Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Title: Me Since You
Author: Laura Wiess

Release Date: 18th February 2014

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

In A Nutshell:

Me Since You is a raw and honest portrayal of grief and depression. It is the story of a family’s struggle to hold it all together when their life has been ripped apart and the special people who stick around hoping to eventually see a smile or ray of sunshine shine through once again.

My Review:
When a book so perfectly reflects real life emotions, how can you fault it? Me Since You will take hold of your heart and squeeze it until you feel as though you can no longer breathe. Just like the characters, you will cry until you didn't think it was possible to cry anymore. And then you’ll cry some more.

Me Since You is one of the most emotionally draining books I have ever read yet it is so beautiful and real in how it portrays depression and grief and everything that comes with the territory. After a heartbreaking tragedy strikes Rowen’s small town, the events that follow directly change the course of her and her family’s life. There are snide comments and vicious opinions, a town reeling from the devastating effects of suicide, the spiralling depression that engulfs Rowen’s father, and the anger and resentment felt through not understanding mental health issues. There’s the wishing that everything can just go back to the way it was, the confusion, the hurt, the pain, and the hole that is left when someone is suddenly gone.

The novel carefully examines how families, immediate and extended, are effected and how everyone grieves differently. Friendships can crumble or grow stronger depending on how individuals react and understand the process when everything in life changes and there is no easy answer as to how or when to move on. There is also a strong element recognising the healing power of animals and the love and bond between humans and four-legged friends. While I do not have personal experience in the types of tragedy Rowen lives, I do know something about grief and while this book will demand that you have a box of tissues next to you, for at least half the book, it will leave you a better, more understanding person for reading it.

Me Since You is a raw and honest portrayal of grief and depression. It is the story of a family’s struggle to hold it all together when their life has been ripped apart and the special people who stick around hoping to eventually see a smile or ray of sunshine shine through once again.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Day

Author: Gayle Forman

Release Date: 8th January 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

In A Nutshell:
I loved Just One Day. A lot can happen in one day. It can change your life and it does just that for eighteen-year-old Allyson. It was absolutely amazing to see the transformation she goes through over the course of a year, following her one day. How Allyson deals with depression, love, loss, friendships, family, college and parental expectations is nothing short of a pleasure to read.

My Review:
The basis of Just One Day is the idea that anything can happen in one day. While I started the book thinking it was about how you can fall in love in a day, I now believe that is just an undercurrent and that more so, in a day, your whole life can be set on a different course.

After a random, whirlwind meeting and adventure with Dutch amateur theatre actor Willem, eighteen-year-old Allyson is devastated by the way their day in Paris turns out. Returning to the US in a depressed funk, Allyson can’t seem to get her life back on track; her best friend Melanie can’t understand why she can’t just get over it, her uninformed parents can’t understand the changes in her personality, and her new college roommates don’t know what to think of her. It’s always difficult for people to understand what someone is going through unless they have experienced something similar as they can’t comprehend the need for closure. But for Allyson, it’s far more than some smooth guy using and ditching her. While she was with him, she got a taste of who the real Allyson is; the Allyson she hasn’t allowed herself to discover in order to keep everyone around her happy. Now that she has ‘met’ her, she can’t just go back to the life her parents’ mapped-out for her.

I loved Just One Day. It was absolutely amazing to see the transformation that Allyson goes through and how she deals with depression, love, loss, friendships, family, college and expectations. Now don’t get me wrong, I was intrigued by Willem’s character and wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, even though my ‘spidey-sense’ was telling me he was a player, just as Allyson’s self-doubt made her think he couldn’t actually like her. But like Allyson, I pushed it away, choosing to focus on the positive signs rather than the negative ones. And hey, their time in the artist squat was hot as. But their story went in a different direction. No matter how short their time together was, and no matter how it ended, Allyson made a profound connection in that time, whether with Willem or herself, it doesn’t matter, because the pain is real and the loss is felt.

Back in the US, Allyson wallows in a self-pitying depression. She feels empty as though something, or someone, is missing from her life. The realisation comes slowly, that it is not just the beautiful boy she is mourning, but her identity. To rediscover the person she was in Paris means Allyson has to change the way her life is now. She knows she will be disappointing her parents but if the medical school route they planned for her means forgoing her own happiness, then what is the point of living if only to be miserable the entire time?

