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Extraordinary Means
John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this darkly funny novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Beginning of Everything.Up until his diagnosis, Lane lived a fairly predictable life. When he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means is a heart-wrenching yet ultimately hopeful about true friendships, ill-fated love and the rare miracle of second chances. Praise for Extraordinary Means 'This captivating book about life, death, fear, and second chances will fly off the shelves' VOYA 'Schneider’s subtlety, combined with themes about learning to live life fully, makes this an easy recommendation for those seeking titles similar in premise to John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars' School Library Journal 'The perfect read-next for fans of the sick-lit trend and readers looking for a tear-stained romance' Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 'Fans of John Green’s blockbuster The Fault in Our Stars who are eager for more of that kind of story will likely be satisfied.' Booklist
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 26, 2015
691 people are currently reading
28491 people want to read
About the author
Robyn Schneider
14 books2,485 followersRobyn Schneider grew up in Southern California, where she spent her childhood reading fantasy novels and searching for secret passages. She’s a graduate of Columbia University, where she studied creative writing, and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, where she earned a Masters of Bioethics. Robyn is the bestselling author of The Beginning of Everything, Extraordinary Means, Invisible Ghosts, and You Don’t Live Here. Her work is available across the world in over a dozen languages. Her newest novel, The Other Merlin, will be published in September 2021. She lives in Los Angeles with her TV producer husband, their tiny puppy, and far too many books. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @robynschneider
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December 22, 2014The Fault in Our Alaskas
August 11, 2016
I read this book as a birthday gift to one of the best people on Goodreads- Masooma, who is celebrating her birthday today and who clearly loved this book. (Click her name for the most beautiful review on the book.) Let’s give her a happy birthday rap y’all!
♪ It’s your birthday, Awesome Masooma-ha!
It’s time to celebre-he-ate
Let’s wish her a happy birthde-hey,let’s wish her a happy birthde-hey!
Clap our hands in the air! (2x)
Stomp our feet on the ground! (2x)
The wheels on the bus go round and round…
I mean… Happy Birthday to you, Awesome Masooma-ha!
(Hope this made you smile. Lol!^^) ♫
REVIEW
This is a sad and painful story but one that didn’t make me feel that way because the honest and charming writing simply told a believable story and because the characters weren’t trying to romanticize anything-not sickness, not life nor death. They’re plainly accepting things for what they are.
The plot isn’t much. If anything, it was a bit predictable but in a pleasant way, in a way that is true to life. But what made this story special is the most inspiring message it suggests which eased its way through my heart like a favorite lullaby. I didn’t have to wrestle so hard with interpreting symbols to find meaning because the story isn’t trying to be overdramatic or too intellectual. It’s simple and genuine, exactly how I like most things.
Living and dying aren’t all that different. The story reminded me that. The former is simply looking at a glass half full while the latter is looking at it half empty. For some of us, it has to take a tragedy, a phenomenon, a strong force or some sort of EXTRAORDINARY MEANS to realize life started its countdown the moment we took our very first breath but somehow, mundane things, plans and thinking too much of the future make us forget to actually live the moment. I appreciate the story for reminding me these things.
Life as we know it rarely goes as planned. Who really knows what happens tomorrow or just a few hours later? There is very little in life we can control except the time we have now and while we have this moment, the story enjoins us to make meaning out of it, make room for people who really matter, laugh more, seize the day or whatever you may want to call it, take a detour, do anything fun- anything that makes you happy, anything that isn’t always planned out.
“But at the last minute, I turned left, because I never had before, and because I had time to go down a different road.”
Don’t you just love books and Goodreaders?! *sighs appreciatively*
June 30, 2015
ugh. UGH.
This book had such an interesting premise (teens with a drug resistant form of TB in a boarding school aiming to help them recover) and it's exactly the kind of thing I enjoy and yet it fell so flat.
The whole book was littered with pop-culture references that made my skin crawl. Things like 'professor snape was my spirit animal' and 'shots fired in the drink fandom'. Every time one of them came up it felt like it was trying to hard to be ~cool~ and ~relatable~ and every time it happened I wanted to roll my eyes so far into my head I could see my intestines. (Also I mean really we get it you're a nerdfighter. I mean at one point a character literally reads a John Green novel and listens to The Mountain Goats. I hate everything.)
The other thing I really didn't like was how everything felt like a trope. The dual perspective added very little to the story, there was a whole lot of instalove and the side characters, who were apparently meant to be well rounded and deep, were very one dimensional. There was a lot of elements that were just put into the book for what felt like no reason other than the author could - it was almost like someone had said THESE THINGS ARE POPULAR IN YA NOVELS SO INCLUDE THEM. I'm talking about things like love triangles, the //artsy and misunderstood// character, the kids who are so effortlessly cool etc and none of them worked. They were just glued in there for some 'fun'.
Overall, this book just felt tacky and like it was trying to be a popular best seller. There was nothing interesting or new about the writing style, nothing that made me care, it was just cliche after cliche and I'm so done with it. I really wouldn't recommend this book unless you are an aspiring author. In that case, read it so that you can see what utter rubbish can get published nowadays and feel better about your chances.
EDIT: forgot to mention first time round but according to the authors note it's not even a real disease??????? WHY
This book had such an interesting premise (teens with a drug resistant form of TB in a boarding school aiming to help them recover) and it's exactly the kind of thing I enjoy and yet it fell so flat.
The whole book was littered with pop-culture references that made my skin crawl. Things like 'professor snape was my spirit animal' and 'shots fired in the drink fandom'. Every time one of them came up it felt like it was trying to hard to be ~cool~ and ~relatable~ and every time it happened I wanted to roll my eyes so far into my head I could see my intestines. (Also I mean really we get it you're a nerdfighter. I mean at one point a character literally reads a John Green novel and listens to The Mountain Goats. I hate everything.)
The other thing I really didn't like was how everything felt like a trope. The dual perspective added very little to the story, there was a whole lot of instalove and the side characters, who were apparently meant to be well rounded and deep, were very one dimensional. There was a lot of elements that were just put into the book for what felt like no reason other than the author could - it was almost like someone had said THESE THINGS ARE POPULAR IN YA NOVELS SO INCLUDE THEM. I'm talking about things like love triangles, the //artsy and misunderstood// character, the kids who are so effortlessly cool etc and none of them worked. They were just glued in there for some 'fun'.
Overall, this book just felt tacky and like it was trying to be a popular best seller. There was nothing interesting or new about the writing style, nothing that made me care, it was just cliche after cliche and I'm so done with it. I really wouldn't recommend this book unless you are an aspiring author. In that case, read it so that you can see what utter rubbish can get published nowadays and feel better about your chances.
EDIT: forgot to mention first time round but according to the authors note it's not even a real disease??????? WHY
February 14, 2017
It was just okay. I felt like it'd been done before and not because the plot was very similar to TFIOS, that set aside, it featured a lot of typical "quirky yet cool group" tropes.
January 9, 2017
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
“There’s a difference between being dead and dying.”
Due to a severe case of old lady brain, I’m not 100% positive how this ended up on my Kindle, but I think it was from the library’s recommendation software which proves either (1) I’m not as disgusting a pervert as I figured the library thought me to be or (2) I logged in with someone else’s account by accident. Whatever the reason, I ended up with Extraordinary Means and bumped it to the top of the stack once I saw the author was the same person who wrote The Beginning of Everything which I liked okay. So what was this about?????
Damn I wish I would have thought that up myself. Gillian, I don’t know you but you should get this printed on t-shirts before someone else steals the idea. And also . . . .
Per usual I didn’t bother reading a synopsis before starting this book. I was thrown for a loop for a minute or two trying to figure out exactly what was going on with this bizarro boarding school the characters all lived at, but eventually I discovered . . . .
“Spanish influenza came back first, in 2009, although we called it swine flu. Then whooping cough reappeared. Then polio. Then there was a meningitis outbreak at Princeton, some weird strain no one had seen before, which made the government import an emergency vaccine from Europe. Then Ebola. In the middle of this, a new strain of tuberculosis caught on, developing a resistance first to the drugs that had treated it, and then to the vaccine that had prevented it. And then it caught us.”
Thanks anti vaxxers . . . .
Lane is the new kid on the block at Latham House (oh oh oh ooooh oh) . . . . .
Who is trying to get back to his old life and early acceptance to Stanford as soon as possible. Reality eventually hits, however, and Lane is forced to make the best of things at his new school. When he comes across a girl he knew when he was a kid . . . .
He finds a high school experience he never would have imagined possible . . . especially while living with a possible terminal disease . . . .
“They acted like we were at any old boarding school, where you rolled your eyes at the rules and snuck off to do what you wanted. It was the way, out of everyone, they seemed the least defeated. The least likely to give up and spend the day in bed feeling sorry for themselves. They weren’t on vacation, they were off on an adventure.”
Extraordinary Means was such a sweet little story. It showed how real first love develops, not as instalove, but through friendship. If you are the mother of a teen who has already ran the gamut of Green and Levithan and Chbosky and Rowell, I highly recommend giving Robyn Schneider a chance. Heck, even if you’re an old geezer like me you still might find it to be perfectly . . . .
Warning: Have tissues at the ready. I didn’t need them, but – well . . . . .
“There’s a difference between being dead and dying.”
Due to a severe case of old lady brain, I’m not 100% positive how this ended up on my Kindle, but I think it was from the library’s recommendation software which proves either (1) I’m not as disgusting a pervert as I figured the library thought me to be or (2) I logged in with someone else’s account by accident. Whatever the reason, I ended up with Extraordinary Means and bumped it to the top of the stack once I saw the author was the same person who wrote The Beginning of Everything which I liked okay. So what was this about?????
Damn I wish I would have thought that up myself. Gillian, I don’t know you but you should get this printed on t-shirts before someone else steals the idea. And also . . . .
Per usual I didn’t bother reading a synopsis before starting this book. I was thrown for a loop for a minute or two trying to figure out exactly what was going on with this bizarro boarding school the characters all lived at, but eventually I discovered . . . .
