friendship – Page 9 – Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

May 25, 2015June 7, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Your plan changes. Your destiny doesn’t.

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby’s senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby’s never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that’s finally within reach.

4 Drink Me Potions

We are more real than real, said Abby to Josh, a guy whom she only met through her parallel self taking a different path than she did.

Alternate realities and parallel worlds can be so complex, but Lauren Miller did a fantastic job with this novel. Parallel is just indescribable, in the best way possible.

You ever wonder what it would have been like if you’d just done something differently? For Abby, the decision that set her on two different trajectories in life between her parallel worlds came down to this: taking drama or an astronomy class as her last-minute elective in her senior year.

Parallel alternates between Abby’s senior year, following her parallel self experiencing a different set of events after having to take astronomy class instead of drama, in which that path would have led her to becoming the Hollywood actress she remembered she was from her “real” life, and one year later where she finds herself in Yale. Now, if that doesn’t get complicated enough, every time her parallel self makes a different decision, it could cause HUGE rippling effects onto the reality that Abby is now living with as a student at Yale.

This novel explored how even the smallest decisions or events could have led to almost-lost friendships, or could-have-been moments with someone special. Not only that, but it looked into fate (we have a reason for living) and ultimately, what our destiny is even with the ever-changing realities.

I could gush forever, but Miller’s debut novel was absolutely fantastic. With Abby as an amazing protagonist trying to remain “independent” of her parallel self while dealing with a setting that could change at any moment, it made living the day to day all the more important. The conclusion of the novel was stunning, in the sense that it also covered the topic of soulmates. What if her parallel met someone who could love her in a way no one else can, but Abby in her other life chose differently and thus hadn’t met him? What then?

The answer was simple. Our path or trajectory in life may change based on our day-to-day decisions, but something destined in our lives will find its way. And that’s exactly what happened in Parallel. The ending was perfect. Sure, it was a little bittersweet, but it was still so romantic. Being able to find that someone for you even when it first came through as only memories from your parallel self, that speaks of a love that’s more real than real, with real suggesting it stays true even across realities.

At the end of the day, this novel handled everything amazingly. It was clever. Wildly imaginative and creative. I will end off with one of my favourite quotes from the book.

“Abigail Hannah Barnes,
You changed my life. A year ago today, when you walked into it. ‘Are you here by fate or choice?’ you asked me. I said choice. Now I know better.
-Josh”

Overall Recommendation:
Parallel was an absolute fantastic read. It explored so many philosophical elements, from our changing fate when making decisions in life to the ever-present destiny that we each are supposed to hold and possibly that one person (our soulmate) that lies somewhere in our world to find. It asked questions that made you really think. What if you had done something differently? Would your life have changed in ways you could never imagine? Could you miss out on meeting your soulmate if you made the wrong decision? All in all, this novel was deeply romantic and thoroughly explored elements we can all relate to. A definite page-turner & 100% recommended

Review: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

May 13, 2015May 26, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

3 Drink Me Potions

“Knowing what happens isn’t the same as knowing how it happens. Getting there is the best part.”

Likewise, it wasn’t hard to predict how The Start of Me and You would turn out, but Paige’s journey in rediscovering herself, both returning to her old self before the accident as well as figuring out her new self, was a wonderful thing to witness. Paige had lost her boyfriend, Aaron, by a freak drowning incident after only a few months of dating. I was a little glad that this book didn’t focus on her sadness too much, as some books with similar freak accidents do. Instead, it focuses on her determination to get rid of That Look of pity from others and to learn to move on with her life without feeling guilty that she had this opportunity while Aaron hadn’t.

Thus, she makes a simple list of 5 things to accomplish for her junior year to help her move on from her standstill. For some reason, I really like books that make simplistic lists to follow as it gives the events of the story a structured feel. But accomplishing lists don’t always seem as easy as it is to just write it down. Throughout her school year, Paige finds in herself all these small moments that she could never have predicted she could have gotten. I thought she rather aptly named her list of goals as How to Begin Again, as it really was the first step that set the ball rolling for the rest. In fact, I liked it so much, I kind of wonder why How to Begin Again wasn’t the title. Ah well.

Besides the steady-paced journey to discovery for Paige, I loved her relationship with her 3 girlfriends. Their friendships were so real, as besties should be. Each brought something different to the table, they were uniquely themselves (come on, they each even had very specific music preferences), yet they could come together so easily in order to hold up each other when any of them needed it. Not many books write about friendships as well as Emery Lord does. I think my favourite way that Lord described this friendship was in this single sentence.

“Together, we made four walls, holding each other up even as the world around us shifted.”

It is absolutely the best way to imagine a close friendship, or rather, close friendships between 4 girls. Even when the world threw all these different problems at them, whether it be death or breakup or abandonment from parents, they held each other up. That’s the kind of inspiring relationship here that I’m starting to recognize as Emery Lord’s signature description of the best kinds of friendships.

And that leaves me to talk about the romance. It was, at the end of the day, realistic. Yes, it was kind of slow, especially since Paige was so consumed by the idea of Ryan. However, I loved Ryan as much as I loved Max. Just because one guy is popular while the other is a nerd doesn’t mean they can’t both be kind and selfless. In fact, the biggest difference I found between the cousins was just in their label: the Guy Everyone Wanted to Date and the nerd. So, just because there is the stereotypical label in place, their personalities aimed to be different. That was an admirable attempt, although it made the two boys harder for me to decide on which I liked more. Hence, the romance was a little lagging for the first half of the book.

