by Helena Fox
Publisher: Dial Books/Penguin
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Get ready to feel all the feelings in Helena Fox’s emotional debut novel, HOW IT FEELS TO FLOAT. Biz is an outsider at school in every sense of the word. She has to deal with confusion about her sexuality, the process of losing her best friend to a boy, cruel rumors, and above all, getting over the death of her dad. It doesn’t make it easier that she frequently imagines her dad coming back to talk to her. Later on, after a breakdown, Biz starts to take a photography class. It is here where she discovers that the pictures she takes literally talk to her. This inspires Biz to start on a road trip where she hopes to find memories of her dad in the places he has lived.I loved this novel from the first chapter. Biz is a perfect example of a flawed protagonist, and her mental health issues are presented beautifully. I felt like I was in the story right along with Biz which led to me rooting for her heavily the entire time, feeling the highs and lows with her. The friendships that Biz makes and breaks throughout, along with her relationship to her mom, brought me closer to her. Biz’s grief, pain, and happiness felt so real and at the end of the novel, I felt like she was someone I knew in real life. HOW IT FEELS TO FLOAT is a stunning debut by an author with a lot of promise and I highly recommend it.
