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dukesangel002's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adore Lisa Schroeder's writing. I never thought I would be one to enjoy verse novels, but each one of hers has sucked me in and keep me captivated from beginning to end.
This is a beautiful tale of a girl who has lost her mother. Her father has remarried and there is a newborn sister, well half-sister, and as Alice said, "since when does a half equal a whole?".
As Alice struggles to deal with being on the outside looking in of her family, she is caught in a terrible snowstorm, and stranded in a car. Hungry and scared, she has to come to terms with helping her stepmother and herself stay alive, as well as keep her newborn sister alive.
Hope is hard to come by, in the best of circumstances, how can they have hope to survive this?
This is a beautiful tale of a girl who has lost her mother. Her father has remarried and there is a newborn sister, well half-sister, and as Alice said, "since when does a half equal a whole?".
As Alice struggles to deal with being on the outside looking in of her family, she is caught in a terrible snowstorm, and stranded in a car. Hungry and scared, she has to come to terms with helping her stepmother and herself stay alive, as well as keep her newborn sister alive.
Hope is hard to come by, in the best of circumstances, how can they have hope to survive this?
readwithanerd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
chaotic_ramblings's review against another edition
4.0
I love all of Lisa's books, and this one was right up there with the others. I couldn't put it down and finished in one day!!!
elaviv's review against another edition
4.0
At first I didn't like it, but I enjoyed the lesson she learned in the end.
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
1.0
Review can also be found here.
As the third verse novel written by Lisa Schroeder that I’ve read, Far From You is unfortunately the weakest compared to I Heart You, You Haunt Me and Chasing Brooklyn. Similar to the latter two books where the main characters are being haunted/helped by the ghosts of their beloved, Alice also has a ghost, though one that comes in the form of a guardian angel of sorts—and oh wow, I just realized that all three books deal with the death of a beloved. Okay.
Anyway, unlike the other two that somehow retain some slight bits of ‘newness’, Far From You is unfortunately entirely clichéd and the way it’s been written does not improve it in any way at all. It pains me to write this because I do enjoy reading Schroeder’s works, but this book is one of those that contains a whole bundle of several YA tropes in one and has nothing remotely new to it at all. A main character with only one friend (lovers excluded here) who s/he later gets into an argument with, leaving her/him to eat lunch alone for some certain time? Check. Insta-love? Check. The quirky/near-perfect best friend? Check. Broken family unit(s)? Check. Adult(s) who don’t understand their kid(s)? Check. Step-parent? Check. Super amazing boyfriend who’s from some other world/species/school/race/social status/etc.? Check. Bad boy who is very loving to his lover? Check. Road trip that changes the perspective/life of the main character and whoever else who’s involved? Check. Nearly-dying but definitely survived and suddenly all the previous problems are resolved because OMG, you nearly died!? Check. Teenage angst? Check. Musically-inclined main character? Check. I can go on and on, but thinking about all those tropes just makes my head hurt. It doesn’t matter that I did cry at certain parts because hey, I always cry at those similar parts.
Also, can someone tell me what’s the point of Blaze and Claire? Tropes aside, I find their existences rather meaningless in this entire book. I’m not certain if it’s because this is a verse novel, but all the characters are flat as well. They’re your stereotypical cookie-cutter characters and they just don’t evolve in terms of complexity at all. Moreover, the plot lacks a lot here. I completed this book in under an hour and it wasn’t because it was so beguiling that I couldn’t put it down. It’s because there’s barely anything to this book—it’s like you’ve only been served the bones of your Thanksgiving Turkey and surely the average person doesn’t expect to have bones for a meal, no?
As the third verse novel written by Lisa Schroeder that I’ve read, Far From You is unfortunately the weakest compared to I Heart You, You Haunt Me and Chasing Brooklyn. Similar to the latter two books where the main characters are being haunted/helped by the ghosts of their beloved, Alice also has a ghost, though one that comes in the form of a guardian angel of sorts—and oh wow, I just realized that all three books deal with the death of a beloved. Okay.
