Teen Issues

Review: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

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18460392I’ve read many “Wow” books in my lifetime, a great number of them in the past year alone. So it’s common for me to read a new book that makes me want to recommend it to people, to push it on others even. But when a story still has me thinking about it weeks later, and ALMOST makes me cry, well that’s a pretty big deal.

So where to start with this amazing book? At its very heart, it’s a love story, the story of Theodore Finch and Violet Markey. But love is never easy, and each is dealing with their own issues. Theodore is obsessed with death, and he spends his days thinking of ways to die. Each time, however, life interferes and gives him a reason for living. That “reason”, one day, comes in the form of Violet. She’s grieving the death of her sister. With Theodore’s help, she begins to move on and to actually think of the future. As she’s moving forward, though, Theodore is spiraling downward. Will love be enough to save them both?

This book jumps right in to a very real, very “taboo” subject. Suicide and mental illness in young people are a far too common occurrence, one that is often swept under the rug out of shame or denial. We cannot continue to file it under the category of “normal teenage angst” hoping it will go away by itself. Normal teenage issues do tend to resolve themselves while mental illness does not, often with very real and very tragic consequences.

I still think about this book several weeks after finishing it. It was that good. It’s a story of grief, of hope and resilience. It’s the story of young love and how far it can carry you as well as its limitations. Pick this one up and settle in with a box of Kleenex close by (maybe!).

~Thalia

Buy It Now:All the Bright Places

Review: Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett

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Words-and-Their-Meanings-5I really enjoyed this first book from Kate Bassett. The story centers on Anna, a teenager who is having trouble getting over the death of her beloved uncle a year earlier. She copes by doing daily “coffin yoga”, channeling her inner Patti Smith through both her dress and hairstyle, and writing favorite Patti quotes on her arm every day.

Her family is concerned, to put it mildly, but they have turmoil of their own to cope with. Little sis Bea likes to hide in random places, mom and dad are divorced and dad has a new wife/baby on the way, and Gramps is suddenly on the verge of death himself. Anna’s circle of friends is very small, basically her best friend since early childhood, Nat. Complicating things is the introduction of Mateo, who definitely catches Anna’s eye and rocks her world, almost to the point of being normal.

This is a difficult book to fully describe other than to say that it’s quite an unusual young adult/coming of age book. There’s a love story, but that’s not the central element. It’s more about friendship, family, love gained and lost, and moving on. Five stars for me!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Words and Their Meanings

Review: Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

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18769271So many reasons to love this book! The main character, Leigh, sells graves in the family-owned cemetery which earns points for plot originality. Leigh is a sympathetic teenager struggling through somewhat normal teen angst. There’s the tear-jerker factor in a sibling recovering from a potentially fatal disease. And there are Leigh’s parents who at first glance are not very likeable but kinda grow on you by the end of the story.

This is such a different kind of young adult novel. It has some of the common elements such as high school drama and bits of a love story. But the language of the story is so quirky and Leigh has such a deadpan sense of humor that the book stands out from many others that I’ve read lately. I also love that the story was inspired in part by events from the author’s life. A debut novel from Jennifer Longo that promises even better things to come in the future!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Six Feet Over It

Review: The Program by Suzanne Young

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11366397 This book is frightening in its realistic approach to a governmental solution to teen suicide. In this reality teen suicide has become more than a sad occurrence, it’s become an outbreak of epic proportions. The government has stepped in and created The Program. The Program whisks teenagers away for weeks for a highly secretive time after which they come back and don’t remember their friends or almost anything.

Sloane is terrified of The Program. She literally watched her brother commit suicide before her eyes but she cannot show any emotion for fear she will be taken away. The only person she has left to truly be with is James. James who was best friends with her brother and is now her boyfriend. But as they watch their friends become depressed and commit suicide it becomes harder for them to keep it together.

This book felt so realistic in how it dealt with the feelings of depression, the loneliness and the despair. Suzanne Young did a wonderful job of capturing how it must feel to be young and feel completely alone. As the book progresses into the the actual program I really enjoyed the creepiness factor that set it as I wondered what was part of the program and what was reality. It was so hard to tell, which was great as that was exactly how Sloane should have felt as well.

I thought this was a haunting and very well done book. I think that teenagers as well as adults will like it but for different reasons. I can see teens liking the young adult aspect of the group dynamics and watching Sloane trying to figure things out within the program and within her friends. I can also see adults liking the partial dystopian aspects of this book.

It is part of a series and there is a bit of a cliffhanger but I don’t feel desperate to read it right this very second. Which is a good thing because I hate that so very much!! I will definitely be reading the next one when it comes out.

5 stars

~Clio

Buy it Now The Program