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Thursday, September 27, 2018

Stories with Tori: Extraordinary Means

Welcome to my first ever book review on this blog! 

In 2018 so far, I've read over fifty books. I really want to start sharing the stories in those books with people, and this is by far the most efficient way I've found to do that. 

I hope that you guys enjoy the books that I review, and if you have any recommendations, feel free to reach out to me and let me know so that I can get to reading them. 

-Tori

While on a trip to Indianapolis with my boyfriend, we dropped in on a bookstore on our last day visiting because I cannot resist the urge to be around books. Although we have bookstores relatively close to where I live, none of them were on the scale that this particular store was on. I walked in with no intentions of purchasing anything (which, let me tell you, is impossible for me to do in a bookstore.)

I walked the length of the store and around. I looked through fiction and romance, and grimaced at the section for westerns. I don't understand westerns, and I like cowboy movies and feature films that star Chuck Norris. I just lack the appreciation for the genre of books. I'm sorry in advance if you are obsessed with novels set in the wild west, full of cowboys and twangy damsels in distress. You can have that genre all to yourself- I won't say a word about it. 

Anyways, after picking out a Harry Potter themed change purse and a couple of tote backs, I headed into the Young Adult fiction section. I've really been trying to expand my horizons into, you know, normal fiction. However, authors penning and publishing young adult stories are incredibly talented and well-versed, and are more often ahead of the times than ordinary fiction writers. 

One of my favorite authors of 2018 has been Suzanne Young. I follow her on Twitter, and think she's a visionary writer that understands the minds of teens and young adults, and eagerly reaches out to them to let them know they aren't alone. She also regularly tweets funny things, and is one of those people that makes having social media interesting. Anyways, I usually look for her series (the first of which is entitled the Program, that will have its own entire review at some point, when I finish the series!) just to, you know, be proud that good books made it onto the shelves at the store. 

Near it, I found the book Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider. The cover really popped out to me- having been through more than a few complicated medical situations in my lifetime- and I bought it without much of a second thought. 

I finally sat down to read this book yesterday, and read it all in one go. I could not put it down, that's how much it held my attention. 

It was one of the most interesting and down-to-earth books that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. At the beginning, you're introduced to the main protagonist. His name is Lane. He's one of the smart kids, an overachiever, gifted and headed to any Ivy League of his choice- until he goes to the doctor and is whisked away to a sanitarium with an incurable strain of Tuberculosis. 

In Schneider's world, herd immunity is almost a thing of the past. Strains of diseases have become resistant to vaccines and preventative medications, and the world seems to always be searching for a cure to something. Eerily remnant of dystopian novels surrounding plagues that wipe out whole countries and continents, this book approaches the situation from a different angle. 

The kids in this book are privileged. They live in Latham House, a sanitarium that regularly monitors their vital signs via a device like an Apple Watch. These devices record and report heart rate, temperature, and location regularly to the house doctor. This doctor then meets with every patient at least once a week, while also sending their information to researches that are studying for some kind of cure. 

Latham House is a place where clinical trials, miracle medicine, and means above medicine are all embraced and discussed. The teens and young adults taking up residency there are not the ones living off of the system, but ones that had the family background to afford such a luxury. Other places referenced in the book embrace herbal and holistic living, or that dying is the only reality. 

The kids are given plenty of free time, for rest and relaxation, or to get to know each other and understand their own human experiences better. Lane befriends a table of teenagers that, let's face it, are born to stand out. They go on several (mildly illegal, in some cases) adventures in and away from Latham, encounter obstacles that normal teens encounter on a much more embarrassing scale, and struggling with the realism of death, dying, and the grief associated. 

I don't want to spoil the book for you guys, but the characters really make the story what it is. Schneider shows you that even if you are young, and even if you are suffering, you can still have dreams and find love. 

As a person who has gone through life being (mis)diagnosed with a somewhat terminal illness, and raised around people with debilitating diseases, this book hit home over and over again. In elementary school, I wasn't allowed to sit through the fire drill in my classroom because the sudden shock of being scared might stop my heart. 

Now, one of my favorite things to do is scare people/be scared. Haunted houses and creepy shows are always on my Hulu list. My mom has MS, and my dad has several different cardiovascular problems and has been through numerous surgeries to help him/fix the problems throughout my lifetime.  It was wonderful to crack open a book and read someone else's goofy commentary about what it feels like to be in that position. 

Robyn Schneider is also the author of The Beginning of Everything, a novel that tackles similar issues with popular characters struggling to find their places in the world. 

I would definitely rate this book an 8/10 for adult reading, and 10/10 for teenage reading. It does contain some more adult-themed language and typical coming of age situations, so if you believe in the atrocity that is censorship, or you just are a mild/soft nature of a person looking to avoid the harsh realities and associated dark humor of life, I would recommend softer reading. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green would be an excellent way to ease yourself into reality.

My favorite quote from this book:

“There's difference between being dead and dying. We're all dying. Some of us die for ninety years, and some of us die for nineteen. But each morning everyone on this planet wakes up one day closer to their death. Everyone. So living and dying are actually different words for the same thing, if you think about it.” 

You can purchase Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider by clicking here, or by visiting your local bookstore. 

Thank you guys so much for reading this! Let me know if you have any specific book recommendations of your own that you would like for me to read and review, and I will happily seek them out and do so.

Happy reading! 


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