The YA's Nightstand

Between the Lives

Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

Rating: 4 out of 5

Title: Between the Lives

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publishing Date: August 7th 2014 (first published May 1st 2013)

Publisher: Orchard Books

ISBN: 140833173X

Provided by: Hachette Children's Books & Netgalley

Summary (via Goodreads)

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she shifts to her 'other' life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she's a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she's considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments that bring her dangerously close to the life she's always wanted. But if she can only have one life, which is the one she'll choose?

Review

Some things are so real you can feel them in your core. It doesn't matter where you go, they go with you.

Sabine has two lives. Two lives that she's learnt to keep separate and every night at the stoke of twelve she switches between them. Expect the rules have changed. In the past the only connection between her two lives had been her body, but when she breaks her arm in one life she's shocked to discovered that it's perfectly fine in the other. Now Sabine's on a mission to find out how far she can take this new 'glitch' and maybe, just maybe, this could mean the start of a new life. The start of one life.

I loved this take on the coming of age story. Having two entirely different worlds to connect and merge so that Sabine can figure out who she wants to be was really interesting. Okay, so it's a bit of a slow burner and in all honesty it took a couple of chapters for me to really get into it but once I did? I fell hard for this book. I had this knot in the base of my stomach the whole way through reading it and even though I found the second half a smidgen predictable it didn't take away from the fact Sabine's story will turn you into an emotional wreck. Seriously, I was a mess!

My main concern when picking this book up was that I'd get stuck with a winy teenage girl complaining about her life when, in fact, there isn't anything wrong with it. But what I actually got was a very determined leading lady who would do anything to be free. She doesn't see her two lives as a second chance, it's more like they cancel each other out.

Sabine has to make some difficult decisions throughout the story which - at times - had me cringing. The beginning of the book had me questioning whether or not she was brave or just plain stupid but it wasn't long before I settled on brave. By the end of the first half all I wanted was for Sabine to find a way to live one full life. But I couldn't shake the feeling it was never going to work out that way and by the time my Kindle read 66% I knew exactly how it was going to end. I read the last third biting the inside of my cheek and hoping I was wrong.

You said you wanted someone to know you. Maybe I just want to have someone know me too. Without you in this world, the memories of every moment we've shared together will be gone.

Ethan... with your mop haired, ocean eyed perfection. His story broke my heart into a thousand little pieces that I'm still struggling to put back together. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the heart of this story and if anything, the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did. I can't tell you much else about him in fear of spoilers, but this is another guy to add to your fictional crush list.

Overall this is a slow paced story, but I think it's part of it's charm. The tentative introduction makes the ending all the more powerful and I have to say it's probably one of the best endings of a book I've read in a long time. And even though I was able to guess what was coming there were still some shocking moments. Moments that had me holding my breath.

Shirvington doesn't shy away from the gritty reality that Sabine would have gone through in this impossible situation. An emotional YA novel, that will have you reaching of the tissues. I recommend it highly!

You were right. I was lost. But you found me, between the lives.

**I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**

Between the Lives by emily-bradley-dorman featuring strappy sandals

Above are looks inspired by the two lives of Sabine at the beginning of the book and bellow is my take on her style at the end of her story.

**Looks created using Polyvore**

Between the Lives #2 by emily-bradley-dorman featuring white tank tops

Friday Finds #4

Friday Finds is a weekly post the tells you lovelies about some of the books I've found this week. Whether it be an ARC, a classic or anything in between; these are books I've discovered over the past 7 days.

Open Road Summer
by Emery Lord

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before
by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

The Sweet Trilogy
by Wendy Higgins

Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Thoughts

Lets start with Open Road Summer. EEP! I'm actually really excited about this one guys. I've heard so many great reviews and that always gives me the book butterflies. I've has god knows how many duds with my review copies lately that I just can't wait to sit down and read something that's actually good. Finger's crosses this could be that book!

To All The Boy's I've Loved Before - well apart from having a ridiculously long title this is another new release that I'm stoked to read. Again, all i've heard about this book is good and it seems like the kind of book every YA lover should be reading.

Lastly we have The Sweet Trilogy. I've not read any of these books - in fact it was only this week I discovered they existed. I've got the first two sitting and waiting on my kindle and again, another one I've got the book butterflies over!

This weeks been full of wonderful book discoveries, I can't wait to sink my teeth into them!

Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary (via Goodreads)

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.
Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.
But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

Review

Where to start, where to start! There's not much I can say about this one without giving the game away so forgive me if I'm a little cryptic - just pretend you're in some 1940's spy film or something.

I've never read anything by Jennifer L. Armentrout but I think I might have to make my way to her special corner of Amazon because I loved the way this book was written! The plot had a couple of holes but the writing itself was effortless. It was gripping and enticing, even once I'd put all the pieces together it still kept me moving forward. As if maybe - just maybe - there was something else still to come. For the record, there was.

Okay what can I say about Sammy without saying too much? She's a little dense at times, don't get me wrong it's completely understandable - with her having no memories and all. But jeez, what did she need? A big flashing neon sign spelling it out for her? I liked her, honestly I did, but it felt like all her common sense had gone out the window along with her memory.

And onto the boys... Carson vs Del! There was a rather obvious winner but at the same time there are so many twists and turns in this book everyone's a suspect and you're never 100% sure you're not rooting for the bad guy. I went back and forth so many times on Carson I didn't know my left from my right. But what I will say is that I was happy with the outcome of this little boy battle.

Character to watch out for I here you ask? I think this time I'm going to go with Scott, Sam's twin brother. He was my favourite character out of this whole ragtag group. There was just enough sarcasm to his caring and he makes for a really interesting read. And then there's the fact he's probably the only person you don't think could be a raving physco at one point or another!

Armentrout is VERY good at leaving clues within the subtext and even better at misdirection. Seriously, if I didn't have sure a suspicious mind I don't think I would have figured it out! Overall I really enjoyed this book and even though it dragged on a little in the middle it was a good read and I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone. A great thriller for a teenage audience.