Lovely, Dark, and Deep

The Bookworm says... YES! Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Amy McNamara was an outstanding novel. Mamie Wells was a perfect student, but also an avid partier and social butterfly. One accident causes this girl to disappear forever. She moves from New York City to live in a secluded home in Northern Maine to live with her artist father. She no longer goes by Mamie, but Wren. She completely abandons everything from her old life, and tries to build a new one. This being said, she promises herself that someday she will return to NYC and go to college as planned. One day, after nearly being run over by his car, Wren meets a boy named Cal. They keep in touch, but not often. After months of living like a recluse, Wren's parents intervene. She is forced to get a job, and help out around the house. After being pushed to go see a therapist, Wren heads out on a stress run, forgetting it's nearly midnight. There she runs into Cal, who is with his ex girlfriend. She jumps to conclusions and runs away, back into the woods. In her stress and confusion, she ends up hospitalized with hypothermia. She recovers, and is seemingly happier. Until, that is, her best friend from her former life arrives with a stack of letters she had been meaning to send and two bottles of champagne. Will Wren welcome Meredith back into her life, and return to her old self, or will she continue to push Meredith away and sink back into seclusion, accepting her life for what is? After having this book recommended to me by a close friend (and then proceeding to steal her copy), I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. I even put off reading it for a while; once I started the novel I couldn't put it down until two hours later when I finished it. This book is outstanding, and I would recommend it to any young person that may have, not unlike Wren, lost themselves whilst loosing someone else. An excellent debut novel.

"The only constant is change."

Side Effects May Vary

The Bookworm says... Yes! Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy was an outstanding novel! 

Then

Alice was diagnosed with leukemia one year ago. She always thought life was guaranteed, but now tow weeks aren't even guaranteed. So, there are some things she must do before she dies. Blackmail her ex boyfriend into embarrassing himself after cheating on her, telling people her private information, and making fun of a gay boy in their grade. She must break into the amusement park from when she was little and go on the tea cups. She has to humiliate her former dance rival, and constant enemy onstage during the school play. She needs to buy a puppy for the little girl next door. And finally, she has to go to a prom. For all of this she enlists her childhood best friend Harvey. 

Just after all of Alice's issues are settled, she feels she could die peacefully. She tells Harvey her feelings for him, and falls asleep content with death. Only to learn the next day she has gone into remission. She was living life like she was dying, but now she is going to live. 

Now

Things are extremely awkward between Alice and Harvey. Alice has to return to school. Alice is still weak. She returns to school and faces her dance enemy Celeste. Celeste and her side kick Mindi are horrible to Alice, saying she should have died. While Alice tries to figure out her feelings for Harvey, she doesn't realize that she is leaving his feelings in the dust. She kisses him, but won't say she loves him. She doesn't talk to him at school, yet she is jealous when she sees him with other girls. She doesn't know what to do. Celeste and Mindi are trying to plan something awful for Alice, and it happens. They make her a shrine type memorial that would have happened if she had died. Alice witnesses her own memorial. Harvey has a girlfriend. Alice confronts her mom about what she saw in the window one day. Life is going down hill. Alice realizes that in her quest for revenge and good deeds, she never did soemthing for Harvey. So, she tries to find his dad, and in the process finds her feelings for him. 

This book was excellent. It switches point of view and time period every chapter which is usually enough to make me close a book. But, it works. Julie Murphy, well done.