Outside In

by Chrissie Keighery

The cool group at school is not as luminous as it seems. Sure they appear to have it all, but there are problems lurking just below the surface.

 

Beautiful Jordan is struggling to cope because of her newly divorced parents, Meredith covers her past by playing the clown, Cecilia hides her feelings and a shameful secret, Sam is growing up, and Jack is caught off-guard when he falls in love for the first time. And then there's someone else. She's not part of the group. The others have no idea she's there. But she knows that there are cracks. She watches them from the inside, out. From the outside, in.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

183 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

Reviews

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review posted at Amaterasu Reads

"From the outside looking in."

I think at one point in our lives that short sentence applies to us. I move a lot, and more often than not I find myself starting over and over again to find new friends and just try to be part of a group, which is never easy. Chrissie Keighery's novel discusses that and more, because more often than not, people like to see what's on the outside, but how about what happens on the inside? Now we get to know it all through the eyes of one girl on the outside, trying her best to look in.

The cool group may not be as cool as they seem. The perfect ones may not be as perfect as you think they are. Told from the perspective of the various characters that gives life to this novel, and an unknown source from the outside, Jordan, Jack, Sam, Meredith, Lee and Cecilia's lives are about to be seen from the inside out in this moving, heartfelt book. They were all part of a clique, but they have their own stories to tell.

Jordan is the it girl, but they didn't know how much she's been struggling with her parents divorce. Jack is the jock, a great athlete with his sights focused on the State team, but no one knows what happens when Jack comes home to a drunk father who couldn't bother watching his son's basketball game. Lee was the poster girl for kindness, but nobody knows how much she tries to be that way. And now she likes the same guy Jordan likes. Will she play the friendship card and be nice or break out from her shell and take a chance? Sam is the clique's nerd, awkward, always unsure about everything, even the way he feels about Meredith. And Meredith is the playful one, always making a joke out of anything and everything. But does her friends know how much she misses her mom? How she struggles without her? And then there's Cecilia. Quiet, withdrawn, petite, graceful Cecilia. But does her friends know the horrors she does to herself to stay the way she is?

It's worth a look to see how each of their stories unfold through each character's point of view. The shift from a particular character's perspective to an unknown person gives the reader a whole new understanding of that person, because you don't just get to read what each of the characters think about themselves and their lives, you get to know what others, another person they don't know, think about them. You get two sides of the story and I think that makes the entire novel a lot more interesting. More complete, a little bit whole, maybe more than what was supposed to be seen.

But it's not just about Jordan, or Jack, or Lee. Or even Sam, or Meredith or even Cecilia. It's also about that "unknown" person. The one who sees all of them from afar, looking, just wanting to be a part of something. Little by little this person makes herself known, taking her first steps, no matter how small they are, to make people like Jordan and her friends see that someone like her exists. This particular part of the book is what I liked the most. It's not just about the "somebodys", but it's also about that "nobody".

Outside In makes us realize that none of us are perfect. That even the most popular girl, the most popular boy, is also struggling. It makes us realize that maybe we just need to look a little more closely to see the flaws, what's really underneath, what's real, and think that like everyone else, people like them have problems to deal with. That they also get hurt and make mistakes like all of us.

The content made up for lethargic pace of the book. A great coming of age novel, of first loves, family, acceptance, and ultimately, of enduring friendship. Once again, Chrissie Keighery has written a novel about what it's like growing up, a book which we can all relate to because at one point in our lives we were like them, we're all young once and we faced the same fears, problems, and got through them not just with our family, but with our friends as well. With realistic characters and overall, an honest, simple story, Outside In is a great read.

Chrissie Keighery, with this book, is definitely in my list of one of the best contemporary authors. Her books will be a must-buy from now on. Give this book a chance everyone!

[Rebecca Sparkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved outside in. I got through my copy (sent and personalised by Chrissie Keighery) in less than three hours. It was so amasing and helped me understand some things.
It taught me that your not the only one with problems and the world isn't the same for everybody. It's made me open my eyes to the problems my friends have.
The world looks so different now. I now pay attention to my friends and family's every tick and twitch. Make sure I pay attention to the small details and think of everything that could be wrong. This is in no way a sad book. It is fun, witty and overall one of the most enjoyable reads of my time.
Merideth is my favourite character. She is me. Every aspect of her. The confidence and entertaining flair that covers the pain and raw emotion. The loss of a parent (or in my case step-parent) to canada.
This book has also helped me to help my friend who cuts himself.
This book also makes you realise just how much of an impact one, seemingly unimportant person can have on lives without you noticing.everybody thinks they are that one girl in the back of the room, but they're not. There will always be someone further back than you. Shoot her a smile every now and then, it'll make your day, and might just help you some time in the future.
A good fun read that every teenager will undertand. Get on it everybody. You will love it, I promise.
Rebecca. Xx

[Gigi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to like this but it was slow and didn't really hit home hard enough. Also, the kids were meant to be 16 (around this, as It was implied or how I thought it was implied) but then they were dealing with 11-12 year old issues, in the most part. And if they WERE meant to be 11-12, well then, they really needed to all get over themselves. Dealing with 'love' as a middle school freshman? Yeah, sure.

