Life in a Fishbowl

Life in a Fishbowl

By Lens Vlahos

I received a free copy from the publisher through the Children’s and Young Adult Book Review Board of Missouri  in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

An inoperable glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor is feasting on Jared Stone’s brain. This explains his bouts of confusion and forgetfulness that have lately plagued Jared’s daily life.  The doctors give Jared less than a year to live, but his life will never be the same.  His mental capacity will deteriorate with each passing day.  Jerod tries to figure out how his family will financially survive without him.  He comes up with a spur of the moment idea:  selling himself on eBay with a reserve of one million dollars. This creates an overwhelming outpouring of emotions ranging from outrage to sympathy.  It also causes several individuals to bid on Jared’s life:  a catholic nun; a spoiled, rich billionaire; a heartless all-business television executive, and a hardcore virtual reality gamer.  Each has a reason for wanting to help Jared and his family; Deidre, his wife;  and Jackie and Megan, his daughters. The final solution gives the Stones a new normal. “This was a twenty-four-seven spotlight on the end of their father’s and husband’s life with all the world watching.  Their house was being transformed into a cruel kind of fishbowl, and all they could do was pucker and swim.”

This book is packed with raw emotions.  The reader’s emotions will take a rollercoaster ride throughout the book.  This is one of my favorite things about this book.  My heart experienced every emotion possible:  joy, compassion, empathy, loathing, hatred, disbelief, and a score of others.  The loathing emotion was probably the one that resonated the most.  In the story, Jared’s tumor, Glio, is a main character.  As Gilo eats Jared’s memories, he actually lives them.  He experiences the smells, sights, touches, emotions, and sounds Jared experienced when he lived the memories. From the very first time the tumor is introduced, I loathed him.  He was so selfish and self-centered.  As he eats the memories, they are erased from Jared’s mind.  " With each bite Glio took of this previously inaccessible corner of the brain. Jared's eyes lost an iota of sparkle. It was as if he were the personification of the story where someone was removing all the adjectives, conjunctions, and adverbs, so the only things left were noun and verbs." The way Vlahos gives Glio the personality and the driving force to devour all of Jared’s mind made Glio ultimate  villains. Several of the eBay bidders have some very SICK reasons to purchase Jared.  These characters also play with your negative emotions.  There are a lot of people to despise in this story: Sister Benedict, Ethan Overbee, and Sherman Kingsborough to just name a few.  This book also renews your faith in humankind. The acts of kindness Jackie, Deirdre, Max, and Hazel perform will make your heart feel happy again.  I loved how Vlahos allows the reader inside the minds of the characters so each action is fully understood. The rollercoaster ride of emotions is justified at the end of the book.  It is a happy-sad ending.  Of course, Jared dies, but if he didn’t, the book would be ruined.  Justice is served and all the reader’s questions are answered.

Living in a Fishbowl also address some very deep issues.  Prolonged life, assisted suicide, quality of life, and patient rights are just a few.  Each issue is handled in a way that allows the reader to step back and think about both sides.  It presents these issues in a personal way.

I highly recommend this book for upper middle schoolers and high schoolers.  It is not for everyone, but those that like it will list it as a new favorite. It would make the perfect book club book because it offers several topics for deep discussions.