All In Pieces - Suzanne Young

Gut Instinct Rating - 5

Characters - 4

Believability for type and topics - 3.5

Similarity to other books - 4

Writing Style - 4.5

Excitement Factor - 5

Story Line - 4.5

Title Relevance - 3.5

Dust Jacket Art - 5

To read or not to read? Definitely a good read.

Movie? None (although it would be a good one)

Goodreads users gave this book a 4.01. I think it was more deserving of a 4.33.

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Published on December 1, 2016

Pages: 259

Publishing Company: Simon Pulse

Number of books by author: 26

Genre: YA Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction

If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm a HUGE fan of The Program series by Suzanne Young. I came across the series one day at Barnes and Noble and decided I'd give it a shot. It is now my favorite series of all time. Young came out with a few other books, but they didn't fit in with my typical reading tastes, so I passed over the option to read those. Until today, I didn't actually know she had 26 books out (5 in the Program series as of today, the 6th and final on the way). I saw her post about this one coming out late last year and thought it sounded pretty intriguing. So, I added it to my list and recently made the purchase. It was well worth it, and will lead me to look into some more of her books outside of The Program. This book was simply real, gritty, and hear-wrenching all at the same time.

I was a little disappointed that the characters were so divided by the first and second halves of the book. Like any good reader, I wanted more of what makes Savannah, Savannah. Her friends played such a vital role in the beginning of the book, but they were just written out, like a TV series randomly killing off a key actor in the middle of the show. It just didn't make sense for me to have them so absent towards the end. It was an easy write-out to bring the second half character, Cameron, closer together.

The believability also threw me. It's not set in a fantasy world, it's not anything that couldn't happen. It's just so unlikely that it would. I want to elaborate on this so much, but the relationship Savannah plays into with Cameron and his family is so unrealistic. It was the thing I struggled with the most as I read this. I kept thinking, "no one's parents are like that," and "but how is this just happening? How does no one notice?" The story like, however, was unique. There wasn't anything new that no one has ever written before, but it was the way in which these things were brought together that made them as powerful as they were. It's a situation that 1 in 1,000 people is probably ever going to be in. But that's what made this story so amazing. You have these components to a tragic story that a lot of people never have to think about; they never have to live through it. And instead of using a more obvious route, in regards to her brother, you see something noble and heroic taking place for most of the book.

The writing style was almost top notch. I think as Young has explored and written more books, she's straying away from what she used to process, which was the prologue, story, and epilogue. There was the pre-text, that helped you get the quick preview into someone's life; the story, which led right up until the last moments; and then your closure. And I really missed that in this book. The last chapter, maybe two, were a bit gap-y. We were at full speed ahead in a day-to-day type of recall, which then quickly moved into the future; and then nothing. No closure, no curious last words; just the end. The rest of the novel was smooth and connecting.

The title didn't pair well with me. There could've been something that she saw or maybe said throughout the book that would've led me to believe that this was the perfect title, and I simply missed it. But, I wasn't really feeling the "all in pieces" title with this story. I think it showed less about the pieces of her life, and more about the heroism, overcoming, and determination to live better. the artwork also revealed something online that it didn't in person. A third person on the cover. I can only assume that's Retha, but I read this book in several different lighting scenarios, and all I thought I was seeing was a cloud of smoke... it is the perfect cover with or without her; but I question a little (just a teeny-tiny bit) why Evan wasn't on there...