I just didn't find it realistic enough and the impact wasn't felt. I think the author doesn't know many kids the age she was writing about or she was writing about one age, whilst really describing the other. The events seemed trivial and although they are things we all deal with in real life, it's just not book worthy. The divorce was probably the only worthy topic.

I think I just confused myself as to who this was for and what it was about when I bought it. Otherwise, it was nice simple writing and a short, nice read.

[hollyishere · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made myself push through to the first 100 pages but I just really wasn't feeling it for this book. It's basically about a group of schools friends who look perfect from the outside but when you take a closer look, ie Outside In, you'll see that they are all struggling through major teen issues.

I'm not even really sure what it was that I disliked about this book, but I just found myself zoning out and not really paying attention to the story line or the characters. I guess it wasn't captivating enough for me.

[Carmen Basile · Rating 4 out of 5]

All’inizio lo trovavo molto banale e scritto solo per adolescenti, ma andando avanti ho cominciato a divorarlo! Infatti l’ho finito in poche ore (con pause thé, merende...😂) mi è piaciuto un sacco! Molto molto carino e riflessivo.

[*Weebles* · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was pretty good. I thought it could of ended better, but it was good.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

See full review here.

Outside In is a short and beautiful novella about finding where you belong in the tumultuous, confusing complexity that is teenage life. I read it in one sitting and was stunned by the truth that emanated from this powerful story.

This story describes the friendship dynamics between the "luminous" group at the narrator's school. The narrator is a new girl at the school, never identified until the end, who feels like she is always on the outside, the fringes of society, looking in, but never truly a part of it. The "luminous" group comprises of four outwardly content girls whose lives seem perfectly okay on the surface, but beneath the facade, there is tension as each girl secretly goes through individual trials and tribulations.

The book switches focus between all the characters, but never returning to any one, except the narrator. From her position outside the group, the narrator is able to sense more about the dynamics between the friends than the girls themselves. I liked this choice of structure as it truly is unique, lends a voice to every character, and shows us the troubles beneath the cool surface. However, this left little room for the characters to truly develop.

The writing is not something that stands out to me, but Keighery intelligently explores the themes of appearances versus reality. While each character has their own, very different but innately related, set of problems, they are characters that all could relate to. All social issues explored - divorce, low self-esteem, isolation, hurt, betrayal, friendship, love, eating disorders - are just as serious as each other, because of the immense effect that they have on that person. And I'm sure that at least one of those issues has affected everyone.

Outside In is a powerful story that lights up the darkness in the lives of others, and the raw emotions explored in this novella touched my heart with their truthfulness.

[JasminReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love it. I had seen some raving reviews and it sounded like the kind of book I could really appreciate.

However it didn't quite turn out like I wanted it to.

The beginning of the story seemed promising, predictable and cliched, but easy and pleasant.
Its written from multiple perspectives, which can be brilliant when done well. Although in the case of "Outside In" in my opinion it jumped between characters so fast it didn't seem to have enough time to build upon the characters and give them the depth that I wanted.

I guess its my fault that I believed I was reading a 'young adults' novel (in my mind this is 16-21 kind of age group) when what I got was a book more designed for my 11 year old cousin. I say this only because the girls in the story were very young (or at least acted as though they were very young) and a little immature, for example periods where a huge deal and it was all a little silly. Having said this, I would have had an appreciation for the story when I was 10 or 11 when the whole idea of puberty was still an alien concept and something you giggled about during Health class.


The introduction of an eating disorder was a little unnecessary and I found the way it was treated sort of painful to read. It's a topic very close to my heart and I wished so much more for the resolve.
I felt that it was almost insensitive and the fact that she 'got over it' so quickly struck me as very unrealistic.
Eating disorders are a form of mental illness, in my experience (which unfortunately is a fair bit) a person needs a lot of support and understanding to get to the point where they could even admit they have a problem, let alone go off by them self and seek help.


The initially unnamed wallflower was an interesting addition to the story although by the time she got her own 'story' told the end was too soon and I could not form any sort of care factor for her.


tl;dr
It was a bit immature and they ventured into completely unnecessary realms. Give it to an 11 or 12 year old..

