Are You There, Judy Blume? It’s Me, Henriette (In Pillness and in Health #3) by Henriette Ivanans

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Book Review: Are You There, Judy Blume? It’s Me, Henriette (In Pillness and in Health #3) by Henriette Ivanans

Estimated Rating: ★★★★★ (4.69 out of 5 stars)

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, critiques, and analyses presented below are entirely my own.

Publication and Context

  • Title: Are You There, Judy Blume? It’s Me, Henriette
  • Author: Henriette Ivanans
  • Series: In Pillness and in Health (#3)
  • Published: September 6, 2025
  • Page Count: 336 pages
  • Format: Kindle Edition (ASIN: B0FQ4HJ93J)
  • Language: English

Contextual Backdrop:
Serving as the third and final installment in Henriette Ivanans’ In Pillness and in Health trilogy, this memoir-style narrative tackles the brutal, beautiful intersections of severe chronic illness and coming-of-age. By framing her personal history through the lens of Judy Blume’s iconic literature, Ivanans taps into a universal nostalgia to ground a highly specific, deeply challenging personal journey.

Purpose and Themes of the Work

The book seeks to excavate the rawest meanings of first love and survival. Ivanans poses profound questions: Can love survive the divide between “The Healthy” and “The Sick”? Is love the most perilous addiction, or is it the very force that brings a person back to life?

Central themes include the traumatic loss of a parent, the terrifying realities of childhood illness (specifically kidney failure and dialysis), the intense milestones of adolescent romance, and the enduring power of literature to guide us through our darkest, most confusing moments.

Summary of the Work

The narrative traces Henriette’s life from childhood into her turbulent teenage years and beyond. At age ten, she is a bookish girl wondering why there are so many books about love, finding solace and guidance in Judy Blume’s complicated heroines.

At thirteen, her world fractures. She enters high school under the shadow of her father’s death from alcoholism, compounded by a terrifying personal diagnosis: kidney failure. Amidst this chaos, she spots Seth across a classroom and falls madly in love. The two navigate the intense emotions of youth, sharing a series of “firsts”—first kiss, first orgasm, first fight—all while the ticking clock of Henriette’s impending kidney transplant looms over them.

Throughout these milestones, Henriette mentally returns to the Blume characters who raised her, drawing on Katherine’s sexual assertiveness, Deenie’s acceptance, and Margaret’s quest for God, effectively confessing her journey to Judy Blume along the way. The ultimate test arrives when Seth moves 10,000 miles away. Left barely existing on dialysis and facing unforeseen complications from her transplant, Henriette is forced to confront whether love can truly bridge the massive gap between the healthy and the sick, and why, even if it can’t, it refuses to let go.

Analysis and Evaluation

Format, Pacing, and Structure

Over 336 pages, the book utilizes a confessional, reflective structure. By addressing Judy Blume directly—mirroring the famous “Are you there God?” format—Ivanans creates an intimate, diary-like pacing. The timeline moves from the innocence of a ten-year-old reader to the heavy, life-or-death stakes of medical intervention and physical separation, giving the narrative a relentless, emotional momentum.

Subjects and Voices

Ivanans’ voice is incredibly raw and vulnerable. She does not shy away from the physical realities of her illness or the intense, sometimes messy realities of teenage sexuality and love. The juxtaposition of a failing physical body alongside the explosive, life-affirming awakening of first love gives her narrative voice a unique, poignant duality.

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths: The use of Judy Blume’s characters as a literary framing device is brilliant; it provides readers with immediate, recognizable emotional touchstones (Katherine, Deenie, Margaret) to understand Henriette’s internal state. Furthermore, the author’s willingness to address the stark divide between “The Healthy” and “The Sick” offers a necessary, unflinching look at chronic illness.
Limitations: As the third book in a trilogy, readers jumping straight into this volume might lack the broader context of the author’s ongoing journey laid out in the first two installments, though the focus on adolescence and first love gives it a strong standalone thematic arc.

Suitability and Audience Guidance

  • Content Considerations: The book deals with heavy topics including the death of a parent due to alcoholism, severe medical trauma (kidney failure, dialysis, transplant complications), and candid discussions of teenage sexuality.
  • Target Audience: Perfect for readers of medical memoirs, coming-of-age stories, and anyone who grew up finding answers to life’s hardest questions within the pages of a Judy Blume novel.

Conclusion and Verdict

Are You There, Judy Blume? It’s Me, Henriette is a deeply moving exploration of survival, literature, and the heart. Henriette Ivanans successfully captures the all-consuming fire of first love while navigating the chilling realities of a failing body. It is a triumphant, tear-jerking conclusion to the In Pillness and in Health trilogy. Unbiased by my receipt of a review copy, I can clearly see why this book has garnered such a high rating from its readers.

Supplementary Elements: Reading Companions

“What to Read Next”

If this raw intersection of illness, youth, and literature resonated with you:

  1. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad – A stunning memoir about a young woman’s battle with leukemia and her subsequent journey to bridge the gap between the world of the sick and the world of the living.
  2. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (or Forever…) by Judy Blume – To revisit the very source material that guided Henriette through her darkest hours.
  3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – While fiction, this novel explores the same profound questions about first love, physical intimacy, and the unavoidable realities of terminal/chronic illness in adolescence.

 

 Rating: ★★★★ 4.69 / 5

 - Prairie Fox 🦊📖

 

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