“Spanish influenza came back first, in 2009, although we called it swine flu. Then whooping cough reappeared. Then polio. Then there was a meningitis outbreak at Princeton, some weird strain no one had seen before, which made the government import an emergency vaccine from Europe. Then Ebola. In the middle of this, a new strain of tuberculosis caught on, developing a resistance first to the drugs that had treated it, and then to the vaccine that had prevented it. And then it caught us.”
Thanks anti vaxxers . . . .
Lane is the new kid on the block at Latham House (oh oh oh ooooh oh) . . . . .
Who is trying to get back to his old life and early acceptance to Stanford as soon as possible. Reality eventually hits, however, and Lane is forced to make the best of things at his new school. When he comes across a girl he knew when he was a kid . . . .
He finds a high school experience he never would have imagined possible . . . especially while living with a possible terminal disease . . . .
“They acted like we were at any old boarding school, where you rolled your eyes at the rules and snuck off to do what you wanted. It was the way, out of everyone, they seemed the least defeated. The least likely to give up and spend the day in bed feeling sorry for themselves. They weren’t on vacation, they were off on an adventure.”
Extraordinary Means was such a sweet little story. It showed how real first love develops, not as instalove, but through friendship. If you are the mother of a teen who has already ran the gamut of Green and Levithan and Chbosky and Rowell, I highly recommend giving Robyn Schneider a chance. Heck, even if you’re an old geezer like me you still might find it to be perfectly . . . .
Warning: Have tissues at the ready. I didn’t need them, but – well . . . . .
December 13, 2015
My ECG throughout the book:
One moment: steady, floating along the rhythm of the novel
The other moment: drumming to the thrill of adventures of broken rules and forbidden things
Another moment: hoping like a sandwich short of a picnic
Yet another moment: detonated like an atomic bomb in pain and grief
And the final moment: *sigh*
I guess my ECG explains fully how I felt throughout the novel. Robyn Schneider made sure she shoved a twister full of emotions. I felt all the emotions at once- pain, grief, hope, anxiety, sympathy, excitement and happiness. All at once. It would be suffice to say that Extraordinary Means is an extraordinary emotional ride.
The plot uncurled around Latham, the sanitarium for an incurable strain of TB-hit victims. Amid the cold corridors of the horrible home of the sick arise 5 friends who standout on account of their throwing caution to the wind attitude.
The author has made sure Latham, the setting, is horrendous with all the humdrum of sick life, dying kids, breakfast failures, charted health essentials and no coffee!
Since I’m a lover of words, I couldn’t help but marvel at the perfection with which Robyn described each scene. And to give it a long-lasting effect she has thrown in plenty of bitter truths such as this one:
“And the thing about trying to cheat death is that, in the end, you still lose.”
Even if the book appears to be predictable sometimes, it still hurls that prediction like a bolt from the blue, striking at the most unexpected of times.
All characters are unique. They wear a personal sort of personality, not the same old stereotypes.
Sadie is a kitten in a tiger’s skin. Always scared and yet fearless.
Lane is a nerd who decides to break all his nerdy boundaries and explore the monkey tricks territory.
Charlie is an artist, he has his head always buried in some notebook but attentive enough to make a swanky comment.
Nick is a genius, he is friendly and always mastering the art of shaping his food into weird shapes.
And Marina, well she is a penny-ante character for all that I could gather. I madly wished there was some kind of a stronger role for her. It was, as if, she was ‘The Forgotten One’ among all the friends. Her response to the times where all hell would break loose was nada. Even if Latham would be hit with 7.2 earthquake on the Richter scale, she’d still be hiding somewhere in the deathly hollows of the book where I wouldn’t be able to see her response.
But instead of this, for all their individuality, it is easy to like all the characters and feel their pain. They are always doing something goofy or legendary.
All in all, the novel is a swift page turner. It is wild giggles and bitter sobs at the same time. You shouldn’t leave it sitting on a shelf just like that, that would be brutal.
One moment: steady, floating along the rhythm of the novel
The other moment: drumming to the thrill of adventures of broken rules and forbidden things
Another moment: hoping like a sandwich short of a picnic
Yet another moment: detonated like an atomic bomb in pain and grief
And the final moment: *sigh*
I guess my ECG explains fully how I felt throughout the novel. Robyn Schneider made sure she shoved a twister full of emotions. I felt all the emotions at once- pain, grief, hope, anxiety, sympathy, excitement and happiness. All at once. It would be suffice to say that Extraordinary Means is an extraordinary emotional ride.
The plot uncurled around Latham, the sanitarium for an incurable strain of TB-hit victims. Amid the cold corridors of the horrible home of the sick arise 5 friends who standout on account of their throwing caution to the wind attitude.
The author has made sure Latham, the setting, is horrendous with all the humdrum of sick life, dying kids, breakfast failures, charted health essentials and no coffee!
Since I’m a lover of words, I couldn’t help but marvel at the perfection with which Robyn described each scene. And to give it a long-lasting effect she has thrown in plenty of bitter truths such as this one:
“And the thing about trying to cheat death is that, in the end, you still lose.”
Even if the book appears to be predictable sometimes, it still hurls that prediction like a bolt from the blue, striking at the most unexpected of times.
All characters are unique. They wear a personal sort of personality, not the same old stereotypes.
Sadie is a kitten in a tiger’s skin. Always scared and yet fearless.
Lane is a nerd who decides to break all his nerdy boundaries and explore the monkey tricks territory.
Charlie is an artist, he has his head always buried in some notebook but attentive enough to make a swanky comment.
Nick is a genius, he is friendly and always mastering the art of shaping his food into weird shapes.
And Marina, well she is a penny-ante character for all that I could gather. I madly wished there was some kind of a stronger role for her. It was, as if, she was ‘The Forgotten One’ among all the friends. Her response to the times where all hell would break loose was nada. Even if Latham would be hit with 7.2 earthquake on the Richter scale, she’d still be hiding somewhere in the deathly hollows of the book where I wouldn’t be able to see her response.
But instead of this, for all their individuality, it is easy to like all the characters and feel their pain. They are always doing something goofy or legendary.
All in all, the novel is a swift page turner. It is wild giggles and bitter sobs at the same time. You shouldn’t leave it sitting on a shelf just like that, that would be brutal.
February 17, 2015
So far it's 2 for 2 for this author. I read and fell in love with The Beginning of Everything last year, and even having high hopes for this one I was not one bit disappointed.
This time we're taken to Latham House, a place where the sick are sent to try and get better. A place that is pretty much like a very morbid summer camp. Told in alternating point of views, we first meet Lane who's on the road to achieving his goal of going to an Ivy League school. He's a straight A student who'd rather study than have to deal with TB. Getting sent to Latham means losing the perfect GPA that he's been working so hard for. In a way it was incredibly sad to see him realize he had to give up the perfect future he was striving for, yet it was the opportunity for him to see what else there was to life. His character growth is incredible, and even through the heartbreaking moments, you know that he will not let it destroy him. He will learn from this whole ordeal, and instead of just living for the future, he'll get to experience the present, too. To experience life!
Next we meet Sadie. She's been at Latham for so long that she has stopped looking forward to going home - she doesn't even want to anymore, she's finally fitting in! Her illness is not getting any better, nor worse, she's just floating in uncertainties. She and her group of friends are making the best of Latham, though. Sneaking out, breaking rules, taking risks, standing out; I found this really balanced out the darker side of the novel. They were having fun despite it all, and it made everything shimmer with hope. I didn't click with Sadie right away, though, she got on my nerves when she was giving Lane the cold shoulder over something the supposedly did years ago. As if it wasn't super obvious what had really happened if only she thought for a second. Fortunately she realizes this fairly quickly so my eye rolls soon faded, and before I knew it I found myself adoring her. Not only were both main characters brilliantly characterized, I was also made to care deeply for their whole group that was so full of personality. The characters don't end there, either, we have a complete boarding-school-like dynamic with different cliques and beliefs. Even the teachers were made to be distinct and memorable.
Romance is also a fairly large part of this book, and it's one that is crazily bittersweet. With death looming on all of their heads, you can't help but feel as if they're doomed from the start. You can't have a book based around a cruel illness without expecting heartbreak. But still, you just never know, this may just be an obstacle they can both overcome, you know! The hope for a happily ever after is ever-present, and it makes the romance glow with anticipation and longing. It was sweet, romantic, and their connection easily felt. Still, due to the impending gloom and doom I kept myself from falling too deeply.
As much as this novel is about sickness and death, it's even more about second chances and finding your own strength. It does pull at your heartstrings, throughout, but romance as well as a nice touch of humour keeps it from being overly depressing. Very much recommended for fans of tragic YA fiction.
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
This time we're taken to Latham House, a place where the sick are sent to try and get better. A place that is pretty much like a very morbid summer camp. Told in alternating point of views, we first meet Lane who's on the road to achieving his goal of going to an Ivy League school. He's a straight A student who'd rather study than have to deal with TB. Getting sent to Latham means losing the perfect GPA that he's been working so hard for. In a way it was incredibly sad to see him realize he had to give up the perfect future he was striving for, yet it was the opportunity for him to see what else there was to life. His character growth is incredible, and even through the heartbreaking moments, you know that he will not let it destroy him. He will learn from this whole ordeal, and instead of just living for the future, he'll get to experience the present, too. To experience life!
Next we meet Sadie. She's been at Latham for so long that she has stopped looking forward to going home - she doesn't even want to anymore, she's finally fitting in! Her illness is not getting any better, nor worse, she's just floating in uncertainties. She and her group of friends are making the best of Latham, though. Sneaking out, breaking rules, taking risks, standing out; I found this really balanced out the darker side of the novel. They were having fun despite it all, and it made everything shimmer with hope. I didn't click with Sadie right away, though, she got on my nerves when she was giving Lane the cold shoulder over something the supposedly did years ago. As if it wasn't super obvious what had really happened if only she thought for a second. Fortunately she realizes this fairly quickly so my eye rolls soon faded, and before I knew it I found myself adoring her. Not only were both main characters brilliantly characterized, I was also made to care deeply for their whole group that was so full of personality. The characters don't end there, either, we have a complete boarding-school-like dynamic with different cliques and beliefs. Even the teachers were made to be distinct and memorable.
