Hello there internet! I am oh so excited about today's post, partly because i feel like i haven't written a book review in so long, but also because i just loved this book so much! But i'm getting ahead of myself, first we need to talk about the book before i get into all the feelings.
So the lovely people at Books With Bite sent me a proof copy of Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington to review, and i am so happy about it.
Release Date: August 2014
Release Date: August 2014
The Plot: For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she shifts to her 'other' life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she's a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend; in the other she's considered a reckless delinquent.
Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is fine in the other.
With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments that bring her dangerously close to the life she's always wanted. But if she can only have one life, which is the one she'll choose?
Well, what can i say? Between the Lives was funny, heartbreaking, wonderful, dramatic, most of all - it was beautiful.
The development of Sabine and Ethan's relationship was realistic, and oh so beautiful and lovely to read. I loved the way that they interacted with each other and the challenges that Ethan brought into Sabine's life were so important to both the story and to their relationship. The moments that they shared when he was looking after her were some of my favourite parts of the book, and they are now definitely one of my favourite fictional couples by far.
I loved the development of Sabine's character and the way that one life began to impact the way she acted in her other life, and the continuity was great, which can sometimes be missing in books with parallel world-type stories. I think that although Sabine went through a lot, both in Roxbury and Wellesley, and i think that's what has made her one of my new favourite characters. Her wit, the mix of her personalities, her relationships, all of it made me want to keep reading about her life and never stop.
As for Ethan...well what can i say, he was one of the best male characters i've come across who wasn't the main character. The way he acted with Sabine made me completely fall in love with both him and the story. He is ultimately the reason that i broke down into tears nearing the end of the book. And i won't give anything away, but i may need some time to recover from that.
The letter!! Oh man the letter! I was already in tears because of everything else in the book, and then that letter came along and that was it - i was gone. I just broke down into tears, and had to finish the book through very teary eyes. And i wouldn't want it any other way!
The ending of Between the Lives is one of the most wonderful, surprising, heart-breaking, heart-warming, beautiful endings to a book i have read in such a long time. And i want more! I need to know what happens after the book ends, but if i can't have that, i'm glad i get to go back and read this book over and over again!
I have completely fallen in love with this book, and these worlds, and i hope you do too, because believe me, it's oh so worth the tears!
"You were right. I was lost. But you found me, between the lives."
Meghan x
