Gut Feelings by C.G. Moore; Published by UCLan Publishing

WHEN recommending books to Young Adult readers it can be difficult to find a balance between what is fun and easy to read and what has plenty of interesting and important themes.

It often seems like there’s a choice between either stories with complex themes but which have intimidating or unapproachable writing styles, or those that do not and can be read but lack deeper messages.

It is perhaps partly due to how Gut Feelings ended my search for that balance that I developed such an immediate connection to it. Other books I’ve found with this rare combination of emotional intensity and a fast-paced story often seemed to be shorter books that were unable to dig deep into the more emotional themes as much as I wished.

Gut Feelings solves this with 400 pages written in verse that I was able to love and also complete in one day.

The story is based around CG Moore’s own life and begins at age 11 with his diagnosis of Familial Adenomatous Polyps (FAP), a rare genetic condition causing growths in the large intestine. His initial fears of developing cancer from this, life in and out of hospital and a youth scarred by limitations and chronic pain form a base linking all the other issues.

Along with dealing with serious health concerns at a young age the book takes the time to discuss his growing troubles with, and thoughts on, friendships, bullying, body image and sexuality.

These themes are considered cohesively and with great care, culminating in a sensitive and honest look at physical and mental health and how they are irrefutably linked.

With so much being handled over the course of one book, it could have seemed overly ambitious or crowded but instead makes perfect sense as reading it is not simply disappearing into a story as many books are, but connecting with a real life.

The pain and joy of every day life never come neatly separated into genres and this book in no way needs to either and in fact would lose what makes it so appealing if it attempted to be purely about one thing.

The humanity of Gut Feelings is in how clearly one reading sees a chaos of feelings and ideas condensed into a precise expression through words and rhythm, all linking back as they do to a time in life and to dealing with FAP.

Whether it’s life with an invisible disability, mental illness, coming to terms with your sexuality or even figuring out a career and academic path for yourself, there is always something in this book to relate to, something to see a piece of yourself in.

I’ve always found that to be one of the most important things in literature, that there is always some connection that the reader makes to their own life which is particularly impressive to me in an autobiographical piece like this.

I believe that if you are able, through telling your own unique story, to make whoever comes across it feel as though you are speaking directly to them then there is success and magic.