Romance is also a fairly large part of this book, and it's one that is crazily bittersweet. With death looming on all of their heads, you can't help but feel as if they're doomed from the start. You can't have a book based around a cruel illness without expecting heartbreak. But still, you just never know, this may just be an obstacle they can both overcome, you know! The hope for a happily ever after is ever-present, and it makes the romance glow with anticipation and longing. It was sweet, romantic, and their connection easily felt. Still, due to the impending gloom and doom I kept myself from falling too deeply.
As much as this novel is about sickness and death, it's even more about second chances and finding your own strength. It does pull at your heartstrings, throughout, but romance as well as a nice touch of humour keeps it from being overly depressing. Very much recommended for fans of tragic YA fiction.
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
April 4, 2015
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)
“My first night at Latham house, I lay awake in my narrow, gabled room in cottage 6 wondering how many people had died in it. And I didn’t just wonder this casually, either. I did the math. I figured the probability. And I came up with a number: eight. But then, I had always been terrible at math.”
This was quite a sad story about a group of kids with Total-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, and the cure that might have come too late.
I felt sorry for the kids in this story, they were all really young, and really sick, and most of them hadn’t got to do anything that they might have wanted to do in their lives. Being away from home also couldn’t have been easy, especially when their friends had seemingly moved on without them.
“The essay was about me. About how we’d planned to go to college together, but after I’d become ‘terminally ill’ she knew that she needed to live for both of us. She actually said that. ‘Live for both of us,’ like I was too corpsified to do any living myself.”
The storyline in this was about the kids at the camp getting to know each other, and also the romance between Lane and Sadie. They broke the rules, had some fun sneaking out, but also had to watch each other getting sicker, and even dying.
“Someone checked out. They’re doing housekeeping.” He said it darkly, like he’d deliberately chosen the wrong words. When he realized I didn’t get it, he sighed. “You know, cleaning out his room for the next lucky occupant.”
“Someone died?”
“Oh, you get used to it. Just wait until they bring the body out.”
The romance between Lane and Sadie seemed to happen quite naturally, but it was quite sad because there was threat of death hanging over them.
“When Sadie had joined me in the gazebo and we’d sat there talking about everything. I’d been so lost in my own misery that it hadn’t quite dawned on me how amazing it felt for someone to understand, someone who was going through the same thing.”
The ending to this was okay, but it was sad, as not everyone made it. When the announcement came about the new treatment, it seemed obvious that it would come too late for certain people, and it really was a bit of a race to see who could hold on the longest and possibly be cured.
6.5 out of 10
“My first night at Latham house, I lay awake in my narrow, gabled room in cottage 6 wondering how many people had died in it. And I didn’t just wonder this casually, either. I did the math. I figured the probability. And I came up with a number: eight. But then, I had always been terrible at math.”
This was quite a sad story about a group of kids with Total-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, and the cure that might have come too late.
I felt sorry for the kids in this story, they were all really young, and really sick, and most of them hadn’t got to do anything that they might have wanted to do in their lives. Being away from home also couldn’t have been easy, especially when their friends had seemingly moved on without them.
“The essay was about me. About how we’d planned to go to college together, but after I’d become ‘terminally ill’ she knew that she needed to live for both of us. She actually said that. ‘Live for both of us,’ like I was too corpsified to do any living myself.”
The storyline in this was about the kids at the camp getting to know each other, and also the romance between Lane and Sadie. They broke the rules, had some fun sneaking out, but also had to watch each other getting sicker, and even dying.
“Someone checked out. They’re doing housekeeping.” He said it darkly, like he’d deliberately chosen the wrong words. When he realized I didn’t get it, he sighed. “You know, cleaning out his room for the next lucky occupant.”
“Someone died?”
“Oh, you get used to it. Just wait until they bring the body out.”
The romance between Lane and Sadie seemed to happen quite naturally, but it was quite sad because there was threat of death hanging over them.
“When Sadie had joined me in the gazebo and we’d sat there talking about everything. I’d been so lost in my own misery that it hadn’t quite dawned on me how amazing it felt for someone to understand, someone who was going through the same thing.”
The ending to this was okay, but it was sad, as not everyone made it. When the announcement came about the new treatment, it seemed obvious that it would come too late for certain people, and it really was a bit of a race to see who could hold on the longest and possibly be cured.
6.5 out of 10
January 21, 2021
Intriguing, perceptive and another enlightening coming of age story.
Lane was about to begin his senior year with his whole life ahead of him. He had his friends, girlfriend and dream of going to Stanford to look forward too. Until he is diagnosed with TDR-turburculosis. He is sent to a sanatorium that has an 80% rate of survival. His world is tipped upside down as he struggles with his past, present and future. Not knowing how much time he has left live or what his future holds, Lane embarks on a road of self-discovery.
This is a heartening story in an extremely interesting setting, a sanatorium.
I enjoyed this book but not as much as I liked Schneider's other book; The Beginning of Everything. There were some things that I wish we saw happen in the ending that didn't, that would have definitely made the book better for me. Never the less I give this book 4/5 stars.
I would recommend this book for those looking for a quick contemporary read, or if the setting/coming of age aspect interests you.
The main message I took from this book was to enjoy the moment, to live life to the fullest and to say how you feel because you never know how much time you have left.
Lane was about to begin his senior year with his whole life ahead of him. He had his friends, girlfriend and dream of going to Stanford to look forward too. Until he is diagnosed with TDR-turburculosis. He is sent to a sanatorium that has an 80% rate of survival. His world is tipped upside down as he struggles with his past, present and future. Not knowing how much time he has left live or what his future holds, Lane embarks on a road of self-discovery.
This is a heartening story in an extremely interesting setting, a sanatorium.
I enjoyed this book but not as much as I liked Schneider's other book; The Beginning of Everything. There were some things that I wish we saw happen in the ending that didn't, that would have definitely made the book better for me. Never the less I give this book 4/5 stars.
I would recommend this book for those looking for a quick contemporary read, or if the setting/coming of age aspect interests you.
The main message I took from this book was to enjoy the moment, to live life to the fullest and to say how you feel because you never know how much time you have left.
January 21, 2019
Siempre procuro tener historias como este en mis estanterías, repletas de significado, de aventuras, de recuerdos, de vida.
La enfermedad es un período complicado en la vida de cualquier ser, y sobre todo cuando se trata de aquellas que todavía no tienen cura, la esperanza se reduce y la ilusión es un motivo más para luchar, y sobre todo para seguir viviendo.
La vida, por ella vale todo y este libro lo plasma a la perfección.
La enfermedad es un período complicado en la vida de cualquier ser, y sobre todo cuando se trata de aquellas que todavía no tienen cura, la esperanza se reduce y la ilusión es un motivo más para luchar, y sobre todo para seguir viviendo.
La vida, por ella vale todo y este libro lo plasma a la perfección.
June 15, 2015
**changed my rating from a 4 to a 3 after sitting on it for a few days. I've had more time to think about the issues I had with it and after discussing it with April, I've realized that they bugged me more than I first realized. Okay original review starts....now!:
Currently crying in public. I'M NOT OKAY :(
This book snuck up on me and hit me right in the feels. I did have some issues with it, but over all, it was so, so enjoyable. I definitely recommend for fans of John Green or Stephanie Perkins.
Currently crying in public. I'M NOT OKAY :(
This book snuck up on me and hit me right in the feels. I did have some issues with it, but over all, it was so, so enjoyable. I definitely recommend for fans of John Green or Stephanie Perkins.
May 10, 2015
“Miracles were just second chances if you really thought about it--second chances when all hope was lost.”
----Kaya McLaren, an American author
Robyn Schneider, an American author, pens her new novel, Extraordinary Means that traces the story of two terminally ill teenagers, living in a part-hospital-part-boarding-school type of facility and how they fall in love despite of the incurable disease.
Apart from two teenagers suffering from terminal illness and falling in love with each other, there is nothing similar to TFIOS in this book. So don't judge the book according to TFIOS.
Synopsis:
At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.
There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.
But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down. Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.
This story is set in the future when Ebola is no more and a rare kind of TB, which is highly contagious, afflicts the people on this planet. Lane and Sadie are two teenagers who have been affected with this rare disease. Hence they are sent to a sanatorium called, Latham House to recover, which is a hospital in a boarding school type style. Despite of this illness, Lane and Sadie, the most daring girl in the Latham House, which is strict facility, devoid of any fun or internet (can you imagine that, no internet?), fall in love and try to enjoy their lives as much time as they have in their hand.
I'll begin with the setting of the book, Latham House, a sanatorium which is strict like hell and the rules are so hard to follow. The Latham House is cut off from the real world, especially they cut out the fun from these kids' lives like no internet, no sneaking in, always wearing med sensors on their hands, stuff like that.
Lane is a studious and determined and a smart-ass guy, who is studying hard to get in to one of the top Ivy League universities. That means he doesn't get involved into any kind of social activity or fun.
Sadie is the trouble-maker in the Latham House, who loves cracking up sarcastic jokes, sneaking in, switching off the sensors etc. She is highly social in the Latham House and hangs out with the most coolest and daring group of teenagers.
Lane and Sadie soon hit it off as friends and gradually their friendship blossoms into something sweet and innocent. And along with Sadie, Lane sees and experiences new daring adventures and other fun stuffs.
The writing is absolutely flawless and the way the author have laid out the whole plot by mixing it with the right type of emotions. And the best part is that The Latham House will not make you sorry even for a single minute, especially sorry about these terminally ill kids' lives. The plot is layered with funny and witty moments, that will often make you ROFL. And the emotional parts are bound to strike a chord in your heart.
The friendship between these five teenagers, who are a mix bag of weirdos and flawed characters, is depicted quite strikingly. I absolutely loved how the author brought these five indifferent characters together to make some history in the Latham House with their daring acts and friendship.
The characters are strongly developed and will immediately make you feel like you know them from somewhere, meaning which the author have drawn them with realism and they embody the demeanor of a real-life-fun-loving teenager.
