is so tough, and I love that her parents stand by her when some of the other people in the village are critical of her behaviour. I also really like Rudy's character - she was such a fun, unique girl with great style, and I think she was such a good friend for Clara.

The ending is super sweet and it definitely made me tear up a bit. Sometimes that happy sadness feeling is a great feeling, you know? Anyway, I'm really glad I gave this a go because it was nice to be transported back to the life of a 12 year old, and it really gave me a feel for Sycamore.

This book, wow. Just wow. I don't even know where to begin to unpack all of the fantastic things about this book. As a middle grade, I really didn't expect the themes that were prevalent, including intense relationships with family, friendship and loss/grief through the eyes of a child. This book wasn't even remotely mysterious, but the plot twist was incredibly unexpected.
I had so many different ideas of what would have happened in this book, all of which were much less exciting than the actual outcome and I am so glad I was given the chance to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute book which aims at middle grade readers but can be read by anyone. 12 year old Clara loved water but then something happened and now she is afraid of going in the sea. Worse, she doesn't remember what happened to her. Things change when Rudy comes to her place from England and to the chagrin of Clara's best friend, seems to be replacing her.
As the story furthers,  it gives the readers idea about what has happened and we deal with themes like memory loss, bullying, grief  the power of friends and friendship etc. This is a story that teaches readers so many things without being in the least preachy. 

Also, special mention to the cover designer for this colourful n so so attractive cover. I wonder how pretty it will look in a physical copy!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this book.

The story spoke to me, starting with the gorgeous cover that drew me in. The writing was very good. I liked following Clara’s story. It was very easy to relate to her and her friends, to imagine their games. Which then made the problems arising between the children, and adults, very relatable, too. The plot twist towards the end of the novel was predictable for me, but I am sure middle-grade readers will be surprised.

When Life Gives You Mangos is a story about how complicated friendship can be. How trauma, loss and grief influence our lives in different ways, and about how friendship, forgiveness and acceptance can help you – and your community – heal.

I didn't expect this middle grade to deal with such hard hitting concepts but it did an incredible job! 
There wasn't a moment that I wasn't hooked. Clara was a great protagonist for this story and I loved following her magical journeys around the island with her friends, experiencing these with her. This is a wonderful story for not only children but adults too, we should all read this beautiful tale and we could all learn from it. This has inspired me to pick up more middle grade for sure!

"When Life Gives You Mangoes" by Kereen Getten is a fun middle-grade novel that explores a whole host of difficult issues such as bullying and memory loss. The story is set on the island of Jamaica, and follows Clara who cannot remember the events of last summer but knows that she is afraid of water. She used to spend her time in the ocean, surfing, but now for some reason she doesn't like surfing anymore. Subject to bullying amongst her family and peers because of her loss of memory, she begins to feel isolated and angered by her community. That is until the arrival of Rudy, the new girl from England. This book was engaging and sweet, and easily one of my favourite middle-grades I've read in a long time. I would definitely recommend it!