Extraordinary Means

Up until his diagnosis, Lane lived a fairly predictable life. But when he finds himself at a tuberculosis sanatorium called Latham House, he discovers an insular world with paradoxical rules, med sensors, and an eccentric yet utterly compelling confidant named Sadie - and life as Lane knows it will never be the same. - excerpt from book.

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider is the author's second book in the same type of genre (contemporary young adult). The first book was good, this one was even better, I was so satisfied with the story. The book has such a beautiful story that has multiple great messages for the readers. I especially love the two point of views alternating between chapters, it gives the plot different perspectives.

The characters have much development which made them unique but realistic at the same time. I love how the characters are very different from each yet they all have something in common. Some people compare this book to The fault in our stars but I feel that it's completely different as the setting of the book is totally different, the only thing in common is the part where the characters are terminally ill. I definitely prefer this book more than TFIOS. The writing of the author is quite simple but there's lots of strong feelings expressed hence it made this book a tear jerker for me.I loved the direction of the story, the plot twist really caught me by surprise. It was hard to put down the book as I was quite eager to reach the ending of the story. The romance of the book was also quite cute but I think the main reason of this book was about something else (not going to spoil you).

Lastly, after finishing the story, the author left a long note for us readers. That note explained a lot about her intentions, her research and more. This note really was important as I agree with the message that she is trying to portray. Without a doubt this book is in my favourites for this year, I highly recommend it to readers who loved TFIOS, readers who loved contemporary and also readers who loves some tragic in stories. There were many thoughts from the characters that is so quote worthy, below is one that I especially loved:

There's a difference between being dead and dying. We're all dying. Some of us die for nintey years, and some of us die for nineteen. But each morning everyone on this planet wakes up one day closer to their death. Everyone. So living and dying are actually different words for the same thing. - page 96 line 21.

The Beginning of Everything

Ezra is the tennis team captain, dating one of the popular girls in school and he is a popular guys himself too. Life is just perfect as there are in their last week of school before entering summer holidays and after summer he would be a senior in high school. There was a party that night and Ezra went alone as he got in a fight with his girlfriend Charlotte. Ezra was trying to have a good time when one person told him he should head upstairs of the house where he found his girlfriend engrossed in sexual activity. He was upset and Charlotte even asked if he still take her to prom.

Ezra went to get his car and left the place but a car who didn't stop at the stop sign had hit him. Ezra was in a daze and the driver who hit him fled the scene, soon he heard his peers approaching but none had try to help him. Ezra spent his whole summer at home in the guest room recuperating. His knee was shattered and his wrist was badly hurt which resulted that he is not able to do any sports for the rest of his life. That news make Ezra brood most of the time and he was not looking forward to a new year at school. He will be left out from the tennis team since he couldn't play and that would be his fall out from the "populars".

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider is about a boy who falls out from the "popular" group and things just sort of went downhill for him or so it seems. This book is about finding yourself and also coming of age too. The male protagonist has his life turned upside down and he will have to get over it and grow up. He is the character that grows the most and his true personality slowly surfaces. I quite enjoy reading about his story although the timeline is just a short span of 1 year. 

The plot of the book is smooth hence it was not bad. At later parts of the book, I manage to predict a bit about the characters but it did not put me off reading the book. I like that my prediction was true. I often like reading about high school life and people with slight identity crisis. Overall this book is truthful about our society and how high school social life is. I enjoyed every moment of this book , it was a fun read for me and there was a part of the book that got me in tears (guess I'm just sensitive). Teenagers will learn something from this book and I highly recommend for those who love coming of age stories.