As she slowly begins to rediscover herself, she branches out: taking chances, changing the course her life has been put on and, much to her bewilderment, makes some unlikely new friends. Her search for the answers about what really happened with Willem leads her to a Shakespeare class, a café job, French lessons, and then once again, Europe, where the new Allyson takes challenges in her stride.

The people Allyson meets along her journey are so completely endearing. Her Shakespeare study buddy Dee, the enthusiastic and genuine bartender Modou, her fellow travellers, and the zesty but somewhat wounded Wren, who was probably my favourite supporting character of them all. And I really liked the way Forman portrayed the friendship between Allyson and her childhood friend Melanie. It’s good to recognise that people change and that through no fault of either party, they grow apart. They can be going through different things in their lives and while some friendships will last, others will just naturally fizzle out. But with relinquishing old friendships also comes new and amazing ones and Allyson’s happiness and enthusiasm coincides with these.

I’d like to do a quick shout-out to some of the locations featured in the book. Excluding Mexico and Florida, it is set in Boston, Paris, London and Amsterdam, and since I have been to all of them, I know that Forman really captured the essence of the cities. I think that any reader, either well-travelled or not, can absolutely connect with the feelings and anticipations that Allyson has while travelling to each place. Her travels brought back my memories of visiting these cities for the first time, and then the jolt of familiarity I had upon returning and recognising places, just as Allyson has when she returns to Paris.

It will be very interesting to see how our assumptions of Willem play out in Just One Year, as Forman presents us with Willem’s story starting from the fateful morning in Paris when everything goes wrong. At the ending of Just One Day, I am not the biggest fan of Willem’s, whereas I am so proud of Allyson and all that she experienced and challenged herself with in the year following her meeting with Willem. I am a massive fan of Where She Went, Adam’s story and the male point of view from Forman’s amazing If I Stay/Where She Went companion novels so I’m interested to see how I take to reading the year from Willem’s point of view.

Massive amounts of love and respect for this book. Love your work Gayle!

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Title: Saving Francesca

Author: Melina Marchetta

Release Date: 31st March 2003

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Francesca battles her mother, Mia, constantly over what's best for her. All Francesca wants is her old friends and her old school, but instead Mia sends her to St. Sebastian's, an all-boys' school that has just opened its doors to girls. Now Francesca's surrounded by hundreds of boys, with only a few other girls for company. All of them weirdos, or worse.

Then one day, Mia is too depressed to get out of bed. One day turns into months, and as her family begins to fall apart, Francesca realises that without her mother's high spirits, she hardly knows who she is. But she doesn't yet realise that she's more like Mia than she thinks. With a little unlikely help from St. Sebastian's, she just might be able to save her family, her friends, and - especially- herself.

In A Nutshell:
I adored Saving Francesca! It is a story of family, friendship, acceptance, strength, and looking deeper at people to discover who they really are and not just the public persona they put on.

My Review:
Oh gosh. Why oh why did I wait so long to read this?! I absolutely adored Saving Francesca and it has gone straight to my all-time-favourites list.

What I love most is that it is so real. I can picture Francesca, Tara, Justine, Siobhan, Thomas, Will and Jimmy as if they were going about their lives. There is a warmth in all of them as they are just ordinary kids, searching to be allowed to be themselves and belong without ridicule, something that is not easy in high school. People will often put on the face that they think others want them to be and they become half the person they could have been, because they are trying to please others rather than be themselves.

Saving Francesca focuses mainly around the themes of family and depression. Francesca’s once strong-willed and vibrant mother wakes up one morning and doesn’t get out of bed. This continues for months and Francesca’s dad is left to try and hold the family together. Francesca begins to question the way her parents have always interacted and her own place in the world, and while she just wants everything to go back to the way it was, her family will never be the same and she has to learn to adjust to the new family dynamic.

Amongst the trouble at home, Francesca is struggling at her new school, Saint Sebastian’s, which for the first year is accepting girls to the once all-boys school. As one of 30 female students, Francesca, who has come from an all-girls school, struggles to fit in as both the girls and the boys try to find a way to understand and relate to each other.

