Hearth and Pages: Caterpillars Can’t Swim by Liane Shaw

“A caterpillar is basically gross and ugly. But then it gets to hang out in a cocoon for a while and ends up changing into a gorgeous butterfly. No one cares if it’s a boy or a girl. It’s just a caterpillar that changed into a butterfly. And it’s okay and right and normal.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Caterpillars Can’t Swim we meet Ryan, a wheelchair-bound 16 years old boy who is also a member of Swim Team in his school. One day he rescues Jack, one of his schoolmate from the water. Ryan keeps Jack’s secret about the water incident and even though both of them doesn’t really like it, their lives become connected. Ryan knows that Jack needs help, and Jack feels since Ryan knows and keep his secret, he can open up a bit to him. Then there’s also Cody, Ryan’s best friend and fellow swim team member who even though a nice kid, doesn’t understand why Ryan would want to hang out with Jack when everyone in their school gossip about Jack’s sexuality. Against Cody’s will and his better judgement, Ryan decides to invite Jack on a trip to Comic Con that he has planned with Cody for a long time. On this trip the three kids will each have the chance to be true to themselves and others, and show whether they are brave enough to go against the stereotypes.

This book quite surprised me in many way, but mostly on how honest and true the story development and characters were. It’s definitely not a feel-good book, this is more like a book that give you some lesson and hard truth about the world and human being. Liane Shaw, the author of this book, used to be a teacher and I feel like this book is one of Shaw’s method to teach us about being open-minded and how to treat other humans. I guess I can say that this book is one of those YA fiction that is leaning more and more toward realistic fiction and honestly I really like it.

There is no romance happening in this book between all those characters I mentioned above in my summary, just want to let you know in case you’re hoping there’s going to be a love triangle between them just like I did. There’s also no M/M pairing in this book, and only a little romance between main character and a girl. I’m a bit torn about this, on one hand I honestly don’t want any romance in this book, but on the other hand I was kind of hoping that there’s going to be M/M romantic relationship in this book. But I’m quite glad that there’s no romance, because that way the story development can focus on the three boys’ personal growth. I can’t say that this is a story about friendship either, because I don’t think I can call what Ryan and Jack has as a friendship. They don’t mind each other company, and maybe at some point they want to become friends but I don’t think that they are there yet.

The one thing that I don’t quite like is the ending. I’m agree that it’s maybe the most fitting way to end this book, but I kind of hope that Shaw get more into Jack’s story. I really hope that someday in the future she will write more story about Jack, because I really want to see what happens next.

In conclusion, this is one interesting book, and quite different than other YA books. Though it’s not a feel good story, in my opinion the truth in this story is important to read. If you’re looking for a book with disable character and LGBTQIA character, I totally recommend this book. Caterpillars Can’t Swim will come out on 12^th September, and you can pre-order it from Amazon Canada, I’ll put the link down below.