Pages - Menu

Friday, June 20, 2014

Review: Happy to Be Alive, Because by Chelsea Jacobs


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K1NQIWK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00K1NQIWK&linkCode=as2&tag=chrisbooksrev-20&linkId=VQFAFKOAWIRSFGPL
About the book:
Avery is a seventeen-year-old girl whose reality has just been shattered by the death of her mother. Feeling a desperate need to flee from what has become her life, she follows a travel plan meant for her mom that leads her to the little beach town where her mom grew up. It's there that she meets a group of three adventurous friends who adopt her into their circle, allowing her to experience a summer she never thought would be possible after suffering such a great loss. Unfortunately, her summer full of experiences threatens to end abruptly when she realizes that one of the three has a secret that causes her to question everything about the new life she has been building. Avery must learn to balance her grief and her desire for a future in order to achieve her mother's final wish for her: That she would be happy to be alive.
My rating:
PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket
(View my rating system)
My thoughts:

Happy To Be Alive, Because was a great debut novel. I really liked the story and characters. Siblings Lily and Major were probably my favorites, just because they were so much fun, but I also liked the main characters - Avery and Rob. The characters were relatable and I was surprised by Rob's reveal...he definitely impressed me by how caring and helpful he was to Avery. 

I loved some of the little things in this book - Avery's "Happy To Be Alive, Because" journal and the "Take a new favorite, leave an old favorite" book swap at the coffee shop. Such neat ideas!

I would have liked a little more closure with the ending and there were a couple things in the story that kind of bugged me; but, other than that, a really good story and I recommend it to fans of YA fiction.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

3 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fun book, I skipped it because of a busy review schedule at the time, thought I'd still like to read it sometime. Thanks for the great review, Melanie. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a fun book, but also sad at times because of the fact that the main character recently lost her mom. I still really liked it, for the most part. Thanks for stopping by, Rissi! :)

      Delete
  2. That it is! :) Thanks for commenting, Vicki. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment - I love reading them! Comments are moderated and I reserve the right to not publish any comment that I find to be offensive (i.e. foul language, inappropriate content, etc.) or spam.

Thanks for stopping by and for commenting! =)

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ~ Philippians 4:8