And if you think that you don't want to shed tears over this story, then you're wrong, my friend, this is worth a read which reflects hope and miracle and that's what kept me going till the very end. This is probably one of the best realistic YA fiction that I've read this year.
Verdict: A must read book for the YA fans!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publicist, for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
----Kaya McLaren, an American author
Robyn Schneider, an American author, pens her new novel, Extraordinary Means that traces the story of two terminally ill teenagers, living in a part-hospital-part-boarding-school type of facility and how they fall in love despite of the incurable disease.
Apart from two teenagers suffering from terminal illness and falling in love with each other, there is nothing similar to TFIOS in this book. So don't judge the book according to TFIOS.
Synopsis:
At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.
There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.
But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down. Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.
This story is set in the future when Ebola is no more and a rare kind of TB, which is highly contagious, afflicts the people on this planet. Lane and Sadie are two teenagers who have been affected with this rare disease. Hence they are sent to a sanatorium called, Latham House to recover, which is a hospital in a boarding school type style. Despite of this illness, Lane and Sadie, the most daring girl in the Latham House, which is strict facility, devoid of any fun or internet (can you imagine that, no internet?), fall in love and try to enjoy their lives as much time as they have in their hand.
I'll begin with the setting of the book, Latham House, a sanatorium which is strict like hell and the rules are so hard to follow. The Latham House is cut off from the real world, especially they cut out the fun from these kids' lives like no internet, no sneaking in, always wearing med sensors on their hands, stuff like that.
Lane is a studious and determined and a smart-ass guy, who is studying hard to get in to one of the top Ivy League universities. That means he doesn't get involved into any kind of social activity or fun.
Sadie is the trouble-maker in the Latham House, who loves cracking up sarcastic jokes, sneaking in, switching off the sensors etc. She is highly social in the Latham House and hangs out with the most coolest and daring group of teenagers.
Lane and Sadie soon hit it off as friends and gradually their friendship blossoms into something sweet and innocent. And along with Sadie, Lane sees and experiences new daring adventures and other fun stuffs.
The writing is absolutely flawless and the way the author have laid out the whole plot by mixing it with the right type of emotions. And the best part is that The Latham House will not make you sorry even for a single minute, especially sorry about these terminally ill kids' lives. The plot is layered with funny and witty moments, that will often make you ROFL. And the emotional parts are bound to strike a chord in your heart.
The friendship between these five teenagers, who are a mix bag of weirdos and flawed characters, is depicted quite strikingly. I absolutely loved how the author brought these five indifferent characters together to make some history in the Latham House with their daring acts and friendship.
The characters are strongly developed and will immediately make you feel like you know them from somewhere, meaning which the author have drawn them with realism and they embody the demeanor of a real-life-fun-loving teenager.
And if you think that you don't want to shed tears over this story, then you're wrong, my friend, this is worth a read which reflects hope and miracle and that's what kept me going till the very end. This is probably one of the best realistic YA fiction that I've read this year.
Verdict: A must read book for the YA fans!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publicist, for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
July 18, 2016
5 Words: Love, friendship, hope, illness, amazing.
I am a mess. All tears and broken heart. Oh god, this book.
This is one of those books where you only have to glance at the back cover to know that it'll be a festival of broken hearts and tear shed. And it totally delivers.
The idea of the fictional TDR-TB is just so believable that it wasn't until the authors note at the end that I realised that it was all just fiction. It's terrifying, it could be real. It could so, so easily be real.
I received a copy of this for free via Goodreads First Reads.
I am a mess. All tears and broken heart. Oh god, this book.
This is one of those books where you only have to glance at the back cover to know that it'll be a festival of broken hearts and tear shed. And it totally delivers.
The idea of the fictional TDR-TB is just so believable that it wasn't until the authors note at the end that I realised that it was all just fiction. It's terrifying, it could be real. It could so, so easily be real.
I received a copy of this for free via Goodreads First Reads.
June 10, 2015
3.5 stars
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider is a well-written contemporary young adult novel that will surely find its place in the hearts of many. It’s a deliberate tear-jerker perfect for those who are chasing a few moments of catharsis.
When a book is repeatedly described as the love child of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, the reader pretty much knows what to expect going in. What’s more, an experienced reader can safely predict the beginning, the middle and the end. The similarities between the three books are undeniable. Schneider rarely strays far from John Green’s proven model, and even when she does, it’s for something that’s hardly important.
Robyn Schneider, thy name is not John Green. But it might as well be.
So does this book bring anything at all to the table, and if yes, what? Well, for one, there’s the quality of Robyn Schneider’s writing, which is excellent. She does sometimes push the profound a bit too far – I’ve found a few passages that were surely meant to be deep, but that made me laugh instead, and not in a good way. But those were rare, and for the most part, Schneider’s style was gentle and elegant.
As far as characters go, they were well thought-through, but they didn’t really jump out for me like they should have. There were some good sides, though. Although she’s a bit of a rebel, Sadie is a far cry from a manic pixie dream girl, which I actually liked. The simplicity of her character made her seem more real and accessible. Lane is a bit more complex, an overachiever, too serious for his actual age and seemingly socially awkward, at least at first. There’s a bit of history between him and Sadie, an old misunderstanding he was unaware of, but the brief past encounter makes their romance seem less abrupt and far more realistic.
The incurable strain of tuberculosis was a nice touch and a great way to isolate characters. The purpose of this disease and Latham was obvious, but still wonderfully done. For me, that was what made Extraordinary Means worth reading, not the potential heartbreak and not even the romance. But I’m sure both will appeal to so many other readers and with good reason. This is already Schneider’s second novel, but she’s already a force to be reckoned with. I just wish she would find her own, wholly original path.
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider is a well-written contemporary young adult novel that will surely find its place in the hearts of many. It’s a deliberate tear-jerker perfect for those who are chasing a few moments of catharsis.
When a book is repeatedly described as the love child of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, the reader pretty much knows what to expect going in. What’s more, an experienced reader can safely predict the beginning, the middle and the end. The similarities between the three books are undeniable. Schneider rarely strays far from John Green’s proven model, and even when she does, it’s for something that’s hardly important.
Robyn Schneider, thy name is not John Green. But it might as well be.
So does this book bring anything at all to the table, and if yes, what? Well, for one, there’s the quality of Robyn Schneider’s writing, which is excellent. She does sometimes push the profound a bit too far – I’ve found a few passages that were surely meant to be deep, but that made me laugh instead, and not in a good way. But those were rare, and for the most part, Schneider’s style was gentle and elegant.
As far as characters go, they were well thought-through, but they didn’t really jump out for me like they should have. There were some good sides, though. Although she’s a bit of a rebel, Sadie is a far cry from a manic pixie dream girl, which I actually liked. The simplicity of her character made her seem more real and accessible. Lane is a bit more complex, an overachiever, too serious for his actual age and seemingly socially awkward, at least at first. There’s a bit of history between him and Sadie, an old misunderstanding he was unaware of, but the brief past encounter makes their romance seem less abrupt and far more realistic.
The incurable strain of tuberculosis was a nice touch and a great way to isolate characters. The purpose of this disease and Latham was obvious, but still wonderfully done. For me, that was what made Extraordinary Means worth reading, not the potential heartbreak and not even the romance. But I’m sure both will appeal to so many other readers and with good reason. This is already Schneider’s second novel, but she’s already a force to be reckoned with. I just wish she would find her own, wholly original path.
December 5, 2017
*4,5 stars*
Yazarın Türkçe'ye çevrilmiş diğer kitabı Her Şeyin Başlangıcı'nı okumuş birisi olarak söylüyorum, bu ondan daha iyiydi. Her iki kitap da gençlere yönelik ama İkinci Şans'ın aynı zamanda kurgusal bir tarafı var. Çünkü tedavi edilemeyen bir tüberkülozdan mustarip olan çocukların bir çeşit hastane-yurtta bir araya gelişini anlatıyor yazar bu kitabında.
Umarım yazarın diğer kitaplarını da en kısa zamanda okuma fırsatım olur çünkü olayların bağlanışı, karakterlerin o aşırıya kaçmayan sempatiklikleri, etkileyici zekaları, olayların hem ucu açık gibi kalması hem de aslında ucu açık bırakılmamış olması gerçekten çok hoşuma gitti. Okurken inanılmaz keyif aldım. Benim için bir diğer artısı da seri kitap değil tek kitap olmasıydı ayrıca. Sürekli devam kitabı beklemekten kafayı yemiş insanlarız ve arada böyle romanlara da ihtiyaç var :')
Yazarın Türkçe'ye çevrilmiş diğer kitabı Her Şeyin Başlangıcı'nı okumuş birisi olarak söylüyorum, bu ondan daha iyiydi. Her iki kitap da gençlere yönelik ama İkinci Şans'ın aynı zamanda kurgusal bir tarafı var. Çünkü tedavi edilemeyen bir tüberkülozdan mustarip olan çocukların bir çeşit hastane-yurtta bir araya gelişini anlatıyor yazar bu kitabında.
Umarım yazarın diğer kitaplarını da en kısa zamanda okuma fırsatım olur çünkü olayların bağlanışı, karakterlerin o aşırıya kaçmayan sempatiklikleri, etkileyici zekaları, olayların hem ucu açık gibi kalması hem de aslında ucu açık bırakılmamış olması gerçekten çok hoşuma gitti. Okurken inanılmaz keyif aldım. Benim için bir diğer artısı da seri kitap değil tek kitap olmasıydı ayrıca. Sürekli devam kitabı beklemekten kafayı yemiş insanlarız ve arada böyle romanlara da ihtiyaç var :')
October 27, 2016
What an extraordinary story!^^
This is a story of a 17 year old young male adult named LANE,who seems to have a perfect life with a great future ahead of him,with high grades,and with a girlfriend whose pretty and smart until he was diagnosed with an incurable Tuberculosis,and was sent to LATHAM HOUSE,a boarding school and sanatorium for this kind of disease.
