Monday, April 29, 2013

Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery

When Bryce wakes up in the hospital, she knows that she was in a diving accident. It feels like it might have been a few days since she hurt her head in the pool, but she comes to find out that it was 5 YEARS!

Her little sister is now 17 years old. Bryce herself is now 22 years old. She missed her high school graduation, she missed going to the Olympics and getting gold medals. She missed going to college and graduating with her Bachelor's Degree.

She missed a lot of things.

And worse? Her boyfriend Greg and her best friend Gabby are now engaged to be married.

Everyone moved on without her. They continued her lives while she was in a coma for five years.

Everyone was surprised when she woke up. Because her injuries should have made Bryce be a coma forever.

Now Bryce is doing the unthinkable. She is walking, talking, and functioning after a few mishaps. She wants to get her life back in track again. And she has the help of Carter, the med student who has been watching over her for five years.

Carter has become her crutch, someone she can talk to because she can't talk to anyone else. Everyone else has either moved on or is expecting her to be the same Bryce she was five years ago.

But Carter just listens to Bryce and is there for her.

Things get really weird, though, when Bryce keeps having visions. But the visions aren't always about Bryce. Sometimes she has visions about other people. Things that have happened sometime during the last five years. Things that Bryce should have no way of knowing what happened because she was in a coma.

Somehow she does know. And this gift does not come without a price.

Just when things are starting to get better for Bryce, she gets another shock. Can Bryce survive this surprise, or will it be too much for her after everything she's been through? Read Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a very intriguing book. I was first sucked in when I read the summary, and it only got better when I started reading the novel.

I really liked the topic of diving and going to the Olympics. I found it refreshing and something I haven't read a thousand times in a YA novel. And Bryce knew that she was good; she wanted to win at least one gold medal, if not two by the time she was 22.

The idea of waking up after 5 years of being in a coma is scary. To wake up and realize that not only is she supposed to be graduated from college, but she is legal to drink and gamble? That is a bit much to process for anyone.

I think Bryce did a great job adjusting though. And the recovery she did! For being in one position for 5 years, she was able to start walking and moving around like normal in a remarkable time span!

I really liked Carter. He was always there for her and never asked questions. He looked after her and wanted to protect her. Even though he has seen her for five years, he never made assumptions about her after she woke up.

And the ending. It's gut wrenching. So bittersweet. I'm almost  unsure if I actually liked this book when I think about it as a whole. I mean, I do like this book and there is a great message in this novel, but at the same time... Very sad and heart breaking. I almost want another novel but in Carter's viewpoint to see what happens after the ending scene.

Overall, really, really enjoyed this book! Did not see a few things and other things were very obvious. I would definitely recommend this to other readers because there is a lot of different topics in here that could appeal to a variety of readers!

No comments:

Post a Comment