Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Review: Nobody But Us by Kristen Halbrook

Title: Nobody But Us
Author: Kristen Halbrook
Published:  January 29th 2013
Source: Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon ~*~ Barnes & Noble
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Caution: May contain spoilers

Bonnie and Clyde meets IF I STAY in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.

My Thoughts:

This book was one of those I had heard about since the beginning. I love YA Highway and it seems like every author on there has great work. When the opportunity arrived to get this ARC, I thought it was worth giving a shot.

The story of Will and Zoe wasn’t exactly what I expected. All I remembered from the synopsis was that they were a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. The depth of their backgrounds and what has lead them to running off like this is intense. The feelings that they both experience during this journey are hard to handle. They are both struggling with what they are doing, what is right and wrong.

Despite their constant ups and downs, they still love each other, and it shows. Sure, they have moments that make it seem like they don’t care, but whenever those moments came, all I could think is how realistic it is. They're not perfect. They made mistakes. Some of those mistakes were pretty big. Yet they kept pulling through and heading toward a place they imagined would be better for both of them to start over and spend the rest of their lives together.

Nobody But Us is an overwhelmingly intense read. When I was getting close to the end, I could not believe what was happening. And how it ended? To be completely honest, I did not like it one bit. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the story was well written and a very truthful portrayal of young love when times are tough. I look forward to what Kristen Halbrook comes up with next.


My Rating:

8 comments:

  1. You know I don't normally read reviews before I read a book, but I had to read this one. So many people have been talking about it, it made me curious, but when I saw it on Edelweiss I decided not to request it. I think you have to be in a certain mood/mind set to read really intense books like this. Hopefully my library will get it. :-)

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    1. I was pretty curious so I couldn't help but try to get it. I was actually kinda surprised I was approved, lol. You do have to be in the right mood for them. :)

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  2. Interesting book. I hadn't even heard about it until now. I wonder what it is that Will and Zoe have done to have to go on the run. I love stories where the characters aren't perfect. It's definitely more realistic.

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    1. I enjoy stories with realistic characters too. It's annoying to read about cookie cutter stereotypes all the time, so this was a very nice change of pace. :)

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  3. The only other review I saw for this one wasn't very positive. I guess I'll have to read it for myself and see what I think. It sounds good.

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    1. I think this is one of those stories that people will either love or hate, there's not much in between about it. It's realistic, so that's a plus. :)

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  4. I recently read this, and ended up being glad that I did. TOTALLY in agreement with you on the ending. That marred the book some for me. But like you, I thought it was totally realistic of young love, especially in their situation!

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    1. Yes! It did mar the book a little bit, the only saving grace was the realistic aspect of it all.

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Thank you for commenting and happy reading!