There in Latham,he was reunited with SADIE,the girl he knew from summer camp 4 yeas ago.A girl who is carefree and who leads a selective group of friends who are eccentric and energetic inspite of their illness. And as she welcomed Lane into her group,they all did things and stuffs that were beyond the rules just to have fun. And Lane realizes what he's missing..he finally had a "life" in Latham,he finds real friends,and he finds himself falling in love with Sadie.
And it's the friendship and the romance that I loved most in this novel. The story though is predictable and sad, it is beautiful and inspiring,and will give you a strong message. And I would definitely read more of Robyn Schneider.
Thanks a lot to my friend who inspired me to read this book,and who is now celebrating her birthday!
HAPPY,HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASOOMA! I miss and love you! :-*
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This is a story of a 17 year old young male adult named LANE,who seems to have a perfect life with a great future ahead of him,with high grades,and with a girlfriend whose pretty and smart until he was diagnosed with an incurable Tuberculosis,and was sent to LATHAM HOUSE,a boarding school and sanatorium for this kind of disease.
There in Latham,he was reunited with SADIE,the girl he knew from summer camp 4 yeas ago.A girl who is carefree and who leads a selective group of friends who are eccentric and energetic inspite of their illness. And as she welcomed Lane into her group,they all did things and stuffs that were beyond the rules just to have fun. And Lane realizes what he's missing..he finally had a "life" in Latham,he finds real friends,and he finds himself falling in love with Sadie.
And it's the friendship and the romance that I loved most in this novel. The story though is predictable and sad, it is beautiful and inspiring,and will give you a strong message. And I would definitely read more of Robyn Schneider.
Thanks a lot to my friend who inspired me to read this book,and who is now celebrating her birthday!
HAPPY,HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASOOMA! I miss and love you! :-*
[image error]
September 5, 2018
The Fault in Our Stars meets The Perks of being a Wallflower....yet not as good as either of those titles.
More in depth review on my BookTube channel -
https://youtu.be/CEU-cRY8ddM
Despite its title, there is nothing extraordinary about this book. However, it was quite an enjoyable read.
Although it features MANY tropes, and it can get quite cheesy....I still liked it and I ALMOST cried at the end.
I’m not a book cryer so ALMOST making me cry is an accomplishment. I’ll talk more about this soon on my booktube channel.
More in depth review on my BookTube channel -
https://youtu.be/CEU-cRY8ddM
Despite its title, there is nothing extraordinary about this book. However, it was quite an enjoyable read.
Although it features MANY tropes, and it can get quite cheesy....I still liked it and I ALMOST cried at the end.
I’m not a book cryer so ALMOST making me cry is an accomplishment. I’ll talk more about this soon on my booktube channel.
February 4, 2016
Can't find the words to describe how great this book were. Wonderfully written and such an amazing story.
I cried four times.
I cried four times.
February 25, 2015
Extraordinary Means is, basically, like Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain for the YA crowd. I have read Mann's behemoth of a book while studying literature (few years ago, different continent, whole different life), and it's one of the books that imprinted itself on my memory. I still remember the vividly described, enchanting setting and intelligent, sharp, insightful prose. (Really, you should read The Magic Mountain if you get a chance, it's a work of utter brilliance and erudition).
That being said, if you like contemporary books that are quietly powerful, predictably heartbreaking, thoroughly unsettling, thought-provoking, memorable and filled with existential themes, you should definitely read Extraordinary Means, too. Just like TMM, it's a book destined to become a classic.
From the moment I started reading Extraordinary Means, I kept thinking about The Magic Mountain and how much the atmosphere of Schneider's book reminded me of Mann's story. The similarities in the plot line itself aren't all that many (the tuberculosis, the isolated setting of sanatorium, etc), but they're clear and it's hard not to notice them.
Lane, Sadie, Marina, Nick and Charlie are all sick with a drug resistant, incurable strain of TB. Latham House, part sanatorium part boarding school, is their new world. They live there, they sleep and eat and go to classes there, and they wait to either get better and be sent back home, or, well, get worse and probably die. When Lane arrives at Latham, Sadie and her friends have been there for a while now. They're close-nit friends, the cool kids, the laugh-too-loud and refuse-to-follow-rules kind of kids. Lane knows he wants to be part of their group. But though Sadie and Lane know each other from a summer camp many yeas ago, they're not exactly good pals. Lane remembers Sadie as the shy and quiet wallflower girl, always taking pictures with her camera. Sadie remembers Lane as the one who stood her up, broke her heart, and scarred her for life. Is their running into each other a second chance at making things right, or is it yet another nail in the coffin of their incredibly depressing, hopeless lives?
Extraordinary Means is quite a profound and stimulating read. It's a slow moving, darkly funny, beautifully tragic and very smart kind of book. I loved the characters, the relationships, the interactions, dialogues, friendly banters and the almost excruciatingly shy romance between Sadie and Lane. Everything seemed authentic, real, convincing. The characters and their emotions, their worries, regrets, needs, hopes, reactions.. All of it really spoke to me and I was sucked into their world almost instantly. Both Lane and Sadie are complex characters. They're almost polar opposites of each other, but their attraction to one another is undeniable. The chemistry between these two was phenomenal. And it didn't feel forced, or rushed. It was.. really quite awesome.
At the same time, this is not just some tragic love story. It's so much more than that. Honestly, the romance part is maybe 35% of the whole thing. This book is mostly about living and dying, being diagnosed with a life-changing disease and having to face all that comes with it, staying strong despite feeling utterly hopeless, finding something worth holding on to, something worth living for. It's about being uprooted and isolated, lost, scared, confused, sad. It's about all the things that matter in life. And in death. It's just.. beautiful.
I took my time reading this book. It demanded my undivided attention. I kept re-reading some of the more insightful and thought-provoking passages ("Latham was my Hogwarts, and protocillin was the cure for my magic"). I savored the lyrical prose. I laughed at all the clever inside jokes, I hoped and I mourned.
Extraordinary Means is the kind of contemporary fiction that you can not only easily connect with, but you can also benefit from it on many levels. It's intelligent. It's emotionally affecting. It's, to some extent, cathartic. It makes you think about certain themes and issues, and then ask yourself questions like: "What would I do in a situation like that?", "How would my life change if I was the one infected with a drug resistant strain of TB?", "How would it affect my family?" etc..
I know this book will stay with me for a long time. I am so glad I picked it up!
That being said, if you like contemporary books that are quietly powerful, predictably heartbreaking, thoroughly unsettling, thought-provoking, memorable and filled with existential themes, you should definitely read Extraordinary Means, too. Just like TMM, it's a book destined to become a classic.
From the moment I started reading Extraordinary Means, I kept thinking about The Magic Mountain and how much the atmosphere of Schneider's book reminded me of Mann's story. The similarities in the plot line itself aren't all that many (the tuberculosis, the isolated setting of sanatorium, etc), but they're clear and it's hard not to notice them.
Lane, Sadie, Marina, Nick and Charlie are all sick with a drug resistant, incurable strain of TB. Latham House, part sanatorium part boarding school, is their new world. They live there, they sleep and eat and go to classes there, and they wait to either get better and be sent back home, or, well, get worse and probably die. When Lane arrives at Latham, Sadie and her friends have been there for a while now. They're close-nit friends, the cool kids, the laugh-too-loud and refuse-to-follow-rules kind of kids. Lane knows he wants to be part of their group. But though Sadie and Lane know each other from a summer camp many yeas ago, they're not exactly good pals. Lane remembers Sadie as the shy and quiet wallflower girl, always taking pictures with her camera. Sadie remembers Lane as the one who stood her up, broke her heart, and scarred her for life. Is their running into each other a second chance at making things right, or is it yet another nail in the coffin of their incredibly depressing, hopeless lives?
Extraordinary Means is quite a profound and stimulating read. It's a slow moving, darkly funny, beautifully tragic and very smart kind of book. I loved the characters, the relationships, the interactions, dialogues, friendly banters and the almost excruciatingly shy romance between Sadie and Lane. Everything seemed authentic, real, convincing. The characters and their emotions, their worries, regrets, needs, hopes, reactions.. All of it really spoke to me and I was sucked into their world almost instantly. Both Lane and Sadie are complex characters. They're almost polar opposites of each other, but their attraction to one another is undeniable. The chemistry between these two was phenomenal. And it didn't feel forced, or rushed. It was.. really quite awesome.
At the same time, this is not just some tragic love story. It's so much more than that. Honestly, the romance part is maybe 35% of the whole thing. This book is mostly about living and dying, being diagnosed with a life-changing disease and having to face all that comes with it, staying strong despite feeling utterly hopeless, finding something worth holding on to, something worth living for. It's about being uprooted and isolated, lost, scared, confused, sad. It's about all the things that matter in life. And in death. It's just.. beautiful.
I took my time reading this book. It demanded my undivided attention. I kept re-reading some of the more insightful and thought-provoking passages ("Latham was my Hogwarts, and protocillin was the cure for my magic"). I savored the lyrical prose. I laughed at all the clever inside jokes, I hoped and I mourned.
Extraordinary Means is the kind of contemporary fiction that you can not only easily connect with, but you can also benefit from it on many levels. It's intelligent. It's emotionally affecting. It's, to some extent, cathartic. It makes you think about certain themes and issues, and then ask yourself questions like: "What would I do in a situation like that?", "How would my life change if I was the one infected with a drug resistant strain of TB?", "How would it affect my family?" etc..
I know this book will stay with me for a long time. I am so glad I picked it up!
June 24, 2015
Review coming soon...
September 22, 2015
AWWW MAN THAT WAS SAD!!! But I loved it.
I was instantly attracted to the illness part of this book, which sounded really interesting and futuristic to me (even though I know it isn't). It's scary, but I like to think about living such a sad life and being in this world, as similar as it is to ours, except for the illness. The sadness of these kids' destiny hit me really hard, with all the similarities to summer camp that their quarantine camp has. Comparing to opposite things like that makes the whole situation even more weird, desperate and tragic, which is why I could basically not sleep until I finished this book.
