Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus - Book review

Having read 24 hours in Nowhere, I am fast becoming a huge fan of Dusti Bowling's writing style.

#Gifted

Author: Dusti Bowling / ISBN: 9781454933298 / Price; £12.99 / Publisher: Sterling

Synopsis of Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus is a really accessible yet unique high school story with an established and interesting character – but don’t be put off if you didn’t read the first book.  Aven is an interesting, funny and likeable protagonist – much like the first book it’s a journey of self-acceptance – as a John Hughes fan there’s a smack of Molly Ringwald to Aven but this story is very much set in the present.

In this book she is again the new girl but not a new girl in town, just getting older and moving to a larger high school – very much a coming of age tale here.

“High School. Two words that struck fear into the heart of every armless middle schooler I knew. Which was me. And like two people online.”

Just as Aven starts to feel comfortable in Stagecoach Pass, with her friends and schoolmates accustomed to her lack of “armage,” everything changes once again.  She’s about to begin high school . . . with 3,000 new kids to stare at her.

And no matter how much Aven tries to play it cool, nothing prepares her for the reality.  In a year filled with confusion, humiliation, and just maybe love, can Aven manage to stay true to herself?  The sequel to the critically acclaimed Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

Review of Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus 

The story follows the life of a young girl called Aven through high school.  It tackles all the big issue for a teen amazing well.  So well, in fact, I wonder if there is an element of Dusti's life written within Aven's.

Bullies and first loves, deaths and family reunions, this book really is jam-packed with the innocents of a young girl, who in an instant has her trust and faith in others snatched away.   From losing all her confidence to the point of faking illnesses to get out of going to school, which so many of us can relate to, all because of how mean children can be to one another.

My heart went out to Aven and as I read on I was willing her to find her love for life again, to use her friends, her tribe to pull her out of the funk she was in.  It really did bring back the realisation that one act of meanest can crush a person's spirit.

No spoilers here, so I highly recommend grabbing a copy to see how or even if, Aven gets through the struggles of the first few months of high school.



About the author: Dusti Bowling grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where, as her family will tell you, she always had her nose in a book. Dusti holds a Bachelor of Psychology and a Master of Education, but she realized that her true passion was writing. The Day We Met, her self-published YA novel, has sold over 20,000 copies. She currently lives in Carefree, Arizona with her husband and three daughters, one bobcat, a pack of coyotes, a couple chuckwallas, several rattlesnakes, and few herds of javelina.