Extraordinary Means
by Robyn Schneider
Published on May 26th 2015
by Katherine Tegen Books
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Goodreads
Also by this author: The Beginning of Everything
From the author of The Beginning of Everything: two teens with a deadly disease fall in love on the brink of a cure.
At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.
There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.
But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down. Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.
I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review.
This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Well… Fiddlesticks. I knew it would end this way. I know I would love this book and these characters and the romance and everything. I knew it would break my heart one way or another. And I still read it. Because I’m a masochist like that. Just… Sigh.
In Extraordinary Means, we meet Lane, who just moved into Latham House. A sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Latham is part hospital and part boarding school, full of endless rules and rituals. There he meets a girl he knew years ago, but Sadie isn’t as he remembered. Sadie and her friends fascinate Lane, who never stepped out of bounds once in his life. As he becomes part of the group, they show him their secrets. But secrets aren’t free at Latham House. As Lane and Sadie get closer, people around them get sicker.
This is just so very bittersweet. And this proves the problem I had with other books I read recently that just seemed more of the same old story. This one isn’t. And I loved it. A lot! Extraordinary Means has a great new story, though very sad at times of course, and fantastic original characters. The writing was excellent and I know I’ll be checking out Robyn’s other works too. Though that might not be very good for my heart….
The characters and their chemistry are the best part of the book. I loved the friendships and the romance was so very, very sweet. You know how it ends but you still can’t help but love them all. Sadie and Lane are all kinds of adorable together. Their friends are awesome and I just loved them to bits. I really did. That ending… My heart was broken, but not completely. It’s really bittersweet. Man… my brain is not cooperating.
Extraordinary Means is a bittersweet but cute and amazing story that I highly recommend to fans of contemporary. Though if you’re sensitive to books about diseases, I would not read this one. But if you’ve read the blurb, you already knew that. Now I have to go and process.
- {Bee Mini-Reviews} THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES by C.G. Drews - April 8, 2019
- FairyLoot February UnBoxing – All The BATB Things - March 22, 2019
- The Return of Bee (part 2) ~ What I’ve Been Reading - March 15, 2019
Haha we’re review twinsies again today. Glad you see you loved this one as much as I did. It was soooo good! <3
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
Great minds think alike, huh? 😛
I think we’ve already done this twice in the last week. LOL
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
And before that too 😛
Twitter: Krystianna Pietrzak
I’m glad to see that you really enjoyed this one! I’ve been looking forward to it coming out for the longest time, especially because I’ve heard such great things about Robin’s last book. Thanks for the review!
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
Thank you! Hope you enjoy this one too!