Although it wasn't the most important point in this novel for me, I really liked the romance in this book. I loved how Sadie and Lane pretty much always liked each other, which sounds very fairy-tale-like to me (I'm aware that it's pretty much the opposite). Their love provided them with comfort when they needed it the most, which is one of the reasons why their relationship worked so well, in my opinion. Their late-night phone calls are the most adorable thing ever, especially to me, who's basically a phone calls lover. It sounds really romantic and if a guy ever did that with me, you can be assured he'd be the one I'd want to marry.
I think the most important theme in this book is probably growing up, in general. Lane represents those of us who live for good grades and won't have a moment to rest until we've done everything we could to succeed, which is really useless if you want to have a happy life, like Lane realized. This character development is amazing, because he went from someone who'd die instead of not applying to college to someone who spends hours on the phone with his girlfriend instead of studying. Also, making good friends and sticking with them is another lesson learned by Lane and the new friends he makes, especially for them, who never know when their last day might be. This tragic way to live reinforced their friendships, in my opinion, because they were forced to see how much their friends matter to them and spend as much quality time as they can. It's a nice philosophy, even though it's created by a sad situation.
I pretty much enjoyed everything in this book, so I'd highly recommend it.
I was instantly attracted to the illness part of this book, which sounded really interesting and futuristic to me (even though I know it isn't). It's scary, but I like to think about living such a sad life and being in this world, as similar as it is to ours, except for the illness. The sadness of these kids' destiny hit me really hard, with all the similarities to summer camp that their quarantine camp has. Comparing to opposite things like that makes the whole situation even more weird, desperate and tragic, which is why I could basically not sleep until I finished this book.
Although it wasn't the most important point in this novel for me, I really liked the romance in this book. I loved how Sadie and Lane pretty much always liked each other, which sounds very fairy-tale-like to me (I'm aware that it's pretty much the opposite). Their love provided them with comfort when they needed it the most, which is one of the reasons why their relationship worked so well, in my opinion. Their late-night phone calls are the most adorable thing ever, especially to me, who's basically a phone calls lover. It sounds really romantic and if a guy ever did that with me, you can be assured he'd be the one I'd want to marry.
I think the most important theme in this book is probably growing up, in general. Lane represents those of us who live for good grades and won't have a moment to rest until we've done everything we could to succeed, which is really useless if you want to have a happy life, like Lane realized. This character development is amazing, because he went from someone who'd die instead of not applying to college to someone who spends hours on the phone with his girlfriend instead of studying. Also, making good friends and sticking with them is another lesson learned by Lane and the new friends he makes, especially for them, who never know when their last day might be. This tragic way to live reinforced their friendships, in my opinion, because they were forced to see how much their friends matter to them and spend as much quality time as they can. It's a nice philosophy, even though it's created by a sad situation.
I pretty much enjoyed everything in this book, so I'd highly recommend it.
July 8, 2016
4.5
Sizi parçalara ayıracak, boğazınıza bir yumru gibi çökecek bir kitap arıyorsanız buyrun o kitap: İkinci Şans.
Hastalıkları konu alan kitapları okumayı ne kadar çok sevsem de okurken kendimi mahvediyorum. Neden bu kadar ağlak bir insanım bilmiyorum. Ama resmen sonunu tahmin etmeme rağmen oturdum ağladım.
Lane, 17 yaşına geldiğinde kendini tedavi edilemeyen tüberküloza yakalanmış bir halde, Latham Yurdu'ndaki gençlerin arasında bulur. Yarı hastane yarı okul olan Latham Yurdu, katı kurallar ve değişik uygulamalar ile doludur. Lane çocukluğundan tanıdığı Sadie ile Latham'da karşılaşır ve onun çok başka bir insan haline gelmesi Lane'i şaşırtır. Zamanla Sadie'nin grubu Lane'i aralarına alır ve aralarında dostluk, aşk, dayanışma başlar.
Bu kitabı okurken toplum tarafından dışlanılan insanlar olmanın neler hissettirdiği size öyle bir işliyor ki. İçim sıkıştı okurken.
Kitabı gerçekten çok sevdim. Çok etkilendim. Hastalık ile ilgili şeyler okumakta probleminiz yoksa kesinlikle okuyun.
En sevdiğim alıntıyı sizinle paylaşmak istiyorum;
' Ölü olmak ve ölmek arasında fark vardır. Hepimiz öleceğiz. Kimimiz doksan senede kimimiz de on dokuz senede. Ama bu gezegende yaşayan herkes, her sabah ölümüne bir gün daha yaklaşmış olarak uyanır. Herkes. Bu yüzden, düşündüğün zaman, yaşamak ve ölmek aslında aynı şeyi ifade eden farklı sözcükler. '
Sizi parçalara ayıracak, boğazınıza bir yumru gibi çökecek bir kitap arıyorsanız buyrun o kitap: İkinci Şans.
Hastalıkları konu alan kitapları okumayı ne kadar çok sevsem de okurken kendimi mahvediyorum. Neden bu kadar ağlak bir insanım bilmiyorum. Ama resmen sonunu tahmin etmeme rağmen oturdum ağladım.
Lane, 17 yaşına geldiğinde kendini tedavi edilemeyen tüberküloza yakalanmış bir halde, Latham Yurdu'ndaki gençlerin arasında bulur. Yarı hastane yarı okul olan Latham Yurdu, katı kurallar ve değişik uygulamalar ile doludur. Lane çocukluğundan tanıdığı Sadie ile Latham'da karşılaşır ve onun çok başka bir insan haline gelmesi Lane'i şaşırtır. Zamanla Sadie'nin grubu Lane'i aralarına alır ve aralarında dostluk, aşk, dayanışma başlar.
Bu kitabı okurken toplum tarafından dışlanılan insanlar olmanın neler hissettirdiği size öyle bir işliyor ki. İçim sıkıştı okurken.
Kitabı gerçekten çok sevdim. Çok etkilendim. Hastalık ile ilgili şeyler okumakta probleminiz yoksa kesinlikle okuyun.
En sevdiğim alıntıyı sizinle paylaşmak istiyorum;
' Ölü olmak ve ölmek arasında fark vardır. Hepimiz öleceğiz. Kimimiz doksan senede kimimiz de on dokuz senede. Ama bu gezegende yaşayan herkes, her sabah ölümüne bir gün daha yaklaşmış olarak uyanır. Herkes. Bu yüzden, düşündüğün zaman, yaşamak ve ölmek aslında aynı şeyi ifade eden farklı sözcükler. '
July 6, 2015
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!
This is a sad book. Not because of the writing, but because of the subject matter. One kid with tuberculosis is sad enough, but you’ve got a whole facility filled when them in Extraordinary Means. This is not the type of book you’d pick up if you’re feeling down, but for those who can accept it, it offers an interesting concept for kids who just want to find themselves.
With total drug resistant TB, these kids have been quarantined from the rest of the world until a cure is discovered. Sadie chooses to live her life with a resigned reluctance and internalised anger. Lane lives with ambition and hope for the future. I’m glad these two were able to make a difference in each other’s lives, but at the end of the day, you never know how long it’s going to be.
I enjoyed Lane’s point of view, it felt authentic and honest, with his reluctance to accept that he’s sick and throwing everything into his studies for college. But his fixation on the future has taken away his ability to focus on the present, which is something that Sadie pulls out of him. Sadie is like his bright light, and together they are really sweet.
Sadie was a character I had difficulty warming to. She’s dry, sarcastic and holds grudges against people who hurt her. She’s quite bitchy and cold towards Lane at first because of a misunderstanding she had in the past, but thankfully she gets better as the book goes on. I could see how she had resigned herself to her fate, was therefore rebellious and really didn’t care about consequences, even if she managed to hurt others in the process. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t realistic.
With Robyn Schneiders amazing characterisation and snarktastic writing, why only three stars? Let me explain.
So these teenagers are cooped up in a facility right, where they’re fed healthy food, are cut off from the world and are half-heartedly going to school. What do they do with themselves? Aside from hacking into the internet and the odd movie night here and there, Sadie and her friends make fun for themselves.
And this is the conflict that I can’t get my head around. These highly contagious kids, sneak out of the facility and go to town. They go to Starbucks, they hang around the park, and they visit shops and interact with people. They don’t have just any illness, they have an incurable disease. This is how the zombie apocalypse starts people, a bunch of stupid infected people sneaking out and putting the entire population at risk from a worldwide epidemic because they couldn’t pull their heads together. And of course, because they’ve snuck out once and gotten away with it, they’re going to keep and doing it again and again.
I can’t think of anything more horrifying than that.
But on the other hand, you have to feel for these kids. They feel fine, and they don’t think it’s a big deal. They just want to have a normal life, no more medical bands, no more getting treated like kid gloves, no more doctor’s appointments and check ups.
Yeah that’s why you have a facility with relative freedom to do whatever you want.
The author’s note opened my mind on the topic. It gave me a wider appreciation for the author’s background and passion in writing from the perspective of people with diseases. But we have My Sister’s Keeper, The Fault in Our Stars, just not a YA book about TB. I guess it raised awareness about this silent disease of the young.
Despite my earlier ranting, I enjoyed Extraordinary Means, I really did. Robyn Schneider has a knack for writing really real characters, whether they’re likable or not. Her humour and ease of writing is fantastic. But because of the reasons stated above, this just wasn’t the book for me.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for sending me this book for review.
This is a sad book. Not because of the writing, but because of the subject matter. One kid with tuberculosis is sad enough, but you’ve got a whole facility filled when them in Extraordinary Means. This is not the type of book you’d pick up if you’re feeling down, but for those who can accept it, it offers an interesting concept for kids who just want to find themselves.
With total drug resistant TB, these kids have been quarantined from the rest of the world until a cure is discovered. Sadie chooses to live her life with a resigned reluctance and internalised anger. Lane lives with ambition and hope for the future. I’m glad these two were able to make a difference in each other’s lives, but at the end of the day, you never know how long it’s going to be.
I enjoyed Lane’s point of view, it felt authentic and honest, with his reluctance to accept that he’s sick and throwing everything into his studies for college. But his fixation on the future has taken away his ability to focus on the present, which is something that Sadie pulls out of him. Sadie is like his bright light, and together they are really sweet.
