Ten Below Zero

Ten Below Zero
by Whitney Barbetti
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Published by: Whitney Barbetti Publish Date: August 25, 2014
Genre & Subject Matter: NA, Cancer, Female being Attacked
Rating: 5 Stars
My name is Parker. My body is marked with scars from an attack I don’t remember. I’m indifferent to everything, everyone. The only emotion I feel with any kind of depth is annoyance, and I feel it often.

A text message sent to the wrong number proves to be my undoing.

His name is Everett, but I call him rude. He’s pushy, he’s arrogant, he crowds my personal space, and worst of all: he makes me feel. He chooses to wear all black, all the time, as if he’s waiting to attend a funeral. Probably because he is.

Everett is dying. And he’s spending his final days living, truly living. In doing so, he’s forcing me to feel, to heal. To come face to face with the demons I suppressed in my memory.

He hurts me, he fulfills me, he completes me. And still, he's dying.

This is my new favorite author! I have no idea how I ran across this book on Amazon, but I'm SO GLAD I took a chance on it in spite of it's foreshadowed end. This is literally the only book that's ever made me cry, yet I can't sing its praises enough!

We've all read books with the "terminal illness" trope and/or the "broken people who overcome things" trope, and hopefully, we're all ready to read a fresh and uncharted version of those. That's what Ten Below Zero is. While those are strong themes in the story, they are by no means the reason that this story resonates. The realistic characters and the journey they embark on that shaped this book in a way that no other has for me.

Parker has blocked out the terrible incident that caused her scars. In order to maintain that wall, she's turned off all of her emotions and is simply surviving instead of living. I completely identify with her, and not just because I've had my own attack experience. The author made me identify with her character through her carefully chosen words and descriptions of Parker.

Everett has a terminal illness and is choosing to fully live until the end. He's in the exact opposite place than Parker, and after a wrong number on his part and an impulsive move on hers, he is determined to show her how to feel and how to live.

The two set off for a road trip, Everett's last hurrah. Will Parker thaw? Will Everett find what he's looking for? You'll have to read to see. I do not want to give away any spoilers as it is best to let the story unfold naturally for the reader.

Let me know if you've read this one!

Flat Out Celeste by Jessica Park

Flat Out Celeste
by Jessica Park
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Published by: Create Space Publish Date: May 22, 2014
Genre: YA
Rating: 4.5 Stars
For high-school senior Celeste Watkins, every day is a brutal test of bravery. And Celeste is scared. Alienated because she’s too smart, her speech too affected, her social skills too far outside the norm, she seems to have no choice but to retreat into isolation. But college could set her free, right? If she can make it through this grueling senior year, then maybe. If she can just find that one person to throw her a lifeline, then maybe, just maybe. Justin Milano, a college sophomore with his own set of quirks, could be that person to pull her from a world of solitude. To rescue her—that is, if she’ll let him. Together, they may work. Together, they may save each other. And together they may also save another couple—two people Celeste knows are absolutely, positively flat-out in love.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Flat Out Love by Jessica Park, and have had this follow-up on my TBR pile for awhile. I finally got the chance to sit down and read it. I was not disappointed.

Jessica Park has a knack for making her characters seem like people I know in real life. I know a lot of people write things like that in their reviews, but I REALLY mean this. I feel like I could hang out with Celeste or Matt or Justin and feel comfortable with them. Celeste likely has Aspergers while Justin has some type of ADHD. She brings a natural calm to him, and he accepts her for who she is. Matt and Julie of Flat Out Love also make an appearance. I won't go into too much detail as reading it is much more gratifying than the review I'm writing. I just can't do Jessica Park's books justice.