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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
Can’t say I love the whirlwind romance or potential life lessons hidden in Amelia’s dialogue; but I can say that I would love to read the Orman series.
Amelia and Jenna are best friends. Held together by their love for Orman, the book series that began their friendship. Jenna and Amelia have everything mapped out for after they graduate high school. While at a book festival the summer before college, Jenna gets the chance to meet N.E. Endsley, the creator of Orman, while he’s having a panic attack about headlining the festival. Endsley ends up leaving the festival before it’s time for his panel. When Jenna tells Amelia that she talked to him and she didn’t even get to see him Amelia is mad.
Tragedy strikes their friendship only a week later leaving Amelia friendless, she gets this strange 101st copy of their favorite book that shouldn’t exist. She decides to travel all the way across the country to figure out who sent it and why.
Let me first say that this book is now one of my absolute favorites. It’s a book about books and book lovers. I don’t want to get too into it because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but there are some definite things in this book that all book lovers wish they could have (or maybe its just me, who knows).
I’m so glad I was invited to be a part of this blog tour because this book was SO good. The writing was great, the story was great, it all was great. I felt like I could really relate with Amelia and her love for books and the pain Jenna’s death altering that for her.
I really enjoyed following Amelia on her journey to healing and finding her love for books again.
Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this arc and the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.
Tragedy strikes their friendship only a week later leaving Amelia friendless, she gets this strange 101st copy of their favorite book that shouldn’t exist. She decides to travel all the way across the country to figure out who sent it and why.
Let me first say that this book is now one of my absolute favorites. It’s a book about books and book lovers. I don’t want to get too into it because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but there are some definite things in this book that all book lovers wish they could have (or maybe its just me, who knows).
I’m so glad I was invited to be a part of this blog tour because this book was SO good. The writing was great, the story was great, it all was great. I felt like I could really relate with Amelia and her love for books and the pain Jenna’s death altering that for her.
I really enjoyed following Amelia on her journey to healing and finding her love for books again.
Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this arc and the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.
Amelia Unabridged is a beautiful book about friendship and loss, about grief, about finding one’s way, and it is an homage to the magic of books and the power of reading. It’s set in a bookstore that any reader would love to visit, and it draw readers right along on the adventure that Amelia has lived over and over while reading the Orman books. Any of us who have been transported through the wardrobe into Narnia or via Platform 9 ¾ to the world of Harry Potter will know right away how Amelia feels. The setting is a paean to books and the story is a poignant one about love and friendship. My only quibble is that a lot of the time it reads more like a middle-grade book with the simplicity and style of the writing, though its main characters are 18 and 19. But I really enjoyed it anyway and loved especially that it’s clean reading. I can therefore heartily recommend it to anyone.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/amelia-unabridged-clean-young-adult-book-review/
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/amelia-unabridged-clean-young-adult-book-review/
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
All the heart, tears, and smiles for this one! {Thanks to Wednesday Books (St. Martins Press) for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.}
Grief is a wholly undesirable emotion. No one wants to patiently slog through the countless moments and days and years of the myriad feelings and thoughts that accompany a devastating loss. For that reason, there aren't many fiction books that deal with this sensitive topic with such tenderness and heart and hope as Amelia Unabridged.
When Amelia loses her best friend right before they were to start college together, she is unmoored. The last thing she expects to receive is an impossible edition of the book that brought them together. The book leads her on a personal journey where she unexpectedly finds another soul who just might be the key to understanding how to move on.
Oh, this book. I realize it's the first week of January, but I feel confident in saying that this is going to be a top read for me this year. Books that carve out a place for grief and hold it gently throughout the whole story are so rare. Too often, a character experiences something tragic but is forced to move past it too quickly. For others who have experienced great loss, you know how disappointing such a cursory portrayal can feel.
Well, not in this book.