Sadie was a character I had difficulty warming to. She’s dry, sarcastic and holds grudges against people who hurt her. She’s quite bitchy and cold towards Lane at first because of a misunderstanding she had in the past, but thankfully she gets better as the book goes on. I could see how she had resigned herself to her fate, was therefore rebellious and really didn’t care about consequences, even if she managed to hurt others in the process. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t realistic.
With Robyn Schneiders amazing characterisation and snarktastic writing, why only three stars? Let me explain.
So these teenagers are cooped up in a facility right, where they’re fed healthy food, are cut off from the world and are half-heartedly going to school. What do they do with themselves? Aside from hacking into the internet and the odd movie night here and there, Sadie and her friends make fun for themselves.
And this is the conflict that I can’t get my head around. These highly contagious kids, sneak out of the facility and go to town. They go to Starbucks, they hang around the park, and they visit shops and interact with people. They don’t have just any illness, they have an incurable disease. This is how the zombie apocalypse starts people, a bunch of stupid infected people sneaking out and putting the entire population at risk from a worldwide epidemic because they couldn’t pull their heads together. And of course, because they’ve snuck out once and gotten away with it, they’re going to keep and doing it again and again.
I can’t think of anything more horrifying than that.
But on the other hand, you have to feel for these kids. They feel fine, and they don’t think it’s a big deal. They just want to have a normal life, no more medical bands, no more getting treated like kid gloves, no more doctor’s appointments and check ups.
Yeah that’s why you have a facility with relative freedom to do whatever you want.
The author’s note opened my mind on the topic. It gave me a wider appreciation for the author’s background and passion in writing from the perspective of people with diseases. But we have My Sister’s Keeper, The Fault in Our Stars, just not a YA book about TB. I guess it raised awareness about this silent disease of the young.
Despite my earlier ranting, I enjoyed Extraordinary Means, I really did. Robyn Schneider has a knack for writing really real characters, whether they’re likable or not. Her humour and ease of writing is fantastic. But because of the reasons stated above, this just wasn’t the book for me.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for sending me this book for review.
December 31, 2015
Also reviewed on Sophie Reads YA
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is no way impacted in my view.
From the synopsis, it is recommended to those who enjoy John Green or Stephen Chbosky, and I could definitely see the connection with Green, not with Chbosky, which was good for me, as I really couldn't stand The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This book was nothing like I was expecting, though, to be honest, I don't know much about it when I requested it. This was a total case of cover love. From my first impressions of the book, based on both the cover and the, albeit vague, synopsis, I thought Extraordinary Means would be about teens with some sort of lung problems, perhaps cancer. To some extent, this impression was true, but it was such an understatement. In Extraordinary Means, Tuberculosis (TB) has returned, with a strain that is 'Total Drug Resistant' (TDR). Lane and Sadie, the protagonists in the novel, as well as their friends, are suffering from TDR-TB, and are patients in Latham House, a sanatorium for teenagers suffering from this condition. As the TB is drug resistant, there is as much a chance of death as there is of full recovery.
I really enjoyed that this book was dual POV, and that the two voices were really likeable. Both Lane and Sadie seemed like 'real' teenagers, you could see their suffering, and their happiness, and they weren't perfect in any respect. I especially liked the fact the they had known each other as children at a summer camp, and that the history between them was explained and not just glossed over. One problem I did have, though a really small one, was the romance. Yes, I was a fan of it (and I shipped the characters), but it felt sort of rushed, though I understand why it was rushed - they both could die at any day.
The book, and particularly TB, seemed to be really well researched, and I think this is something that Schneider should be praised for. The whole situation with the numerous x-rays, medical wrist sensors, and the different medications mentioned all made it seem even more real, as if it could actually happen, or was happening.
Overall, Extraordinary Means was unlike the usual YA Contemporaries that I read, and I really would recommend this book.
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is no way impacted in my view.
From the synopsis, it is recommended to those who enjoy John Green or Stephen Chbosky, and I could definitely see the connection with Green, not with Chbosky, which was good for me, as I really couldn't stand The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This book was nothing like I was expecting, though, to be honest, I don't know much about it when I requested it. This was a total case of cover love. From my first impressions of the book, based on both the cover and the, albeit vague, synopsis, I thought Extraordinary Means would be about teens with some sort of lung problems, perhaps cancer. To some extent, this impression was true, but it was such an understatement. In Extraordinary Means, Tuberculosis (TB) has returned, with a strain that is 'Total Drug Resistant' (TDR). Lane and Sadie, the protagonists in the novel, as well as their friends, are suffering from TDR-TB, and are patients in Latham House, a sanatorium for teenagers suffering from this condition. As the TB is drug resistant, there is as much a chance of death as there is of full recovery.
I really enjoyed that this book was dual POV, and that the two voices were really likeable. Both Lane and Sadie seemed like 'real' teenagers, you could see their suffering, and their happiness, and they weren't perfect in any respect. I especially liked the fact the they had known each other as children at a summer camp, and that the history between them was explained and not just glossed over. One problem I did have, though a really small one, was the romance. Yes, I was a fan of it (and I shipped the characters), but it felt sort of rushed, though I understand why it was rushed - they both could die at any day.
The book, and particularly TB, seemed to be really well researched, and I think this is something that Schneider should be praised for. The whole situation with the numerous x-rays, medical wrist sensors, and the different medications mentioned all made it seem even more real, as if it could actually happen, or was happening.
Overall, Extraordinary Means was unlike the usual YA Contemporaries that I read, and I really would recommend this book.
July 11, 2015
Yes, yes, and yes. Robyn Schneider kicked some asses again. Both Lane and Sadie have a good impact on the story. However, Lane, as a boy, doesn't really sound like a guy in some parts of the story. There are some parts that are quite unbelievable for a guy to do or say. Nevertheless, believe or not, when I was reading this book, I felt like I was on a train slowly closing in to another train. Then finally, boom! Train-wreck it is.
Well, that quote above is incredible. I have no words for it. Every word of it was giving me feels. And, can you see the writing style? I have no complaints. It's simply beautiful.
This is way incomparable to Robyn Schneider's other book, The Beginning of Everything. Extraordinary Means is something you can't forget that easily. Because: 1) The cover is super-duper nice. 2) The catch-phrase in the cover is catchy. 3) The ending.
The main characters having a sense of rebellion is way too good to add in the story. And there is this one word that struck me the most in this book and made me laugh even though I shouldn't laugh at that part is 'potato'. Well, aren't words like that surprising to see?
Not to mention that every part of this book is averagely realistic for me and I felt like diving in with them in Latham House.
Some parts just left me in awe. Some parts were just meh. And some parts just made me sad. And if you ever want to read this, read it. The cover isn't misleading.
"But that's the thing about odds. Roll a die twice, and you expect two different results. Except it doesn't work that way. You could roll the same side over and over again, the laws of the universe intact and unchanging with each turn.It's only when you consider the past that the odds change. That things become less and less likely."
Well, that quote above is incredible. I have no words for it. Every word of it was giving me feels. And, can you see the writing style? I have no complaints. It's simply beautiful.
This is way incomparable to Robyn Schneider's other book, The Beginning of Everything. Extraordinary Means is something you can't forget that easily. Because: 1) The cover is super-duper nice. 2) The catch-phrase in the cover is catchy. 3) The ending.
The main characters having a sense of rebellion is way too good to add in the story. And there is this one word that struck me the most in this book and made me laugh even though I shouldn't laugh at that part is 'potato'. Well, aren't words like that surprising to see?
Not to mention that every part of this book is averagely realistic for me and I felt like diving in with them in Latham House.
"My miracle wasn't a cure. It was a second chance. But second chances aren't forever. And even miracles have an expiration date."
Some parts just left me in awe. Some parts were just meh. And some parts just made me sad. And if you ever want to read this, read it. The cover isn't misleading.
June 10, 2015
This is my first of Robyn Schneider's books and I really wasn't disappointed. It reminded me of Looking for Alaska but with the added element of having an incurable disease from The Fault in Our Stars. Don't get me wrong, though, Extraordinary Means is not a copycat and has its own, separate, world to immerse yourself in.
The story begins with Lane's point of view. He is a straight A student who spends his life studying to keep his GPA up and working his way towards admission at an Ivy League college. It is a major inconvenience for him to be sent to Latham House, a sanatorium for sick kids, to deal with his incurable strain of TB. Lane's character development was immense. He realises that by focusing so much of his time on school and the future, he has forgotten to live. He has missed out on so much fun and so many opportunities that he didn't think were important until it was too late. Seeing him start to live his life, even if it's a restricted life, was so nice to see.
Our second point of view is in the form of Sadie. She has been at Latham House for over a year and is sort of drifting as she isn't getting any better or worse. She doesn't know when she'll get to go home but she is fitting in at Latham in a way that she never did at home. She is cool, has a great group of friends and is a sneaky rule-breaker.
The romance in the book is between Sadie and Lane who actually met before at summer camp when they were thirteen. Sadie thinks that Lane is responsible for something bad that happened to her at camp but that is quickly resolved and they begin to fall for each other. I thought they were really cute together and having the two view points was great as we got an insight into both of their thoughts and feelings. Whilst loving their relationship I couldn't help but dread how things would turn out given that they are both suffering from TB (and the fact there are two view points for two people in a relationship is always suspicious!). I really couldn't help but hope for them at the same time though which I guess is one of the messages here: however dark things seem, there is always hope.
This could have been extremely depressing but there is a lot of humour which lightens the story just enough whilst also keeping enough gloom for you to keep wondering what the outcome is going to be. It's a book about hope, second chances and living in the moment.
“There’s a difference between being dead and dying. We’re all dying. Some of us die for ninety years, and some of us die for nineteen. But each morning everyone on this planet wakes up one day closer to their death. Everyone. So living and dying are actually different words for the same thing, if you think about it.”
