Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words tells the story of Alcyone Everly, a young girl growing up in Tennessee and Maine during the years of the Great Depression and the Second World War.

CAN LOVE REALLY HEAL ALL THINGS?

If Sam Carroll hadn’t shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept.

Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie’s heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.

Coker has a sweet, poetic voice that comes through in her prose with more poise than one would anticipate from someone her age. Unfortunately, her talent at turning a phrase was not enough to make me fall in love with this story.

I found the characters in Interrupted to be stereotypical and static and the plot predictable. Somehow, despite disease, death, and war, the stakes just never felt very high. The romance felt underdeveloped and tame. The ending, which I’d anticipated from page 1, struck me as contrived. Though to be fair, this last point is a complaint of mine in 99.9% of the Christian fiction I read.

Basically, I felt like I’d read it all before.

Interrupted felt like reading a rather toned-down hybrid of Pride & Prejudice and The Notebook, unfortunately without the complexity and surprise of the former or the spark and sexiness of the latter.

Now, this book may not have been my cup of tea, but I think it has the potential to find a more appreciative audience with readers who enjoy a quaint, scenic narrative; characters that can be easily understood and related to; a dash of scrupulously chaste romance and a happy, if predictable, ending. Fans of authors like Grace Livingston Hill should find Interrupted an enjoyable read for a summer’s day or an evening by the fireside.

Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words will be released in March 2012 from Zondervan.

Disclosure: I received my ARC of Interrupted: a life beyond words from Zondervan. I received no incentive for my publication of this review. The photograph of the book is c/o Amazon.com; photo of the author c/o her website (see below).

RACHEL COKER resides in Virginia with her parents and two sisters. She has a passion for great books, and has been surrounded by them all her life. Her gift for writing became apparent at the age of eleven, at which time her parents signed her up for a year of lessons with a professional writing coach. Rachel also has a deep love for classical music and old black-and-white movies. When she is not writing or playing the piano, Rachel enjoys spending time with her family and friends and serving her Lord and Savior. You can visit her at http://rachelcoker.wordpress.com/

Everyone’s sorry. But no one can explain why.

Harper Scott’s older sister, June, took her own life a week before high school graduation, leaving Harper devastated. So when her divorcing parents decide to split up June’s ashes, Harper steals the urn and takes off cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going—California.

Enter Jake Tolan, a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession…and an unknown connection to June. When he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what Harper needs. Except…Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn her life upside down—again.

I’m going to level with you, I was not immediately “into” this book. In fact, after the first couple of chapters, I was just about set to put it down. Now, maybe if you haven’t been through the funeral “stuff” and initial grief stages of losing an immediate family member, you will find it much more compelling than I did. But I’ve been there. Done that. I didn’t need it rehashed. I wanted to know how this story was different. Why Harper was different. And I wasn’t there yet.

But I got there.

Harper’s evolution from a hard, angsty teenager to a young woman who meets her disappointments head on with hope and insight is very compelling. It’s also very real. No deus ex machinas. No miracle moments. Just hard, nose-to-the-ground growing up.

As someone who has been left behind by a suicide and ridden that roller coaster of grief, I thank Hannah Harrington from the bottom of my heart for letting Harper and her journey ring so true.

On a lighter note, I had fun with the romantic tension between Jake and Harper and loved seeing the battle within Harper herself for this boy who was both good for her and bad for her. It wasn’t “fated” love at first sight. And I appreciated that enormously!

I also really enjoyed Harper’s relationship with Lanie and seeing the arc of Harper’s mom’s character. Almost no one (apart from the fanatical evangelical aunt) was static. Everyone grew. Everyone failed. Everyone reached for more. It was heartening to read such well rounded characters.

Saving June is definitely a literary YA, so if you’re looking for a heart-pounding plot, this won’t be your cup of tea. But if you are looking for some heart-breaking poignancy, it might be right up your alley.

A lovely debut. I’m looking forward to what Hannah Harrington brings to the table next.

When I saw that Ally Condie was coming to Seattle for a Crossed release tour, I jumped on the opportunity to meet her in person. I very rarely purchase books. I’m a library girl. But I loved Matched so much, and I couldn’t possibly pass up the chance to have Ally sign my copy of Crossed.