Amelia Unabridged breaks your heart, and sits with you through the excruciating process of mourning and denying and searching. It allows the fear and anxiety and utter terror to exist without rushing it away. It acknowledges the different timelines and ways of grieving, and shows how some paths can lead to a desolate place, while nudging you toward the other choice of growth. And maybe, just maybe, some friendship and love and chosen family along the way.
I can't say enough about the wonder that is this book. It's whimsical and magical, yet tethered in the most basic and true emotions. Ashley Schumacher, you are a courageous and brilliant soul, and reading this book was an honor. It will forever be a favorite!
Grief is a wholly undesirable emotion. No one wants to patiently slog through the countless moments and days and years of the myriad feelings and thoughts that accompany a devastating loss. For that reason, there aren't many fiction books that deal with this sensitive topic with such tenderness and heart and hope as Amelia Unabridged.
When Amelia loses her best friend right before they were to start college together, she is unmoored. The last thing she expects to receive is an impossible edition of the book that brought them together. The book leads her on a personal journey where she unexpectedly finds another soul who just might be the key to understanding how to move on.
Oh, this book. I realize it's the first week of January, but I feel confident in saying that this is going to be a top read for me this year. Books that carve out a place for grief and hold it gently throughout the whole story are so rare. Too often, a character experiences something tragic but is forced to move past it too quickly. For others who have experienced great loss, you know how disappointing such a cursory portrayal can feel.
Well, not in this book.
Amelia Unabridged breaks your heart, and sits with you through the excruciating process of mourning and denying and searching. It allows the fear and anxiety and utter terror to exist without rushing it away. It acknowledges the different timelines and ways of grieving, and shows how some paths can lead to a desolate place, while nudging you toward the other choice of growth. And maybe, just maybe, some friendship and love and chosen family along the way.
I can't say enough about the wonder that is this book. It's whimsical and magical, yet tethered in the most basic and true emotions. Ashley Schumacher, you are a courageous and brilliant soul, and reading this book was an honor. It will forever be a favorite!
**Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my rating**
Happy pub day to Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher! I honestly was floored this was a debut novel. Amelia Unabridged was so moving and emotional. I loved it so much!
Amelia Griffin goes to a book con with her best friend, Jenna, to meet their favorite author, N.E. Endsley, who is known for being elusive and mysterious. But when Jenna meets him and Amelia doesn’t, they fight. And before they can fully make up, Jenna dies in a car accident.
Suddenly, Amelia’s life is unmoored. And a special edition of her favorite book shows up mysteriously. Convinced that it’s somehow from Jenna, Amelia heads cross country to the book store only to come face to face with N.E. Endsley.
Schumacher does a beautiful job guiding Amelia through her grief, often using books as a way to describe her feelings and how books have helped her through her life. As a reader, I related to that and really appreciated the beauty of that.
The writing was also very beautiful. The relationships Amelia builds and the ones she’s lost are both explored so thoroughly. It was really hard to put it down!
If you are interested in a really good contemporary, a beautiful book about grief, or a sweet romance, or a STUNNING debut book, this is the book for you. I loved it and can’t wait to see what else Ashley Schumacher had in store for us.
4.5/5 stars
Happy pub day to Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher! I honestly was floored this was a debut novel. Amelia Unabridged was so moving and emotional. I loved it so much!
Amelia Griffin goes to a book con with her best friend, Jenna, to meet their favorite author, N.E. Endsley, who is known for being elusive and mysterious. But when Jenna meets him and Amelia doesn’t, they fight. And before they can fully make up, Jenna dies in a car accident.
Suddenly, Amelia’s life is unmoored. And a special edition of her favorite book shows up mysteriously. Convinced that it’s somehow from Jenna, Amelia heads cross country to the book store only to come face to face with N.E. Endsley.
Schumacher does a beautiful job guiding Amelia through her grief, often using books as a way to describe her feelings and how books have helped her through her life. As a reader, I related to that and really appreciated the beauty of that.
The writing was also very beautiful. The relationships Amelia builds and the ones she’s lost are both explored so thoroughly. It was really hard to put it down!