---
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All reviews are also posted to my blog: Nicola Reads YA
The story begins with Lane's point of view. He is a straight A student who spends his life studying to keep his GPA up and working his way towards admission at an Ivy League college. It is a major inconvenience for him to be sent to Latham House, a sanatorium for sick kids, to deal with his incurable strain of TB. Lane's character development was immense. He realises that by focusing so much of his time on school and the future, he has forgotten to live. He has missed out on so much fun and so many opportunities that he didn't think were important until it was too late. Seeing him start to live his life, even if it's a restricted life, was so nice to see.
Our second point of view is in the form of Sadie. She has been at Latham House for over a year and is sort of drifting as she isn't getting any better or worse. She doesn't know when she'll get to go home but she is fitting in at Latham in a way that she never did at home. She is cool, has a great group of friends and is a sneaky rule-breaker.
The romance in the book is between Sadie and Lane who actually met before at summer camp when they were thirteen. Sadie thinks that Lane is responsible for something bad that happened to her at camp but that is quickly resolved and they begin to fall for each other. I thought they were really cute together and having the two view points was great as we got an insight into both of their thoughts and feelings. Whilst loving their relationship I couldn't help but dread how things would turn out given that they are both suffering from TB (and the fact there are two view points for two people in a relationship is always suspicious!). I really couldn't help but hope for them at the same time though which I guess is one of the messages here: however dark things seem, there is always hope.
This could have been extremely depressing but there is a lot of humour which lightens the story just enough whilst also keeping enough gloom for you to keep wondering what the outcome is going to be. It's a book about hope, second chances and living in the moment.
“There’s a difference between being dead and dying. We’re all dying. Some of us die for ninety years, and some of us die for nineteen. But each morning everyone on this planet wakes up one day closer to their death. Everyone. So living and dying are actually different words for the same thing, if you think about it.”
---
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All reviews are also posted to my blog: Nicola Reads YA
May 21, 2015
Also posted at The Quirky Reader
Extraordinary Means is nothing new I’ve read in YA literature. I’m almost tempted to say that this is the sister companion of The Fault in Our Stars, under different circumstances, of course. I don’t want to give anything away other than my hopes of fueling your excitement for this wonderful novel.
The story follows Lane and Sadie who unexpectedly reunite from summer camp to the TB sanatorium Latham House. They are joined with a wonderful cast of quirky (I know) characters: Nick, Marina, and Charlie. They’re squad is notoriously known for breaking some of Latham’s rules (like smuggling goods from the outside world) and being happy not miserable.
I mentioned this before that what makes a good book for me is an amazing protagonist. In this case, Schneider crafted these two extraordinary protagonists. Lane and Sadie weren’t cardboard cutouts; they made me feel with them. I felt their doubts, their miseries, and their happiness. And that can be dangerous sometimes for a reader, when we get attached to a character but I don’t care. I AM GOING DOWN WITH THIS SHIP AND ITS CREW.
Robyn Schneider is a godsend to the YA universe. I can’t imagine her books not existing. That’s why I’m pushing you and everybody else reading this review to check this woman’s work. Believe me when I say this: her words are extraordinary.
“There’s a specific energy to different moments, and once you lose it, it can’t be recaptured. You’ve got to record it, or you’ve got nothing.”If The Beginning of Everything was the appetizer to my favorite meal then this book is the main course. I’ve always known that Robyn Schneider’s going to be one of those authors that, once you see their book in a bookstore, you’ll grab it without hesitation.
Extraordinary Means is nothing new I’ve read in YA literature. I’m almost tempted to say that this is the sister companion of The Fault in Our Stars, under different circumstances, of course. I don’t want to give anything away other than my hopes of fueling your excitement for this wonderful novel.
The story follows Lane and Sadie who unexpectedly reunite from summer camp to the TB sanatorium Latham House. They are joined with a wonderful cast of quirky (I know) characters: Nick, Marina, and Charlie. They’re squad is notoriously known for breaking some of Latham’s rules (like smuggling goods from the outside world) and being happy not miserable.
I mentioned this before that what makes a good book for me is an amazing protagonist. In this case, Schneider crafted these two extraordinary protagonists. Lane and Sadie weren’t cardboard cutouts; they made me feel with them. I felt their doubts, their miseries, and their happiness. And that can be dangerous sometimes for a reader, when we get attached to a character but I don’t care. I AM GOING DOWN WITH THIS SHIP AND ITS CREW.
“So that’s how you live a really great life. You make sure you have enough good days that you want to go back to.”If I were to describe this book, it would be uplifting contrary to the seemingly bleak synopsis it has. I don’t want to give anything away about the events of this book, but all you have to know is that this was an exhilarating journey for me. It was like a peaceful and warm summer night.
Robyn Schneider is a godsend to the YA universe. I can’t imagine her books not existing. That’s why I’m pushing you and everybody else reading this review to check this woman’s work. Believe me when I say this: her words are extraordinary.
February 26, 2016
Reminded me a little too much of a John green book. Wish the romance would have been a little more in depth. Criticisms aside,this book made me cry like a baby in the end so I obviously must have been more into than I thought.
April 13, 2017
ALRIGHT HERE WE GO Y'ALL THIS IS GOING TO BE AN ANGRY AND SEMI-COHERENT REVIEW RIDDLED WITH GIFS AND SPOILERS (which will be marked you can read this even if you're planning on reading this book--but honestly do you not value my opinion at all?!)
ugh!!! i had such high hopes for this book!
but, no. just like the love between two archetype'd robyn schneider characters, my beliefs were scorned. it was just the beginning of everything: maybe we'll die how sad is that let's be pretentious we're so young so full of life so much wasted potential edition. some amazing unique special snowflake she-doesn't-know-she's-beautiful perfect specimen of a girl falls in luuuuuuv with a hot guy. a completely vanilla, absolutely no interesting qualities type.
what a coinky-dink that in this group of five friends, the survival rate of the disease is four out of five. SOMEONE'S GOTTA DIE. well, two people in this case. but whatever.
i don't even know how to organize this review. so many things pissed me off. I NEVER EVEN WRITE FULL REVIEWS. I SCRAWL THINGS.
but when i don't like a book, i usually have that feeling going in! and despite my strong dislike of the beginning of everything, i still thought i was going to like this book!
this is mainly due to the following reasons:
1) i only heard good things
2) the premise is pretty cool
3) alright, fine, the cover rocks.
so with my expectations in mind, let's set up the plotline. this is going to be like mildly detailed so if you still want to read the book you should probably skip this part.I'M SORRY I KNOW I SAID THIS WOULD BE SAFE TO REAd
poor widdle lane has TB. except it's now inexplicably different. it's completely resistant to drugs,and yet the mortality rate at a sanatorium where everyone has it is a mere 20%. also it's EXTREMELY CONTAGIOUS!!! but omg why are my parents worried lol i'm fine also they only have a 10% chance of contracting it if they're in contact with me but they'll be fired if they "test positive for exposure" (wtf??)
so the science here doesn't really check out.
anyway, lane arrives at this top-notch expensive sanatorium, granted opportunities anyone else with TB would literally kill for (and that's just in the US). and he hates it there.
maybe i'm not being fair. but this is an epidemic, possibly a pandemic, and his only symptoms are being tired once in a while and coughing sometimes, and this kid is chilling having amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences with his perfectly quirky popular clique, who are just too cool to deal with these people trying to help them, and they could only ever possibly flourish in this obscure scenario. honestly i cannot picture these kids at a public high school.
SPEAKING OF WHICH, why are there only teenagers in this place?!
anyway he falls in with this group and then falls in love with unique beauty over there, blah blah blah. occasional insertion of coughing fit as a reminder that This Typical And Boring Love Story Is Beautiful Because They Might Die. how deep.
then more stuff happens and shit hits the fan but it's all right but then it's A MILLION TIMES WORSE.
except that at the page that probably inspired tears in some of people who cry during john green books, i cracked an incredulous grin.
don't waste your time on this book.
ugh!!! i had such high hopes for this book!
but, no. just like the love between two archetype'd robyn schneider characters, my beliefs were scorned. it was just the beginning of everything: maybe we'll die how sad is that let's be pretentious we're so young so full of life so much wasted potential edition. some amazing unique special snowflake she-doesn't-know-she's-beautiful perfect specimen of a girl falls in luuuuuuv with a hot guy. a completely vanilla, absolutely no interesting qualities type.
what a coinky-dink that in this group of five friends, the survival rate of the disease is four out of five. SOMEONE'S GOTTA DIE. well, two people in this case. but whatever.
i don't even know how to organize this review. so many things pissed me off. I NEVER EVEN WRITE FULL REVIEWS. I SCRAWL THINGS.
but when i don't like a book, i usually have that feeling going in! and despite my strong dislike of the beginning of everything, i still thought i was going to like this book!
this is mainly due to the following reasons:
1) i only heard good things
2) the premise is pretty cool
3) alright, fine, the cover rocks.
so with my expectations in mind, let's set up the plotline. this is going to be like mildly detailed so if you still want to read the book you should probably skip this part.
poor widdle lane has TB. except it's now inexplicably different. it's completely resistant to drugs,
so the science here doesn't really check out.
anyway, lane arrives at this top-notch expensive sanatorium, granted opportunities anyone else with TB would literally kill for (and that's just in the US). and he hates it there.
maybe i'm not being fair. but this is an epidemic, possibly a pandemic, and his only symptoms are being tired once in a while and coughing sometimes, and this kid is chilling having amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences with his perfectly quirky popular clique, who are just too cool to deal with these people trying to help them, and they could only ever possibly flourish in this obscure scenario. honestly i cannot picture these kids at a public high school.
SPEAKING OF WHICH, why are there only teenagers in this place?!
anyway he falls in with this group and then falls in love with unique beauty over there, blah blah blah. occasional insertion of coughing fit as a reminder that This Typical And Boring Love Story Is Beautiful Because They Might Die. how deep.
then more stuff happens and shit hits the fan but it's all right but then it's A MILLION TIMES WORSE.
except that at the page that probably inspired tears in some of people who cry during john green books, i cracked an incredulous grin.
don't waste your time on this book.
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