This is SUCH a sweet tale about a 9 year old girl who is losing her sight due to a genetic disease. And while it’s a sad premise at its core, it’s actually a tale of hope and resilience rather than pain and sadness (it’s no TFIOS gratuitous tearjerker).

Mafalda might be losing her sight but she’s learning all about friendship and what’s essential in her life, all with her trusty cat by her side. She is such a zesty kid and I loved her voice - so much about her resonated with me and how I worried about things at that age.

Representation: own voices for Stargadt Disease

La seconda lettura è stata più profonda perché ho un piccolo progetto che coinvolge questo libro, e mi è piaciuto lo stesso. Non direi che è troppo impressionante, però certamente educativo e commovemente.
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Okay, it was definitely quite touching, and I liked it, but not too much to give it a higher rating. I would say this one is for fans of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, which I am myself not.

Mafalda, a nine-year-old girl, is slowly losing her vision, and she is terrified of the inevitable darkness she will be living in very soon. And that's the only premise I find reasonable to give away as the rest is more interesting in the context.

While I appreciate the representation since the author herself has a similar disease, I cannot say I feel particularly sentimental towards the story. That does not mean I haven't enjoyed if one might call a read like that enjoyable, because I liked the writing (or rather the translation), and Mafalda as a character was definitely a very interesting person to read from (as it's the first-person narrative) and about. The book truly brought me joy and hope, and I needed that, I really did, but I doubt it will be stuck with me in a couple of weeks.

It's a feel-good book and it is not trying too hard to make you feel something as it's written in an honest manner, but still, not on-your-nose, which is always a very thin line, but the author managed to balance that elegantly. I liked that aspect, and if you are looking for a comfort read, I would suggest you pick up this book. It's relatively short (it's just me being booked and busy, in fact, it's a one-evening story), and it's heart-warming.

Ocena: Dwa z plusem
Wrażenia: Taki typowy wyciskacz łez. Książka pisana z perspektywy dziewczynki, która traci wzrok, językiem stylizowanym na wypowiedzi owej dziewczynki, ale brzmi to strasznie sztucznie.
Dla kogo: Dla fanów [b:Oskar i pani Róża|6724174|Oskar i pani Róża|Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388594172l/6724174._SY75_.jpg|1064288].

A beautiful little book, achingly poignant without being overly bleak or overly saccharine. Mafalda, like a lot of children her age, is naive yet, at the same time, understands more than she is given credit for - even if the understanding she comes to isn't always quite correct. The only tiny - and I mean TINY - niggle I had is that there were a couple of lines that read a little awkwardly and I'm not sure whether this was a quirk of narrative style or a result of translation. Either way it doesn't detract from the enjoyment.
Definitely recommend!