Before I even begin my review, I just have to say that I admire Ally Condie enormously. She is incredibly sweet, honest, gracious and very wise. I love that she sticks by her convictions to keep her novels totally “clean,” and I relish being able to pass them on to my youth group kids without a twinge of concern. She’s a real gem, and I was honored to get to talk to her and share with her some of my own journey as a writer.

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky – taken by the Society to his certain death – only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander – who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart – change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

While I still relished Condie’s lyrical prose and enjoyed getting a chance to revisit some very memorable characters, I have to say that I just didn’t fall in love with Crossed the same way I did with Matched. The plot was a bit more reserved, moved more slowly and had fewer twists. While I enjoyed getting inside Ky’s head, I felt that his voice was not truly distinct enough from Cassia’s, and so I found the trope to be more incidental than compelling.

Basically, I viewed this book as what it probably is–a crossing point in the journey that was necessary but just not quite as exciting as the first and final acts of the trilogy.

That said, I am still vehemently Team Xander!! (And yet, I feel like I am going to lose this battle. L’sigh.)

As part of a whole, I recommend Crossed because it is the second piece of what I anticipate being a fantastic trilogy. However, as a stand alone book, it just didn’t pack the punch I had anticipated.

Split debuted in March 2010, and I cannot believe it has taken me this long to read it!

Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret.

He tries to move on, going for new friends, a new school, and a new job, but all his changes can’t make him forget what he left behind—his mother, who is still trapped with his dad, and his ex-girlfriend, who is keeping his secret.

At least so far.

Worst of all, Jace realizes that if he really wants to move forward, he may first have to do what scares him most: He may have to go back. First-time novelist Swati Avasthi has created a riveting and remarkably nuanced portrait of what happens after. After you’ve said enough, after you’ve run, after you’ve made the split—how do you begin to live again?

The blurb on the cover describes Split as a “page turner” and it is–but not in the thriller-murder-mystery-I-need-to-figure-out-the-twist kind of way. It’s just so superbly compelling you can’t put it down. Jace’s voice is so honestly realized you can’t help but sympathize with him even in his darkest moments. The issue of abuse is dealt with in a completely real way, without being unnecessarily raw–and all sides are given a fair shake, giving a healthy message without ever resorting to the soapbox.

The relationships in this book are very honest and believable, and it’s your compassion for the characters and your desire to see them become more than they are that keeps you flipping those pages until there are none left to flip, and you just sit there with the book in your hands going, “Wow.”

This book should be in every school and public library. It will appeal to any teen who has ever felt trapped, beaten down, or ashamed of their past. It gives a message of hope to those who need to hear it. Boys will devour this book. Girls will, too.

Librarians and parents, hear me out: get this book into the hands of your teens!

Swati Avasthi is a fantastic addition to the YA community, and I cannot wait to read her next project!

Tahereh Mafi delivered.

Juliette hasn’t been touched in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but the Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war–and the Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice:

Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Juliette’s voice is incredible and unique (as, of course, is Tahereh Mafi’s). I was immediately drawn into the bleak world of this vulnerable and insightful girl with the magical deadly gift. The love story was hot beautiful, powerful and as heart-racing as the suspense. I also loved Mafi’s treatment of the good v. evil debate. As with X-Men (which this book reminded me quite a lot of) you get a chance to see that there really are two sides to the coin. Evil doesn’t always begin that way and what was once good does not always remain so. I’m excited to see where she will take this thread in the rest of the trilogy.

My one serious criticism is that this story definitely leaves you on the edge of your seat with a lot of unanswered questions. I really love when series books manage to be complete tales within each volume, each one building but not relying on the next. I wish that could have been the case with Shatter Me, but I’m not going to complain too loudly, because I still loved it.

Unfortunately, I really can’t say much more without giving away some shard of this fantastic story. All I can say is that it is fantastic. A truly stunning debut. I devoured the language and loved the characters. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Shatter Me is now available for purchase. The sequel is scheduled to be released next Fall.