Review: Sia by Josh Grayson

Book Title: Sia

Author: Josh Grayson

Publish Date: November 20th, 2013

Published By: Josh Grayson

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Romace

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.

Disclaimer: I received this e-galley from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I was thrilled when Netgalley approved me for this title. The premise looked awesome and I was hoping that the premise would match the book in awesome-ness. It totally did. This book was about reinventing yourself. One might also say that it involved learning to find yourself all over again. Sia’s memory loss allowed her to not only change herself for the better,but it also allowed her to surround herself with… I don’t want to say better people, but different people.

Carol was a huge part of that. She took care of Sia while Sia was homeless and living on the streets for that one week. It was Carol who showed Sia the meaning of kindness. Something the old Sia didn’t understand.I loved Carol. She was everything that Sia needed that week and she continued to exude kindness to Sia even after Sia returned home to her family. Carol was the epitome of being grateful for what she had, while still working hard to better herself. That, I believe was Sia’s inspiration. 

Watching Sia change from the fashion obsessed, cruel high schooler that she used to be to the kindhearted, gentle and generous person she became was amazing. I know her friends, particularly Amber had a rough time of it, but seeing Sia not cave when Amber started up with her old tricks again was awesome. Sia no longer cared about fashion, boys and popularity. She cared about being a good person who cared about others.

This book could have easily been titled redemption as Sia was redeemed. Her amnesia allowed her to become a different person. She got a chance to change and she happily took that chance. Something not everyone would have been brave enough to do.

Kyle was a total sweetheart and he was a much better boyfriend than Sia’s previous boyfriend Duke, They were polar opposites which I guess made sense given Sia’s development throughout the book.

I have to give this book 4 stars. It was a great read but I really felt like the last few chapters were rushed and I really didn’t like that. I didn’t understand why they were rushed and I feel like it would have been a better read if the last few chapters were just a bit longer.

Review: Six Months Later by Natalie Richards

Book Title: Six Months Later

Author: Natalie Richards

Published Date: October 1st, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Children’s Fiction

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Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

She Has Everything She Ever Wanted. But Not Her Memory…

When Chloe fell asleep in study hall, it was the middle of May. When she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can’t remember the last six months of her life.

Before, she’d been a mediocre student. Now, she’s on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he’s her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won’t speak to her.

What happened to her? Remembering the truth could be more dangerous than she knows…

Disclaimer: I received this e-galley from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I was coming off a lousy book so I was hoping that I would like this book. I needed a good book and that was exactly what I got. I started this book and finished it under 24 hours. It was a really amazing book. It was a great page turner that wove many themes into it. Friendship,forgiveness,trust,good vs. evil and above all, the idea of doing the right thing even if you may lose the admiration that you were granted. 

I adored Chloe and I felt sympathy for her as she was so confused and scared in the beginning. She didn’t know what had happened to her. Her best friend wasn’t even speaking to her and she was suddenly a brainiac when just six months ago,she was an average student. Six months ago she never talked to Adam or Blake and now Blake was her boyfriend?

Adam was adorable. He clearly cared about Chloe.I loved that he was willing to help her figure this out. Initially I thought that he wouldn’t believe her when she confessed all that she knew, which truthfully was not much. Blake was a creep and I swear I got the heebie jeebies from him every single moment he was in the book.

I was unbelievably annoyed with Chloe’s mom. Clearly Chloe was freaking out but she didn’t feel like she could tell her parents anything. In six months she had turned into every parents’ dream child. And yet her mom didn’t seem to be curious about the abrupt change in her daughter.

I loved Maggie, I had a feeling that she was one of the good ones. I loved seeing the friendship between Chloe and Maggie be revived. Especially considering how long they had been friends before that day in May.

I am giving this book 5 stars. I loved it so much. The themes that were woven into this book, the character development and the plot were all great parts of the book. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone and everyone.