Sunday, July 31, 2016

Review: Under My Skin by Laura Diamond

Book Blurb:

Bookish Brit Adam Gibson is one wonky heartbeat away from a fatal arrhythmia. But staying alive requires Adam to become keenly focused on both his pulse and the many different daily medications he must take in exactly the right dosages. Adam's torn between wanting to live and knowing that someone else must die in order for him to do so. He needs a new heart.

The pressure is getting to him. Adam stops talking to his friends back home, refuses to meet kids at his new school, and shuts his parents out entirely. His days are spent wondering if can cope with having a dead man's heart beating inside his chest, or if he should surrender to the thoughts of suicide swirling around in his head.

And then a donor is found…

Outspoken artist Darby Fox rarely lets anything stand in her way of achieving her goals . Whether it’s painting, ignoring her homework (dyslexia makes a mess out of words anyway), kissing a hot boy she doesn't even know, or taking the head cheerleader down a peg , no one has ever accused Darby of being a shy. She also happens to be the twin sister to a perfect brother with good looks, good grades, manners, and the approval of their parents - something Darby has never had.

Darby's always had bad timing . She picks the worst time to argue with her brother Daniel. In a car with bald tires, on an icy road in the freezing cold, the unthinkable happens. In a split-second, everything changes forever.

My Review:

3 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Supernatural, Teen--

Sooo... this story was not at all what I was expecting. I thought this would be a story about a boy getting a heart transplant and learning how to cope with it, as well as maybe a sweet romance added in. Yeah, so that was not really this book at all. I don't want to give too much away, but there was a villain in this mix, as well as a supernatural element that I did not anticipate. I honestly expected a typical fiction novel about health and real life, with the drama of teen life, more in the style of like A Fault in Our Stars kinda way. This review will be fairly short because the twist/direction the story takes I don't want to spoil.

The book alternated chapters between Darby and Adam narrating. Adam had to deal with the grief of slowly dying while trying to keep a happy face for his parents and deal with the demands of his odd psychiatrist. On the flip side, he had to face the guilt associated with his life depended on someone else having to die. He was a very sick and conflicted boy who struggled with what he really wanted from his remaining life. Darby was hard for me to like when the story started. She was antagonistic, but not in a good way, more like an impulsive knee jerk kind of way that made me want to shake her and her poor decisions. She struggled with dyslexia and school in general, while her twin brother was a star at school as well as at home, making her resent pretty much everything. She lashed out at most people and did stupid things to try and get even with those who "wronged" her.

Honestly, I was a little let down by the story, but that may just be because I wanted something else when I started reading the book. I love myself a good angsty medical romance, and this was not that. I am sure that somebody else will love this book, but it was not my favorite. I would like to read more from this author because it seems like she has some unique idea.

I received this title from the author in return for my honest review.

No comments:

Post a Comment