As Francesca begins to make new friends and rediscover those from her pre-teen years, her life begins to look up until a run in with some old ‘friends’ threatens to tip everything off balance again.

It is a story of family, friendship, acceptance, strength, and looking deeper at people to discover who they really are and not just the public persona they put on.

*****

In 2010, Melina wrote a companion novel called The Piper's Son which looks at where Thomas McKee is, five years after the events of Saving Francesca. I read The Piper's Son before I read Saving Francesca. Click here for my review.

Crash Into Me by Albert Borris

Title: Crash Into Me
Author: Albert Borris

Release Date: 1st July 2009 (Not currently available in Australia)

My Rating: 3/5

Blurb:

Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives.

As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.

My Review:
Albert Borris has done a fine job addressing such a tough and delicate subject. Crash Into Me, in my opinion, is a story about making a connection. It is about four teenagers with a heart-breaking outlook on life who decide to go on an obscure road trip, with the aim to commit suicide at the end. All is not as it seems though and not everything goes according to plan. Our characters have no self-worth, barely any hope and absolutely zero self esteem. Can they stave off drinking, hiding behind suicide facts or shielding themselves with false bravado long enough to find the acceptance they crave?

"Real self worth comes from mastery, from getting good at something. It doesn't matter what. Then you don't have to worry about empty compliments. You don't worry about what other people think. You have self respect."

Owen is extremely insightful and knowledgeable about random facts, and like our other characters, Frank, Audrey and Jin-Ae, he is sad, depressed and lonely. We connect far more to Owen throughout the road trip (I spent most of the time wanting to wrap him in a massive hug), due to the story being told from his POV, and because of this, we only really discover which path he will choose. Most of the ending is predictable and I felt it was finished too quickly. It is hopeful, but the fate of some of the characters remains uncertain. Despite this, it is still a very well written book and it stayed with me long after I finished it.

The story of their road trip is broken up by snippets from the chat room where they all first met. This helps provide a back story and explains how they came to be taking such a random road trip in the first place. The other little extras are the lists that they compile while on the road (some are serious, others, silly). For example 'Top Ten Places to Visit that Aren't Graves' (Area 51, Roswell and the Icelandic Phallological Museum both make the list) and the 'Top Ten Reasons to Live' (Gay bingo and pink socks).

Despite it's morbid subject matter, Crash Into Me still has funny moments and witty banter between the pages as our characters face emotions they didn't know they had and discover what it is they really want for themselves.

Will they find what they are looking for in the most unlikely of places?

Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti

Title: Waiting For You
Author: Susane Colasanti

Release Date: 11th August 2010

My Rating: 2/5

Blurb:
At the beginning of her sophomore year, Marisa is ready for a fresh start, and hopefully her first real boyfriend. Could it be popular dreamy Derek? Or geeky Nash, who just might have a crush on her? Then there's the underground, anonymous DJ, whose podcasts are the hottest thing at school and who seems to totally understand Marisa. But she doesn't know who he is...or does she?

My Review:
I have mixed opinions about this book. My initial thoughts were that I didn't like the style of writing. There is a lot of teen-speak such as the number of times 'like' is said and how all the verbs are annoyingly repetitive.

For example:
"What?" Stirling goes.
"I'm just saying,"Andrea goes.
Sterling's like, "Could it be any hotter?"

It's as bad as saying he said or she said after every sentence. Keep in mind these are not all in the same paragraph, although they are from the same page, but they are a small example of the language I found irritating. I'm not sure if this is because I'm Australian or because I am no longer a teen but either way it was annoying. The story itself was predictable. I was able to pick the ending within the first few pages.

What I did like was that our main character Marisa suffers from anxiety and depression. I don't think these are subjects that get discussed a lot in YA literature, especially anxiety. Marisa has her highs and lows and we as the reader get to experience these with her. We also see how she pulls herself out of her slumps and how those around her effect her moods.

Other issues Marisa has to deal with include her parents' surprise separation, her best friends' online boyfriend who may be a creepy old man, an old friendship rekindled and a new relationship with her crush. Marisa's journey comes full circle when she learns to live in the now and stop waiting.

