Thursday, December 29, 2011

Sharing Sam: A Review


Blurb (and picture above are from Goodreads. I do not own them but am using them for review purposes only):  

How can you take the guy your best friend loves . . . when your best friend’s going to die?

 Alison Chapman has always believed she’d fall in love hard. And she does—with Sam Cody, a new guy with a gorgeous face and brooding eyes, a guy who’s impossible to resist. When Sam asks her to the Valentine’s Day dance, Alison is elated . . . until she finds out that her best friend, Isabella Cates-Lopez, has fallen for Sam, too . . . until she finds out that Isabella is dying. Now Alison wants Isabella’s last days to be her happiest ever—even if she and Sam have to hide their love. Even if, by sharing Sam, Alison risks losing him forever.


Title: Sharing Sam
Author: Katherine Applegate
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publishing Date: 1995 (but reads like a current YA)
Source: Library

Cover: Very fitting for the story. It seems typical for the contemporary YA genre, but this time it makes sense. 

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance: The bittersweet edition. Sharing your new love interest with your friend because you’ve just found out she’s dying can lend itself to being heavy-ish material.

Plot: This book is really short--so short at its 155 pages that I almost didn’t pick it up. I tend to shy away from shorter books, doubting the book’s ability to engage me enough to care in so few pages. Sharing Sam was surprising in that aspect. The reader gets more depth of character than he or she might expect going into it. It may be predictable overall, but that doesn’t detract from its storytelling. 

Romantic Element: Yes, there was romance. It was quick but also believable. A few times I caught myself being pissy that Applegate chose to glaze over scenes, giving us a summary rather than a bird’s eye view, but I wasn’t too upset. Like I said describing the genre, the love in this book is bittersweet. 

Overall: I think you know going into the book if it’ll be for you or not, but for the little time it takes you to read it, the story is there. As a whole, I’d say this book is more like A Walk to Remember kind of Lifetime movie YA romance, and I also think that assessment will pretty much tell you whether or not you’d like the book itself. 


So what do you think? Sound like it would be up your alley or many streets away? Lemme know below!


Now to leave you with a song to write by, "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera. Sniff. I <3 this one. 



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!! <3

11 comments:

  1. Hmm..sounds like an interesting read.

    GREAT song choice. She's got such an awesome voice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sounds good, thinking of picking it up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Possibly a library pick rather than a buy, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Kelley! Great review! It's an interesting concept. I haven't come across Katherine Applegate's books before.

    Thanks for finding my blog and stopping by :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like sappy stuff like that so I think I would enjoy it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds good. I might pick it up. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the suggestion. Happy New Year, Kelley!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't tend to like stories that have romance as the main element, but this one sounds really intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very thorough and thoughtful review. I don't know as this book is for me, but I like your honest assessment and breakdown.

    ReplyDelete
  10. satta Matka
    Your team members will also be honest and hardworking if you so always use integrity.
    satta Matka

    ReplyDelete