The only other problem was Ryan’s rather unnecessary attempt to chase after one of Paige’s friends. Like, just because she moves on to realizing Max might be more meant for her, was it really necessary to make Ryan seem a little desperate to move onto someone else as well, given the bad breakup he had? Sure, this book is all about rediscovering yourself and possibly finding the involuntary pull of someone else. It just felt a little off to me, although I was kind of glad Lord didn’t tie it into such a neat bow that there was an explicit relationship mentioned. I guess it left it open for interpretation for anyone who would rather that he found his happiness too.

At the end of the day, The Start of Me and You was a very interesting story with its heartfelt relationships, both with friends and with Paige’s family, as it chronicled her year of attempting to begin again.
See? How to Begin Again would’ve made such a great title. Honestly.

Overall Recommendation:
Another beautiful story of the best kinds of friendships, heartbreak and the ability to redefine yourself afterwards, Emery Lord doesn’t disappoint. Albeit a bit slow in the romance department at first, the story excels in other areas as we follow Paige’s journey at learning to be herself again without the label of Girlfriend Whose Boyfriend Drowned. Loveable characters and universal ideals that can easily touch anyone’s heart, this proves that Emery Lord weaves gorgeous stories that inspire hope and friendships even in the darkest of days. I suggest you give this a try.

Review: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

May 7, 2015May 26, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

When Gia Montgomery’s boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she’d been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it’s not the real Bradley she’s thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn’t even know. But tracking him down doesn’t mean they’re done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend’s graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

The synopsis makes this story sound like it’s some light, fluff piece, but it’s so much more than that. The Fill-In Boyfriend follows Gia Montgomery, a girl whose life seems as normal as it gets. Popular, president of student council, has some close girlfriends and a family that hasn’t been torn apart by divorce. Everything looks perfect on the outside. That all started to change with the fill-in boyfriend (aka FIB) who is rather insightful.

Breaking from Perfection
With the arrival of the lies starting at prom, Gia’s life starts to unravel into imperfection. I love how it explores the family dysfunction in a way that’s different from other stories. Sure, her parents and brother get along fine with each other, but maybe, that’s the problem. When things don’t get resolved in order to maintain peace and have the appearance of perfection, you start to hide emotions deep inside and only work with surface emotions in every relationship. Who knew that not getting punished enough for something could cause just as many problems in a family? It also prevented Gia from being able to talk to her parents when her life was falling apart. Too emotional, right? And that would require admitting that something in her life wasn’t working just perfectly.

Outgrowing friendships
There was just so much emotion in Gia’s story. With a frenemy that was out to get her, it was awesome to have someone to hate. Sometimes, I find stories like to give redemption to those that may initially seem awful. Not this one. I absolutely can’t stand her friend who is so hell-bent on destroying Gia’s close friendships. And all for a reason that is rather lame. Although the story concludes without the neatly wrapped up ending, I was a little sad that there wasn’t as much closure with her friends. There was hope, but I guess the message is that sometimes, you outgrow even lifelong friends who may become different people as the years go by.

Finding out who you are
Besides family and friends, this story touches so much on Gia’s journey into opening up to people and finding out who she wanted to be. I love character development and this story focused so much on this gradual change that was working its way through her. By the end of it, she had grown so much that it literally brought tears to my eyes. My favourite advice was something the fill-in boyfriend’s mother had told Gia when her world started to fall apart. She was asking about how to truly gain life lessons and find herself when nothing terrible has happened to her. This is the wisest thing I’ve heard yet to answer such a question.

“We rarely find depth by looking inside of ourselves for it. Depth is found in what we can learn from the people and things around us. Everyone, everything, has a story. When you learn those stories, you learn experiences that fill you up, that expand your understanding. You add layers to your soul.”

Love, of course
Speaking of tears, The Fill-In Boyfriend definitely had a lot of romantic chemistry going on there. He brought so much insight into Gia’s life, that even though they were only going to spend just two nights together, it was hard to get him out of her life and mind. I’m so glad that there was this simmering attraction between them that was so tangible, I almost felt like I could reach out and touch it. It wasn’t only the attraction that was enjoyable, but also their witty banter that was hilarious to read. The path to romance doesn’t always have to have constant staring and romantic lines, but it may very well lie in a deep-rooted friendship. The ups and downs to their relationship was beautifully written. Falling for someone for real while pretending to only be each others’ dates definitely complicates things.

Although Kasie West’s On the Fence wasn’t as huge of a favourite with me, The Fill-In Boyfriend has quickly shown me that this author has so much to offer in YA literature. This is a beautiful story of finding who you are in the imperfections while falling for the very person who challenges all those cracks in your life and learning to let go of emotions. A definite must-read.

Overall Recommendation:
The Fill-In Boyfriend is so much more than its synopsis limits it to be. It’s a remarkably well-written story about finding love in the unexpected, seeing the beauty in life’s imperfections and staying strong when your world starts to crumble from the lies in your past catching up to you. This is Gia’s journey in finding herself, and all I can say is that it’s heart-warming and almost brought me to tears as it is so relateable in so many ways. I highly recommend this book to anyone to read. It’s way more than just fluff.