A recurring theme is the age-old don't judge someone before you get to know them. You never know what may be happening in their life or why they act the way they do. This is universal and such an important message.

By the end, I felt the language had changed a bit, or maybe I just wasn't noticing it anymore, but it was easier for me to read without getting annoyed. The story finished just how I predicted it would but somehow that was ok with me because Marisa grew as a person and there were lots of important messages that got addressed. This is very much a teen read and I do not think it will be enjoyed by those who have finished high school.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Authors: David Levithan and John Green

Release Date: 3rd May 2010 (Australia)

My Rating: 5/5

Will Grayson: What is your oldest, wildest, only best friend started writing a musical about your life...and it made you look like a joke? What if the girl you didn't think you were interested in started being interested in you? And who is this other guy called Will Grayson?

The other Will Grayson: What if you are technically depressed? What if you're in love with someone you've never met? And what's the story with the guy walking around with your name?

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens - both named Will Grayson - are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

I really can't put my finger on what it is that makes me love this book so much. I am a major fan of both David Levithan and John Green and was so excited when I heard they had done a book together. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is laugh-out-loud hilarious, heart-warming and at times heart-breaking, but also absolutely fabulous! I felt like I could really relate to Will Grayson, the first one, and I'm sure everyone will be able to relate to one of the amazing characters in this book in someway.

I have two favourite sentences, the first being in the very first paragraph of the book which I think sets the tone and the hilarity of the rest of the chapter and the book:

When I was little, my dad used to tell me. 'Will, you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.'

My other favourite sentence, because I can relate to it all too much, is:

You like someone who can't like you back because unrequited love can be survived in a way that once requited love cannot.

Do yourself a favour and read this book. It's fantastic.

When I Was Joe by Keren David

Title: When I Was Joe
Author: Keren David

Release Date: 1st March 2010

My Rating: 4/5

It's one thing watching someone get killed. It's quite another talking about it.

But Ty does talk about it. He names some ruthless people and a petrol-bomb attack forces him and his mum into hiding under police protection.

Shy loser Ty gets a new name, a new look and a cool new image. Life as Joe is good. But the gangsters will stop at nothing to silence him. And then he meets a girl with a dangerous secret of her own.

When I Was Joe is a very well written book about 14-year-old Ty, who witnesses a murder and then has to go into the Witness Protection Program. Ty becomes Joe. But things are never that easy.

This book deals with plenty of teenage issues from peer pressure, depression, self harm and bullying to friendship, relationships, fear, change, truth, lies and manipulation. And one hell of an emotional roller-coaster.

I am really, really looking forward to the sequel 'Almost True'.

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Title: The Piper's Son
Author: Melina Marchetta

Release Date: 1st March 2010

My Rating: 4/5

In The Piper's Son, Melina Marchetta focuses on Thomas Mackee, one of the characters from Saving Francesca. Thomas's life sucks. His once happy and close family has been torn to shreds after his Uncle Joe was killed in the London bombings in 2005. Tom's dad is an alcoholic who has gone AWOL, his mother and sister have disappeared to Brisbane and his Aunt Georgie is pregnant but won't publicly acknowledge it. And Tom, well he's lost his job, his roommates have kicked him out, and he's beating himself up over losing one of his best friends after a one-and-a-half night stand 2 years ago.

As Tom pushes everyone away and spirals into a pit of depression we discover the strength, hope and love that family and friends are capable of as they attempt to get Tom's life slowly back on track. I also like that the story is told in third person, following both Tom and Georgie.

By the end you are left with a feeling of hope, and that family and true friends are always there for you, no matter how tough things get and how much you try to push them away.

Having not read Saving Francesca I was worried that The Piper's Son wouldn't make sense and that I wouldn't be able to follow the story, but that wasn't the case. While it does refer a lot to what happens in Saving Francesca, it in no way gave me any trouble. I would really like to read Saving Francesca now and while I don't feel the need to hear the story of Justine or Tara, I would really like to find out what has happened to Jimmy (the 5th member of their group), which Marchetta has given small clues to in The Piper's Son and I think has paved the way for another book focusing on him.