Anyway, unlike the other two that somehow retain some slight bits of ‘newness’, Far From You is unfortunately entirely clichéd and the way it’s been written does not improve it in any way at all. It pains me to write this because I do enjoy reading Schroeder’s works, but this book is one of those that contains a whole bundle of several YA tropes in one and has nothing remotely new to it at all. A main character with only one friend (lovers excluded here) who s/he later gets into an argument with, leaving her/him to eat lunch alone for some certain time? Check. Insta-love? Check. The quirky/near-perfect best friend? Check. Broken family unit(s)? Check. Adult(s) who don’t understand their kid(s)? Check. Step-parent? Check. Super amazing boyfriend who’s from some other world/species/school/race/social status/etc.? Check. Bad boy who is very loving to his lover? Check. Road trip that changes the perspective/life of the main character and whoever else who’s involved? Check. Nearly-dying but definitely survived and suddenly all the previous problems are resolved because OMG, you nearly died!? Check. Teenage angst? Check. Musically-inclined main character? Check. I can go on and on, but thinking about all those tropes just makes my head hurt. It doesn’t matter that I did cry at certain parts because hey, I always cry at those similar parts.
Also, can someone tell me what’s the point of Blaze and Claire? Tropes aside, I find their existences rather meaningless in this entire book. I’m not certain if it’s because this is a verse novel, but all the characters are flat as well. They’re your stereotypical cookie-cutter characters and they just don’t evolve in terms of complexity at all. Moreover, the plot lacks a lot here. I completed this book in under an hour and it wasn’t because it was so beguiling that I couldn’t put it down. It’s because there’s barely anything to this book—it’s like you’ve only been served the bones of your Thanksgiving Turkey and surely the average person doesn’t expect to have bones for a meal, no?
clss97's review against another edition
4.0
In every book, you lose a little of the person you were when you walked in to the book. Some times, its like watching a romantic comedy on Tv, and you don't change too much, you just laugh a little, pick up some ideas on romance, I don't know every one is different. The, you get those rare moments when you come across a book like this. The character of Alice is one so easy for thousands of teenage girls who are losing some one or who have lost some one, to relate to. Her easy to see thoughts are printed in the manner of poems and song lyrics, again some thing that besides magazines are the second highest on the list of most read things by the present day teenage girl. I'm not saying for every girl, I'm just saying for a majority. The only flaw I found with this book, was simply that it showed a lot of the emotional pain she was feeling, and I don't feel the book was long enough in its style to really show how she dealt with that and came to terms that allowed her to make peace. Other than that, All of the characters in this book are ones that I quickly became accustomed to as though they were my friends. I have found a friend in yet another character, the character of Alice. It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then - Alice, Lewis Carroll
greenbeanteenqueen's review against another edition
3.0
I am a big fan of Lisa Schroeder and she doesn't disappoint! Alice's journey is beautifully written and full of emotion. I loved her boyfriend Blaze, who is such a great example of an awesome boyfriend-I kind of had a book boy crush on him. I also liked the elements of Alice and her faith-it wasn't overt or anything, but it made Alice a more realistic. I did find myself wanting to yell at Alice for being so selfish at times, but that's what makes Lisa Schroeder such a great writer. Her characters are real, their relationships believable, and her writing flows. I still like I Heart You, You Haunt Me better, but if you liked that book or are a fan of novels in verse, give Far From You a try.
nicolemm_author's review against another edition
4.0
Well this one took me all of an hour to get through. Though I suppose getting through it isn't the right word. I really honestly liked it. To be honest, I started this book only because I got it today, really cheap at a Borders that's closing near my house and because I'm about to go on vacation. Well, why do you care that I'm going on vacation and what does it have to do with the book? I suppose either way you could care less. I'm currently in the middle of writing my first novel and the series of books that really inspires me is The Mortal Instruments. Why it works this way I have no idea, but why mess up a good thing. But this turned into more than just a filler for me. The only other verse book I've read by Schroeder is Chasing Brooklyn and that was descent as well, but I have to say this one trumps it without a doubt. I loved Alice's growth, and couldn't wait for the moments between her and Blaze. I grew to love nearly every single character. Especially Vic. I always feel with prose books that there's something missing, something more that can be said. That was the case with this one too. But there were also things that couldn't have been said right if they weren't in prose. The imagery was spectacular, as well as the story itself. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I sniffed them back. Definitely an emotional roller coaster, but totally worth the price of admission.