Tuesday

Far from You by Lisa Schroeder

Alice has felt as if she's been spiraling down the rabbit hole ever since her mother passed away. It's been a few years since her mother's death and she is still suffering from her loss. To make matters worse, her father hasn't been there for her in her time of need. She has had to grieve all on her own, since he has re-married and is a expecting a new baby any minute now.

Alice finds comfort in her boyfriend Blaze, her faith, her guitar, music and her BFF, Claire. But things are about to change, for Claire is fed up with Alice's "depressing" music and a fight between the girls quickly ensues. Then things take a drastic turn when Alice gets caught on the road in a snowstorm with her newborn half-sister Ivy, and her "wicked" stepmother, Vic. It is now up to Alice to deal with the issues that she has long avoided, especially if she wants to get out of this predicament alive.

My first impression of Alice was that she was selfish, ignorant and mean. I got the impression right from the start that she never gave her stepmother a chance - she was too involved in her grief, her boyfriend, her music, etc. But that's what I really like about Lisa's writing. She creates characters that are real, that you can relate to. I loved taking this journey with Alice.

Considering this is such a short book, you quickly become attached to some of these characters. They all bring their own unique quality to the story. You can't help but find yourself biting your nails towards the second half of the book and reading on with tears in your eyes as you see our Alice grow and understand and eventually forgive and heal. 


Far from You is written in verse, and only the second book that I've read in this style, but once again I am in awe by how much feeling and emotion can be contained in so little writing. If you have any doubts about reading one of Lisa's books please put them aside and read just one of her books - I guarantee if you're anything like me, you'll want to read them all!


My Rating:


5 comments:

Emidy @ Une Parole said...

Whoa, this sounds so unique! I'm not used to books written in verse but I'd love to give it a try.

Unknown said...

This was the first book I read that was written in verse and I loved it! Great review!

Cindy said...

This sounds like a really good book, I will have to check it out. Great review :)

Jennifer said...

Verse writing is not something that I've had the opportunity to really get into yet. I love the idea of it though. And this sounds like a great story to try it out with. Grief is so difficult to portray that I can see many author's missing it. But I feel like verse might actually provide more flexibility for the author in creating a character's grief so that it can be felt by the reader in an accessible way.

Unknown said...

This one sounds fantastic! I love emotional reads like this, I'll have to read it soon!

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