Review: Review: Really Is One of the Better New Adult Books I've Read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 22, 2014
I received this book via NetGalley a few months ago, right before it came out actually, but I kept putting it off, because it was anew to me author and I didn't want to be disappointed in new adult, I'd just attempted to read a book that was a total fail for me, and needed a new adult break.  I'm not sorry I took the time, this book was totally worth it.  I had recently read an article by a new adult author complaining that because new adult was the genre to be in, too many were writing young adult with sex and she's right, way too many are sliding by without any substance to them. However, there are way more with good characters, emotional depth and that deal with real issues.  This book deals with how those coming into their own handle grief, loss of a stable home, friendships, and the budding relationship, along with survival guilt.I could personally relate to this story because I dealt with a similar situation when I was first getting out of high school and moving into college.  Right before school started my best friend Amanda died and I felt like I did, too, for a really long time; it felt wrong to even laugh, to share secrets with anyone else, hell it felt wrong to excel in school because well what was the point, someone who mattered wasn't here because of an idiot.  A drunk driver swerved in front of a tractor trailer, forcing the driver to break up which forced his load into a jackknifing, and it took out Amanda's car as she headed into her freshman week move in day. I totally understood how Pixie's and Levi's grief become all consuming survivors guilt is a bitch.I loved Pixie because I could relate with her in her floundering.  I hated her mother, loved Ellen and Jenna who were there for her completely and tried their best to love her enough until she could love herself again. As I was reading I totally felt called out by Jenna because I tried to protect my heart, much like Pixie was doing and like her,it only made me lonely. So this book is me, it's my journey and for that I loved it.  I loved their confusion, their need for each other I loved he wasn't a horrible bad boy but a grief struck friend, one she knew and loved.  I loved that neither knew all the answers, that they were mourning and blaming themselves and wanted to protect each other from both the pain and each other.I loved the flow of the story, the growth each character had to go through, how each of them had to learn to accept their part in the accident, while learning to forgive themselves and the other.  I loved how well they flowed together The characters weren't whiny or stagnant, they also weren't unnaturally angry with no just cause., They were regular kids, someone you would know, heck maybe even at one point they were you.  I loved that the conversations they had felt real and their thoughts also felt like something a teenager moving into adulthood would think.  Their actions, and reactions felt genuine and made reading a joy instead of a chore.I loved reading Levi as well.  He was a genuinely good guy who had been dealt a bad hand. He wasn't the town's bad boy, nor was he the golden boy, he was just a really great friend to Pixie from childhood, and her hero.  He was also the one she loved since he saved her, Levi loved her and was slowly learning to want more when tragedy struck and he felt guilty for hurting Pixie. Lost without his family and his best friend, he stops trying, he just stops being more. He becomes the handyman as a way to keep active.  It's here that he begins to heal and it's here that he learns to see beyond the pain.This is new adult at it's best.  It's not a perfectly neat package, the couple have issues, their families are broken and hurting, they are struggling to find themselves and their place in the world.  This is good new adult, because the characters don't know everything, but they are learning, and not just about themselves.Ellen is a wonderful character because she steps in a gives both of the two lost souls a place to live, a place to work, and eventually a place to heal.  By being a good shoulder to cry on, a kick in the butt when they needed it and just there, backing their play. She did more for them than their parents did. Her sister however was one hell of a piece of work.  Sadly way too many people like her exist in the world.I loved this and I am highly recommending this book especially because I'm currently reading the second book and loving it as well. More on that later.Check Out More Reviews on: My Blog Bewitching Bibliophile.