The speed of the memes travelling around the school is terrifying and demonstrates the sort of situations some children can find themselves facing. It's incredibly realistic, probably because it is based on the author's own experience of having cancer. But still, the story doesn't shy away from the horror of Ross' situation. But the way the story is told means as a reader it's never so dreadful that it overwhelms you. There are, as you'd imagine, some very dark moments through the book. He ends up in a band, alongside his other best friend, Abi, and a misunderstood bully.

Ross is inspired, finding a release and freedom through music that he struggles to find anywhere else. One of the technicians managing his treatments introduces him to some new genres of music and then teaches him how to play the guitar. One way Ross finds to cope with his turbulent emotions is through music. With the sudden ghosting by one of his best friends, and a series of horrible memes that someone at school creates about Ross, nothing about his life is normal any more, and he has to find new ways to deal with his feelings, and survive. He has gloopy eye medicine to try to help with the pain, plus the need to wear a hat at all times to protect his face due to the ongoing treatment. He is facing potential blindness, whilst dealing with an eye sealed in a permanent wink. Suddenly he is the cancer kid, and everything he does, how he looks, and how he behaves falls under the scrutiny of the other kids in school.

When Ross is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, aged 12, his desperate attempts at school to just be 'normal' become impossible. It looks at the difficulties all children face at school, not just those specific to Ross, who has been diagnosed with cancer.

Summary: A dark subject, but sensitively told with some lovely, humourous moments.

Wink by rob harrell