REVIEW: Extraordinary Means

Just a few days left of Robyn Schneider Week!  Today is a review of Robyn's new book, Extraordinary Means, and wow did it not disappoint!  Believe me, I had high expectations after reading her first book and was super excited to jump into this one.

So let's get talking about it!

• Standalone novel
• Realistic fiction

The Gist:

Tuberculosis is back as a full-on threat, and there is no cure.  Lane is a teen diagnosed with the disease, and he has been sent to Latham House, a boarding school/camp/medical facility that will keep him quarantined and monitored until he can return to society, a cure is found, or he dies.  Lane is devastated by this change in his life, since it means he likely won't receive early acceptance to Stanford, get to take his SATs, or graduate with his class as salutatorian.  But then he sees Sadie, a girl who used to attend the same summer camp as him, and he starts to see living in a new way.  And even though living with TB is horrible, being at Latham House might not be so bad.

What I Loved:

• The cover!  Robyn Schneider said at a recent author event that she thought the cover was "ok," but I love it!  So beautiful, eye-catching, and meaningful.  It even kind of matches Robyn's first book.
• The overall message of this book is beautiful and beautifully portrayed.  Put down the attitude of what you wish would happen and just LIVE.  The characters represented this so well.
• A perfect mixture of humor, romance, devastation, and suspense.  I'm not always a realistic reader, but I am falling in love with this genre because of books like this.
• Once again, the characterization is spot on.  I want to be a part of Sadie's crowd.
• The ending...still has me thinking about it.  And an ending should do that.

What I Didn't Love:

• There's a lot of internalization in this book--much more thinking than action for both Lane and Sadie.  I think I would have read faster if there had been more action.

My favorite quote:
"But I like to think of all those little moments that add up to the final one, because it meant that my death would be my own, the result of my life, and not just something that happened to me."

A great book--Robyn Schneider brought her A-game again!  Have fun reading it!

An outfit based off of Sadie's group of friends tomorrow!