Extraordinary Means

4/5 stars We were all ghosts at Latham House, because we were all haunted by lives that were no longer ours.

It's books like this that remind me that I suck at reviewing. So much happened, yet I have nothing to say. So I'll give it my best shot, and hope I hit some inch of the target.

I don't know what possessed me to pick this up. I have around a hundred books on my shelves and on my phone that are calling my name, very loudly in fact, and up until maybe a week or so ago this wasn't one of them. I hadn't heard that much talk about it from anywhere, and only a few of my Goodreads friends had read it. Yet, I saw it on my kindle screen and my fingers tapped it's cover before I realized what they were doing. I read it, I enjoyed it, and I was honestly very surprised.

Extraordinary Means is about sick children. I knew this going in, and so the first few chapters I trudged through, I found The Fault in Our Stars comparison swimming through my brain. Yet, after a few pages one thing became absolutely clear: this was not the Fault in Our Stars. In fact, it reminded me more of another John Green novel, but because of the fact that no one should go into a book with expectations of it being like another, I'm gonna keep the title out of it. Go figure it out yourself if you're that damn curious.

Yes, Extraordinary Means is suppose to be about sick children, but it morphs into a story of friendship, youth, and experiencing something new. Perhaps this book isn't a four star book, but something made me boost up the rating. I personally did find the characters bland at time, but they were so relateable and attachable that their faults were easily overshadowed. The writing was simple, and average, but still unique. This book may or may not be a story for everyone, but I enjoyed it. And since this is my review, that is all that really matters.

It's so strange how the moment of your birth is this fixed point in time, but the hour of your death is always changing based on what you eat for dinner, or where you cross the street, or who you trust when you're alone in the dark woods. 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.

— Light yet a very heartwrenching read. This is like how I wanted The Fault in Our Stars to have been.

The Beginning of Everything is one of my favorite books of all time, so I was excited for this, but while I don't think it was a bad book, I don't love it either. Some moments were wonderful, but I kept getting distracted or needing breaks from it. I had a hard time ever being fully in it with the characters for some reason. Some moments I was, but then it would lose me. I'm really not sure I could even pinpoint what it was about this book I didn't love, just something off about it. I still love Schneider's work and I'm excited for her next one, but this one didn't hit the mark with me.