If you are interested in a really good contemporary, a beautiful book about grief, or a sweet romance, or a STUNNING debut book, this is the book for you. I loved it and can’t wait to see what else Ashley Schumacher had in store for us.
4.5/5 stars
Although I enjoyed the writing, the characters and the storyline, I felt like everything was far too rushed and I couldn't really enjoy it as a whole because of that.
Amelia's grief felt very real, as did Jenna's parents' way of dealing with it. I absolutely loved Alex and I want one of my own, please. I also want to live in Val's for a while, if she's taking in borders.
But it was just too quick. Within two of three days Nolan completely trusted Amelia and was all the way out of his shell. Granted, there was some kind of completely unexplained magic thing going on and they went through a traumatic experience together, but still, it was far too fast for that kind of thing. In my opinion, anyway.
Great writing style, great storyline, but hopefully Ashley will ease up on the pace of everything next time. I'll definitely be giving it a try to see.
Amelia's grief felt very real, as did Jenna's parents' way of dealing with it. I absolutely loved Alex and I want one of my own, please. I also want to live in Val's for a while, if she's taking in borders.
But it was just too quick. Within two of three days Nolan completely trusted Amelia and was all the way out of his shell. Granted, there was some kind of completely unexplained magic thing going on and they went through a traumatic experience together, but still, it was far too fast for that kind of thing. In my opinion, anyway.
Great writing style, great storyline, but hopefully Ashley will ease up on the pace of everything next time. I'll definitely be giving it a try to see.
This one was as good as advertised! Recommended by Anne Vogel of the What Should I Read Next podcast - this book is a must-read for YA lovers who enjoy a can't put down story about booklovers and enigmatic writers. This is also a story about friendship, new love, and grief after unimaginable loss. Highly recommended, especially for fans of The shadow of the wind series.
I was honestly surprised by how much I liked this. I think my enjoyment can largely be attributed to the absolutely magical bookstore that most of this story takes place in (seriously, can I go??), but I loved the rest of the book a lot too.
I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I started this book, but this book was so much more than I could have ever expected. It's a tale laden with grief and heartbreak, but also deals with so much more than that. Amelia is stuck on a path in life she's not sure if she wants, but it's the path she created together with her best friend, who has just died tragically. This story explores Amelia's grief, her final moments of anger with her best friend, and the immense guilt she feels at not wanting the future they were planning to share together anymore. This guilt is what the book explores the most, as another character is introduced that struggles with this same mixture of guilt and grief.
My favorite part of this book had to be the lyrical writing, especially when describing the bookstore and some of Amelia's dreams/imagined scenes. Often, when books move too close to magical realism, or involve a lot of daydreaming on the part of the MC, I usually get put off if it doesn't well. It can easily feel cringy or too out-there. This book didn't have that issue at all, largely thanks to the gorgeous writing and descriptions that accompanied it, and I found myself enjoying the shared daydreams between the two main characters a lot instead. I also liked how the writing was able to carry the heavy aspects and discussions of this book, conveying the deep and tough emotions of the moment without feeling too dreary or hopeless.
Overall, I ended up really enjoying this, and will definitely be trying other books by this author!
I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I started this book, but this book was so much more than I could have ever expected. It's a tale laden with grief and heartbreak, but also deals with so much more than that. Amelia is stuck on a path in life she's not sure if she wants, but it's the path she created together with her best friend, who has just died tragically. This story explores Amelia's grief, her final moments of anger with her best friend, and the immense guilt she feels at not wanting the future they were planning to share together anymore. This guilt is what the book explores the most, as another character is introduced that struggles with this same mixture of guilt and grief.
My favorite part of this book had to be the lyrical writing, especially when describing the bookstore and some of Amelia's dreams/imagined scenes. Often, when books move too close to magical realism, or involve a lot of daydreaming on the part of the MC, I usually get put off if it doesn't well. It can easily feel cringy or too out-there. This book didn't have that issue at all, largely thanks to the gorgeous writing and descriptions that accompanied it, and I found myself enjoying the shared daydreams between the two main characters a lot instead. I also liked how the writing was able to carry the heavy aspects and discussions of this book, conveying the deep and tough emotions of the moment without feeling too dreary or hopeless.
