Novel Review: Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Contemporary (Romance)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse)

Publish Date: October 2nd, 2012

Spoilers?: Minor/Vague.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a mom and stepdad who would stop at nothing to keep her siblings and her happy.

But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now that Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.

In this unforgettable powerhouse of a novel, Mindi Scott offers an absorbing, layered glimpse into the life of an everygirl living a nightmare that no one would suspect.

Something Specific:

Quotes!:

•  "Whenever Mom and Tony talk about What's on Boys' Minds, I want to scream." (Hardback, pg. 25) YES. I feel this way All. The. Time.
• "'Please,' Jacob says, with a wave of his hand. 'I'm the jump freakin' master.'" (Hardback, pg. 82) Does anyone else get the reference that I made with this quote? Please?
• "'You're not acting like yourself at all.' 'Maybe this is my real self and no one noticed before.'" (Hardback, pg. 273) I've thought about things like this so much...

Review:

I really wanted to love this book. And I did like it a lot. But the ending kind of ruined everything for me.

Coley is having problems. Her home life isn’t very good at the moment, and she’s trying to hide that behind a very chipper attitude. Her mom married someone else and had three kids, which makes her feel like an extra, unneeded. Her brother feels the same way, but he’s been away at college. Only, now he’s back, and while he and Coley have always been close, that’s not particularly a good thing.

At school, Coley has lots of friends, gets along with everyone. Except her ex-best friend, who she’s not speaking to anymore. She’s gotten closer with a different girl, Ming, as well as a boy at school, Reece. Then there’s Noah, a boy she’s known most of her life, who everything think she’s going out with, when she’s not.

(Also, throughout the story, there's this reference to a very popular movie/book series, which makes a lot of sense once you find out what the big problem Coley has is. It made sense to me because I've never read the books or seen the movies, but for someone who has (or is just faster than me), they'll probably catch the meaning much faster than I did. And, while I liked that a bit, I also think maybe it was a bit too obvious, given how often the movies are talked about. Just wanted to mention that before I really get into my opinion.)

I liked Coley. I liked how she tried hiding everything behind a smile, but I do tend to find those characters interesting—and there just isn’t enough of them out there. I like most of the characters, actually. Ming seemed nice and interesting, and her ex-best friend, Alejandra, seemed interesting near the end of the book. I really like Noah, he’s very sweet. And I also really liked Reece. I even liked Coley’s step-siblings.

My biggest problem is the ending. The ending just kind of ruined everything for me, as I said, and I’m not happy about it. If it hadn’t been for the rest of the book, and I was only rating on the ending, this book would have only gotten two stars. Because I didn’t like it. I was even mad at it. Like, I wanted to throw the book across the room, and would have, were I the kind of person who did that.

I’ve read other books that ended like this one did. It’s a common ending, and while I would usually like more to the story, sometimes it even fits. This one, didn’t.

Usually when it ends like this, the reader is left feeling like everything is going to be okay, like the main character, and everyone around her, is going to find out the truth and deal with it, and that they are ready to deal with it. It’ll be hard, but they will be okay and are capable. I didn’t feel like that with this one.

In this book, it felt like the rest of the story still needed told. It felt like things were just getting started when the book ended. I mean, I do want more story, I would like to read how things fall apart and come together after this, but I also feel very unsatisfied, and like the story isn’t finished. There’s more to it, and I feel like I should get to read what that is.

I mean, I want to read her parents reactions to what happened, and I feel like there were several hints within the book that would lead to the readers' seeing how they reacted, that deserve coming to a head. I don’t feel like what’s going to happen next with Coley and Reece is settled in any way, and I feel that should be told. Also, Noah’s reaction to finding out. And how her brother is going to react, which will surely be bad.

I’m just… I’m really unsatisfied and upset and angry, and I feel like there should be more. I want a sequel, very badly, and I don’t think there’s going to be one. I want there to be, I think one deserves to be made, but I don’t think there will be one.

Nonetheless, I am still planning, and looking forward, to whatever Scott releases next.

The Cover:

 I rather like the cover, plus I think the meaning of it fits with what happens in the book.