Release Date: October 11, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mental Illness
*I received this book as a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own. Thanks NetGalley!*
Summary
In the movie version of Amelia's life, the roles have always been clear. Her older brother, Toby: definitely the Star. As popular with the stoners as he is with the cheerleaders, Toby is someone you'd pay ten bucks to watch sweep Battle of the Bands and build a "beach party" in the bathroom. As for Amelia? She's Toby Anderson's Younger Sister. She's perfectly happy to watch Toby's hijinks from the sidelines, when she's not engrossed in one of her elaborately themed Netflix movie marathon.
But recently Toby's been acting in a very non-movie-version way. He's stopped hanging out with his horde of friends and started obsessively journaling and disappearing for days at a time. Amelia doesn't know what's happened to her awesome older brother, or who this strange actor is that's taken his place. And there's someone else pulling at her attention: a smart, cute, new boyfriend who wants to know the real Amelia--not Toby's sidekick. Amelia feels adrift without her star, but to best help Toby--and herself--it might be time to cast a new role: Amelia Anderson, leading lady. -Goodreads
The Rundown
This was just an all around good book. Seriously! Is it possible for a book to feel like a hug? Because this book is one big, funny, loving, life-may-be-hard-now-but-it-will-get-better hug.
I've never started off describing a book as a hug before, but it fits this book perfectly.
Warning: Slight spoiler coming. It's not a huge revelation and one you might even be able to guess from the summary above, but if you just want to know that this book reads like a hug and find out everything for yourself, stop reading now and get this book in your life. But if you're curious about the rest of my review, it's only a tiny spoiler.
The book, much like Amelia's life, is divided into "Before" and "After." Haven't we all had some life event just like that? For Amelia, there's before Toby's diagnosis of mental illness (that's the spoiler) and after.
Before, she was Amelia Anderson, little sister to ultra cool Toby Anderson. Amelia Anderson, falling in love with Epstein, the adorably cute, sweet, and insanely smart red headed guy she met over the summer. Amelia Anderson, idolizing Toby while she rides shotgun in the movie version of her life.
By the way, I geek/fangirled all of the great movie references in this book. If Netflix had been a thing when I was a teenager I basically would have been Amelia. Except she comes up with way better movie marathon themes than I ever could have.
The After in Amelia's life starts with a phone call interrupting her weekend with Epstein. Toby is sick and in the hospital, but it's not a sick that you're ever cured from. It's a sick that you and your family will spend the rest of your lives learning to live with, learning to deal.
Even though it's heartbreaking to watch Amelia, her family, Toby, and their friends learn to live with the hell that mental illness can bring, it's also great to watch her pull herself up and start learning who she is as the star in her own life. And Amelia Jane Anderson is beyond cool herself.
She learns all over again how to be Amelia Anderson: sister, friend, girlfriend, and daughter. And by the end I wanted her to be real so I could give her a hug!
My only request: I want to know what's next with Amelia & Epstein! Sequel???
Rating: 4 stars! I really really really liked this one guys!
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