12 December 2016

Review #572: All in Pieces by Suzanne Young



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“There is scarcely any passion without struggle.”

----Albert Camus



Suzanne Young, the New York Times bestselling author, pens a realistic and enticing tale about teenage issues in her new book, All in Pieces that revolves around a young female teenager with anger issues arising from her home front that lands her up in a detention high school, after her violent fight with her ex, and now she holds tightly on to her little mentally challenged brother, even though her aunt is threatening to take him away from her care, therefore she cannot entertain any kind of distraction, even though her heart feels otherwise.




Synopsis:

“Anger-management issues.”

That’s how they classified Savannah Sutton after she stuck a pencil in her ex-boyfriend’s hand because he mocked her little brother, Evan, for being disabled. That’s why they sent her to Brooks Academy—an alternative high school that’s used as a temporary detention center.

The days at Brooks are miserable, but at home, life is far more bleak. Savvy’s struggling to take care of her brother since her mom left years ago, and her alcoholic dad can’t be bothered. Life with Evan is a constant challenge, but he’s also the most important person in the world to Savvy.

Then there’s Cameron, a new student at Brooks with issues of his own, a guy from a perfect family that Savvy thought only existed on TV. Cameron seems determined to break through every one of the walls Savvy’s built around herself—except if she lets herself trust him, it could make everything she’s worked so hard for fall apart in an instant.

And with her aunt seeking custody of her brother and her ex-boyfriend seeking revenge, Savvy’s fighting to hold all the pieces together. But she’s not sure how much tighter she can be pulled before she breaks completely.



Savannah, a barely seventeen year old girl is already a part-time mother to her younger brother, Evan who suffers from an autistic disorder, that has forever been a subject to bullies from his peers. Despite of being a young teenager, Savannah loves to take care of her brother, moreover, she is over protective towards him. So much overprotective, that when her ex-boyfriend bullies her Evan, she violently hits her ex back and that throws her up into an alternative high school for detention. This is where she meets the filthy rich and handsome boy, Cameron, who is the only person apart from Evan, who respects her. But when a distant aunt's threat, to take away Evan's custody from Savannah, is lurking upon her head, she can't risk herself into getting into any kind of distraction, neither for herself nor for Cameron. But can she stop her falling for Cameron or can she save her little brother from being whisked away to her aunt's care?

Well this is the first time that I read anything by this bestselling author, and I must say, the author's talent for concocting stories that are slightly emotional yet highly realistic is really fantastic. The author has touched a sensitive chord while projecting the issues faced by the family when a child of that family has some autistic disorder and that the author has depicted marvelously, that I believe that readers who have experienced with such issues can easily relate to those. The story is addictive from the get-go and never once loses its charm over anything else, and there is no such melodrama to make the readers feel like reading a cliched story.

The writing style of the author is articulate and the prose is sentimental enough to make the readers feel deeply not only for the story but also for the characters' plight. The narrative is interesting as well as layered well with emotions and sensitivity that holds the power to provoke the thoughts and the minds of the readers. The pacing is swift enough to sway the readers slightly in the forward direction with its course. There are not much layers in this story yet the problems and the issues raised by this author are honest and genuine enough to peak the readers' interests and will keep them glued till the very end.

The author has flawlessly developed the characters with enough depth to make the readers feel the respective and necessary emotions towards them. The main character, Savvy, is a mature girl with an anger issue that makes her look real and flawed in the eyes of the readers. Her maturity does not lose her charm, instead it makes her look striking and inspiring, despite of her short comings. Savvy's fight for her brother and against her ex is quite powerful and authentic enough to make the readers connect with the young protagonist. The relationship between Savvy and Cameron is a slow-burner but in a good and realistic way that will not stereotype their relationship or mar the gradual build-up of the passion and the attraction between the two characters.

This coming-of-age young adult novel holds the power to compel and evoke the readers' emotions and sympathy towards a real-life social cause that the author has strikingly depicted through the story. So this is a must read YA contemporary fiction that is intriguing and enlightening enough to move the readers deeply.


Verdict: A promising and thought-provoking coming-of-age YA story.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publishers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program, The Treatment, and several other novels. She currently lives in Tempe, Arizona where she teaches high school English and obsesses about books.
Visit her here



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