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside In is a series of interrelated short stories centring on a group of friends, though it reads as a novel. Each chapter is about a different person in the group, and the things which they’re dealing with as well as how they feel about each other. It reflects well how different the way in which people see you is to the way you see yourself, as well as being a teenager and finding out who you are.

Outside In was a quick and easy read, but it was also written really well – beautiful in its simplicity. Each character was well-developed, each struggled with their own issues, and as well as each story being separate, the entire novel fit together seamlessly as a whole (reminiscent of Town by James Roy, though Outside In seems written mainly for younger teenage girls).

I was slightly confused through this novel by how old the characters were. It’s never stated (at least I don’t think so), and the way they speak and behave and some of the issues tackled in it made them seem 13 or 14, whereas other themes seemed more suited to older teenagers. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and I think it’ll appeal to both younger and older teenagers, mainly girls.

Outside In covered a lot of topics, and had a number of central characters. It’s a wonderful novel, but I felt it would have been even stronger if the scope of it – the themes covered and how many people it focuses on – had been narrowed a bit. I’d recommend this to girls in the 13-15 age bracket, particularly those who aren’t super-keen readers – it’s an easy read, but also beautiful written, and well worth picking up.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

ADOLESCENZA TERRIBILE

Storie di abbandono, sofferenza, malattia, inadeguatezza. Esse s'intrecciano per fornire il quadro di un'adolescenza terribile, il cui unico rimedio sono il supporto reciproco e l'amore, non solo quello verso gli altri, ma soprattutto verso se stessi.

"Ti vogliamo bene. Soltanto che devi volertene anche tu."

"Quello che ho dentro

Loro hanno tutte le risposte
Tu sei nell'ombra, loro hanno la luce
Tu hai un mucchio di dubbi
Loro invece fanno tutto giusto

Chi ha creato il tuo corpo
Non è lo stesso che ha plasmato la tua mente
I due non vanno d'accordo
E tu sei rimasta un passo indietro

Gli altri si trovano, si riconoscono
Tu sei lasciata sola, a guardare
C'è un cerchio magico intorno al loro mondo
Che ti tiene lontana come la Luna

Provi a star bene nell'ombra
Dove non si vedono i contorni
Ma a volte ti chiedi se capita anche a loro
Di sentirsi esattamente come te

Uno sguardo da fuori
Sottosopra, a rovescio
Vede fino in fondo
Fin dentro al cuore."

E niente, fa già piangere così.

[Stas · Rating 4 out of 5]

So basically I liked it. A book with real teens with real problems.

HEADS UP: This book is more of a character study and social commentary, because nothing much happens in here.
It's basically a slice of life. Some issues are raised and explored, rather tactfully I think.
It's coming of age and growing up and changing and adapting and becoming your own self. It's about life.

The character break down:
Jordan, popular girl - her chapter made me so sad, I ached for her.
Lee, average - she annoyed me, didn't like her much, but she's okay?
Sam, cute - this guy was so cute!
Meredith, jokester - unexpected depth.
Jack, popular guy - a good guy with not so easy a life.
Cecilia, dancer - she has it tough, poor thing.
Renee, unseen observer - I wanted to shake her so bad, even though I can see where she is coming from.

I think this book is a little young - lower ledge of YA or middle-to-high ledge of middle-grade.

You should give it a try if you don't mind a slow-paced read that mostly deals with exploring the inside of people's heads.

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the shadows she watches them from the outside looking in. She watches without being watched, they are popular and good looking and to them she is invisible. From this view, from the outside looking in they all seem perfect, their lives are perfect.

From the inside the view is different. On the inside everyone is dealing with their own personal problems and while some are more serious then others everyone suffers the same. Everyone is hiding on the inside, afraid of being hurt, afraid of being alone. But even on the outside cracks are starting to show.

Outside In introduces an ensemble cast sharing their experiences in a way that is both illuminating and affectionate. A powerful story that compels an emotional investment into the lives of a group of people whom little is known about. That is apart from the perspectives of others looking in from the outside, and the glimpses revealed from the inside out. Definitely a must read.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the verge of scoring a 4 star review. It's just a shame that there wasn't very much OoMPH in it (a.k.a. Options of More Plot Height).

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for the longest time, since school, probably, and can't believe I didn't read it back then. Apparently this weekend I am picking books that scream out at the girl I was in high school. It's a very surreal thing to feel.

I really enjoyed this book, but 15/16 year old me would have enjoyed it more.

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 2 out of 5]

CW: Eating disorder

[Nc · Rating 4 out of 5]

liked the book. remembered teen days...