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A review by sunsetcity
Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book came as a bit of a surprise for me! I haven't heard many people talking about it and yet, I really enjoyed it! This book follows our main character Amelia. After getting into a fight with her best friend Jenna, she finds out that Jenna has died in a car accident while vacationing in Ireland. Lost and unsure what to do with her and Jenna's 10 year plan for after high school, she soon receives a special edition version of her and Jenna's favourite book from a random bookstore out of state. Convinced that Jenna had somehow sent it to her, she visits the bookstore to unravel the mystery of where the book came from and ends up finding out more about herself, what she wants to do in the future, and about the mysterious author of her favourite book.
This book was written in a very beautiful way. The main character is an avid reader and a lot of the descriptions in the book were almost magical, especially with the flying whales. It really helped to illustrate the grief that Amelia was going through and her journey in grieving the death of her best friend. I also really enjoyed the small town vibes and just how the setting was described throughout the story. It really helped set the atmosphere and tone of the story. I really enjoyed the plot overall and felt very immersed in the story the whole time. The only problem I had with the plot was the instalovey romance in it.
I also really enjoyed the characters. They were all dealing with pretty heavy things in their lives and the way they navigated and grew from their pasts was interesting to read. Amelia really grew throughout the story and seeing her figure out whether she should do what she thought Jenna wanted or what she truly wanted was interesting to read. I also really liked Nolan's character and how we slowly learned about him as he slowly opened up to others in the book. There were some points where the character development did seem a little fast, but overall I loved learning more about each of these characters.
Overall this was a really deep book about grief, friendship, and finding yourself that I would highly recommend people read!
This book was written in a very beautiful way. The main character is an avid reader and a lot of the descriptions in the book were almost magical, especially with the flying whales. It really helped to illustrate the grief that Amelia was going through and her journey in grieving the death of her best friend. I also really enjoyed the small town vibes and just how the setting was described throughout the story. It really helped set the atmosphere and tone of the story. I really enjoyed the plot overall and felt very immersed in the story the whole time. The only problem I had with the plot was the instalovey romance in it.
I also really enjoyed the characters. They were all dealing with pretty heavy things in their lives and the way they navigated and grew from their pasts was interesting to read. Amelia really grew throughout the story and seeing her figure out whether she should do what she thought Jenna wanted or what she truly wanted was interesting to read. I also really liked Nolan's character and how we slowly learned about him as he slowly opened up to others in the book. There were some points where the character development did seem a little fast, but overall I loved learning more about each of these characters.
Overall this was a really deep book about grief, friendship, and finding yourself that I would highly recommend people read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders