Review + Giveaway: The Unloved by Jennifer Snyder

The Unloved by Jennifer Snyder
Published: July 30, 2012
Rating: Beam-worthy
Source: E-book from the author in exchange for an honest review
Add it/Purchase: Goodreads | B&N | Amazon
Connect with the author: Twitter | Website

___

Sometimes the love our heart needs to heal can be found in the familiar eyes of a childhood friend...

Julie Porter learned the hard way that trust is something which must be earned and not something to be given out lightly, those who say they love you are those who hold the power to hurt you most, and best friends can help you survive anything—until they move away.

Nick Owen knows a thing or two about a hard life. At a young age Nick learned how to take a hit and to make lemonade out of the lemons life tossed his way. Returning home after nearly two years of being away, all Nick cares about now is protecting his mom from the abusive hands of his father and catching up with his best friend—the girl who lived across the street, the girl he can’t seem to stop thinking about.

Finally reunited after two years apart, Nick and Julie are about to learn that age does nothing to protect you from life’s trials and tribulations, heartache and loss, but maybe together they’ll find a way to survive.

My Review

The Unloved offers two things that I have a soft spot for: a pairing with a history, and a guy who is protective of the girl he cares for; one alone would have been enough to make me grin, but two put me over the top.  I fell hard for this story about two childhood friends who both yearn to become more, and leave their troubled lives behind, and while there were some serious flaws that didn't make this an epic read for me, it was still definitely enjoyable.  

Nick and Julie both have their share of issues, but Jennifer Snyder made them equally compelling characters.  I won't even try to pretend that I didn't fall a bit in love with Nick, whose greatest wish is to see his Jules smile, and to look after her.   Both Julie and Nick did some growing over the course of The Unloved, in order to rise above their circumstances.  And to be honest, Julie needed to do a LOT of soul-searching and growing-up.  She was a hot mess more often than not, and if I was exasperated with her at times, I also liked her.  I just couldn't help but cheer for this couple, because it was easy to see from their history, how much they cared for one another, and I just really wanted them to have their happy ending. 

The Unloved was an enjoyable read, but this is definitely a "new adult" book, toward the older range of the YA spectrum.  Snyder doesn't sugar-coat anything: there's drug use, and various sexual situations, at least one of which is violent.  I thought for the most part these issues were well-developed, and not glossed over, or trivialized in any way.  Instead, they were treated as serious issues, and served as fundamental conflicts for Nick and Julie.  

Although at times the writing felt as if it lacked polish, and the characters definitely made some questionable decisions, I still liked The Unloved.  I'd definitely recommend it to older YA readers who are looking for a heart-wrenching, if frustrating at times, story.   

  Want to follow the tour?

http://wp.me/p20ttU-uJ

Tour Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso

Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso
Pages: 279
Expected publication: August 14, 2012 (Atheneum)
Source: ATW ARC Tours
Rating: Beam-worthy 
Add it/Purchase: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Connect with the author: Website |

____

Three weeks ago I tried to run away from home. Now all I want is to go back.
When troubled Taylor Truwell is caught with a stolen car and lands in court for resisting arrest, her father convinces the judge of an alternative to punishment: treatment in a juvenile psychiatric correctional facility. Sunny Meadows is anything but the easy way out, and Taylor has to fight hard just to hold on to her sanity as she battles her parents, her therapist, and vicious fellow patients. 

But even as Taylor struggles to hold on to her stubborn former self, she finds herself relenting as she lets in two unlikely friends-Margo, a former child star and arsonist, and AJ, a mysterious boy who doesn’t speak. In this striking debut, Laura Lascarso weaves together a powerful story of anger and self-destruction, hope and love.

My Review 

In Counting Backwards, we meet Taylor Truwell just as her father has committed her to Sunny Meadows, a correctional facility where Taylor feels she doesn't belong.  Taylor is in a downward spiral brought on by dealing with her alcoholic mother; caught between a rock and a hard place, Taylor has acted out, and must pay the consequences.  I felt for her at once with a rush of sympathy, but more than that, I believed in her.  Lascarso created a character with layers, and I could see beneath Taylor's surface to see the amazing character trying to fight her way out; over the course of Counting Backwards, I cheered as slowly, the real Taylor emerged.   

Characterization was a huge draw for me in Counting Backwards.  Everyone - from mean girl Brandi, to vivaciously alive Margo were believable in their roles.  Through Taylor's eyes, we got to know troubled Charlotte, lost in her own world, therapist Dr Deb, who tries so diligently to reach Taylor...and A.J.  I loved Taylor and A.J.'s relationship.  Both of them had so, so much to teach the other, and they both resisted at times, made mistakes, and had false starts and stumbling blocks.  But there was also something deeper and sweeter than what met they eye about their interactions, and I found myself cheering for them, too.  

Laura Lascarso's debut novel has many underlying themes running through it, which at times almost needed a bit more treatment, but ultimately, I enjoyed Counting Backwards and all that it brought to the table.  Taylor struggles to accept herself, her mother, her father, and friendships with Margo and A.J.  At the heart of Counting Backwards are Taylor's fears: that her father doesn't love her, that her mother will never be sober, that she doesn't deserve A.J., that she won't be able to breathe if she admits how she struggles.  Taylor has so much potential that she doesn't see at first, and so the moments when she DOES begin to believe in herself and in those around her were awesome!   Taylor's fears and panic felt SO real, real enough that I spent a great deal of this book wanting to hug her.  

Although Counting Backwards is a bit short, and I wish we had gotten to know a few of the characters, like Taylor's dad and Brandi better, there's still a LOT that makes this book a worthwhile read.  It's worth it, to watch Taylor and A.J. grow as people, and grow together, as friends, and as more.  Their beginnings, when it finally DOES happen, were amazing to watch unfold!  Ultimately, Counting Backwards ends on a hopeful note, which I liked!  

You're sure to fall for:

Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C Walker

Review: Miracle by Elizabeth Scott

Miracle by Elizabeth Scott
Pages: 224
Expected publication: June 5, 2012 (Simon Pulse)
Rating: Beam-worthy
Source: ATW ARC Tours
Further info/purchase: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Find the author online: Website | Twitter

Megan survived the plane crash—but can she survive the aftermath? An intense, emotional novel from the author of The Unwritten Rule and Between Here and Forever.

Megan is a miracle. At least, that’s what everyone says. Having survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Megan knows she should be grateful just to be alive. But the truth is, she doesn’t feel like a miracle. In fact, she doesn’t feel anything at all. Then memories from the crash start coming back.

Scared and alone, Megan doesn’t know whom to turn to. Her entire community seems unable—or maybe unwilling—to see her as anything but Miracle Megan. Everyone except for Joe, the beautiful boy next door with a tragic past and secrets of his own. All Megan wants is for her life to get back to normal, but the harder she tries to live up to everyone’s expectations, the worse she feels. And this time, she may be falling too fast to be saved....

My Review

When I first started Miracle by Elizabeth Scott, I won't lie - I was REALLY excited.  After hearing great things about her other works, I had high hopes for this book.  Miracle, which is from the point of view of Megan, a normal girl before she becomes the sole survivor of a plan crash, had an extremely promising start, but unfortunately for me, never delivered on the heart-wrenching, poignant story I was expecting from the synopsis.  

I think the largest problem I had with Miracle is the main character, and her family and how they were portrayed.  I expected to totally sympathize with Megan, and spend most of her story wanting to hug her.  Instead, I wanted to shake her. Yes, she went through something traumatic and absolutely life-changing.  But although I kept waiting for Megan to slowly snap out of it, to realize that she had friends who wanted to help her get back to living her life...it never happened.  Megan spent the entirety of Miracle dealing - unsuccessfully - with repressed memories and basically wallowing in self pity.  That may sound harsh, especially considering she did survive a plane crash, but it just got OLD after awhile.  It hurt me to watch Megan snub her best friends time after time, to pull away entirely from her family, and to basically detach herself from her entire life - school, church, friends, everything.  As a character, she fell VERY flat and unlikeable for me.  

I also spent a large portion of Miracle angry at her parents.  Whether they perceived her as the "Miracle Megan" she thinks they do, or whether they were just afraid to push her...they saw her detaching and didn't DO ANYTHING.  They just let their daughter fall apart and that REALLY made me SO mad.  I will never understand the trend in literature that says a character's home life has to be really bad...but this was so much worse because her parents did so many things wrong: they coddled Megan long past the point of it being understandable, they ignored her little brother who only wanted a bit of their attention, they let Megan start down the path of ruining her life.  

The love story really disappointed me, too.  I expected more out of Megan and the "beautiful boy" next door, Joe.  I can't say it was insta-love, considering they weren't meeting for the first time, and they didn't fall head over heels for each other.  I liked that they were more of a beginning than anything, but I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it felt like it took the plane crash for them to make the first move, or for him to really notice her, or vice versa.  

The two characters I really liked best - the only two I really liked, actually - were Margaret, a family friend from church, and Megan's little brother.  Both of them honestly struck much, much more of a chord with me than even Megan did.  I kept waiting for her to do something redeemable and finally in the very end of the book, when she dug deep and found some inner strength, I finally saw a glimpse of possibility within her....but it was too late for me to really love Miracle.  

I would still recommend that you give Miracle a try for yourself.  Even though I didn't love it, there was a lot of potential to it, and I DID really quite enjoy the writing style.  It's definitely a story that has potential to strike an emotional chord with readers, just sadly, not with me.  But definitely decide for yourself!