Overall, I ended up really enjoying this, and will definitely be trying other books by this author!
Thanks to Partner NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC of Ashley Schumacher’s Amelia Unabridged in exchange for an honest review.
A certain category of books is magic for book lovers: books about the magic of books. (As my students would say: how meta.) Ashley Schumacher’s Amelia Unabridged offers that precise type of magic. Had I not started this YA debut novel at 11:00 on a school night, I have no doubt that I would have read it in one fell swoop.
Amelia Unabridged is about loss and grieving, about love and friendship, and (as stated) about books and reading. After Amelia Griffin’s father abandons Amelia and her mom to live with a woman not much older than Amelia, her mother basically leaves, too, absent for all but the shell of herself who sits and watches tv in their home. Seeking escape, Amelia goes to her local bookstore where Jenna, an acquaintance from school, befriends her. From that time on, Jenna is her “person,” the one who understands Amelia, with whom she plans her future, escapes the desolation of her past, and works through the experiences of her present. Together, they indulge their passions, including the Orman Chronicles, a fantasy series written by N. E. Endsley, a boy who is their age.
When Jenna dies in a horrible tragedy, Amelia is left without her anchor . . . and loses even the comfort of escaping into books. Her only glint of hope appears when she receives a mysterious delivery: a special edition of book one of the Orman Chronicles, numbered 101 of 100. Amelia is convinced that this is her last gift from Jenna, the last sign she’ll ever have of her best friend’s love and care, and so she sets out to solve the mystery. At a bookstore, of course.
I want to describe more of the plot—which features quirky characters, grumpiness and compassion, romance and friendship, and more grief to counter her own—but there’s such joy in the discovery here that I’ll stop summarizing. I’ll just say that it’s been a long time since I read a book that epitomized so vividly the absolute beauty and magic of a story, of a book that can encompass all that I need to read in a moment. I will be reading Amelia Unabridged again and anxiously waiting to pre-order whatever Ashley Schumacher writes next.
A certain category of books is magic for book lovers: books about the magic of books. (As my students would say: how meta.) Ashley Schumacher’s Amelia Unabridged offers that precise type of magic. Had I not started this YA debut novel at 11:00 on a school night, I have no doubt that I would have read it in one fell swoop.
Amelia Unabridged is about loss and grieving, about love and friendship, and (as stated) about books and reading. After Amelia Griffin’s father abandons Amelia and her mom to live with a woman not much older than Amelia, her mother basically leaves, too, absent for all but the shell of herself who sits and watches tv in their home. Seeking escape, Amelia goes to her local bookstore where Jenna, an acquaintance from school, befriends her. From that time on, Jenna is her “person,” the one who understands Amelia, with whom she plans her future, escapes the desolation of her past, and works through the experiences of her present. Together, they indulge their passions, including the Orman Chronicles, a fantasy series written by N. E. Endsley, a boy who is their age.
When Jenna dies in a horrible tragedy, Amelia is left without her anchor . . . and loses even the comfort of escaping into books. Her only glint of hope appears when she receives a mysterious delivery: a special edition of book one of the Orman Chronicles, numbered 101 of 100. Amelia is convinced that this is her last gift from Jenna, the last sign she’ll ever have of her best friend’s love and care, and so she sets out to solve the mystery. At a bookstore, of course.
I want to describe more of the plot—which features quirky characters, grumpiness and compassion, romance and friendship, and more grief to counter her own—but there’s such joy in the discovery here that I’ll stop summarizing. I’ll just say that it’s been a long time since I read a book that epitomized so vividly the absolute beauty and magic of a story, of a book that can encompass all that I need to read in a moment. I will be reading Amelia Unabridged again and anxiously waiting to pre-order whatever Ashley Schumacher writes next.