Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Where it Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

"The finish line is in sight; what's the point of blowing it?"






Sometimes the end is just the beginning.

Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.

And Billy's nowhere to be found.

All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's missed more than a few danger signs along the way. 











I really like this cover, (more about that here) and I pretty much always choose my books by how they look. (Yes, I do realize how bad that is. It's working for me so far!) Anyway, it was free to read on Pulse It so I gave it a try.


Despite my shameless cover-judging, this book actually turned out to have a really cool plot. (I mean, far as I know there's not too many partial amnesia by car-crash books out there.) 

So the good points of this book that you should look forward to are:

Gabby is a really good main character. This is especially good praise from me, because I tend to be really harsh on the main character. (It's not my fault—YA main character girls are just so ugh sometimes.) I really liked reading the book from her point of view—she's just a normal teen.


The writing, too, is great. I love writing styles that are unique so you can pick up a book and know who wrote it. Plus, the author is really good at making it funny even when Gabby's in a pretty serious and solemn situation.


Now, I'm not going to spoil anything, but pretty far into the book, Gabby finds out something that took me completely by surprise. I can't even remember the last time I'd read a book when I didn't at least guess at the big surprise of the book. I was totally clueless. Now I keep looking back and thinking "How did I miss that?", but it was really, really cool to be surprised like that.  


Alright, I had just a few tiny issues with this book, but these just might be me, so you'll have to decide for yourself.


For one, Gabby, the whole book through, talks about how she constantly tries to be the best girlfriend ever so she won't lose her very-popular boyfriend. And you see, when she's talking with him sometimes, how she says what she thinks he wants her to say. But other times, she'd say things that were definitely not best girlfriend in the world lines, and it still seemed like she thought she was saying the right things. I mean, when your boyfriend is giving you serious advice, does the world's best girlfriend say "whatever"?


A little thing that confused me for a small part of the book was her parent's names. The whole book through, she refers to her parents by their first names. It never explained why she did that, and  nobody else seemed to think it was strange. I just thought it was really strange-sounding. Does anyone actually do that? Maybe I just don't know anyone who does.

There's one last point which might be a possible plot flaw, but since it's tied up in the conclusion, I won't say it here. But if you read it as well, you might pick up on it.


Despite a few minor bad marks, I liked this book. Like I said before, it's a really, really interesting read, and I'd recommend it!


Read more reviews for Where it Began at:
A Good Addiction and I B Book Blogging


27 comments:

  1. This sounds like a good book. I like books that are different from my usual reads.

    I'm returning your follow through GFC. Thank you.
    http://grandmatotwinsplusone.blogspot.com/

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    1. I'm like that, too—after all, you never know what you're going to like until you try it!

      Thanks! (:

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  2. Thanks for the review! Sounds like a good book! Will add it to my list :)

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  3. please follow me at thebloomingreader.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you for following my blog! I'm following yours now. (:

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  4. I Love this book,is amazing!
    Have a good weekend!
    Mariana - World of Tori Vega.

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  5. Hi Cheyenne-

    Absolutely, love the cover! The lighting in this photo is perfect and the book seems pretty interesting.
    I will have to add this to my Reading List.

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  6. I saw this one on Pulse It too, I wanted to read it but time was almost up so I decided to wait. Glad to hear you liked Gabby as a main character, I feel like I've been reading a lot of books lately where the main character drives me crazy! Ugh, the thing with the parents names will bug me too. I hate when kids call their parents by their first names it's so weird and unnatural.

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    1. Haha,yeah, there was like two days left when I saw it on Pulse It, so I had to do a lot of speed reading. ;) I am the harshest critic of main characters, seriously. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the name thing is so weird! Thanks for stopping by! (:

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  7. Great job on your review! Love that you didn't tell all! I'm your new follower from Book Blogs...come see me sometime if you can. :] I love your whole blog.

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    1. Thank you! I'm following your review blog now. (:

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  8. The plot does sound intriguing now that you say it, perhaps I'll look out for this the next time I visit a bookstore! ;) Btw, I LOVE how you format your blog, it has a very special charm to it!

    I'm currently a proud follower of your blog, do drop by mine @ bookaworld.wordpress.com too!

    -Alicia
    bookaworld.wordpress.com

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    1. Thank you! I hopped over to your blog and I'm following it now. Thanks for stopping by! (:

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  9. I love the layout of your blog! It's simple but sooo cool! I love the way u write reviews too...its helped me plan how i can make mine better(im really bad at it!)
    New follower too!
    -Jasmine
    http://ebonyblacklines.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Awe, thank you for the compliments!
      I'm following your blog now. (:

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  10. Gabby kind of sounds like a brat lol; the little punk calls her parents by their first name? Maybe I'll check it out sometime. Just found this blog and love the look and your personality :)

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    1. Haha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it sounds strange! Her parents aren't exactly picture perfect, though.

      Thank you so much for the compliment and for stopping by! (:

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  11. Wow girl! You do read! You go girl! I will definitely have to pick this one up. Thank you so much for the review. I look forward to your new posts!
    Your new fan,
    Kimmy
    HTTP://www.withoutalabel.me

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  12. I have had this one sitting on my desk for weeks now. It has to go back to the library next week so I will read it before then, but I was hesitant. I had seen mixed reviews, but after reading yours I feel better about it. The flaws you mentioned are things that would bother me, but not enough to ruin the book.

    Also, I judge books by there covers all the time. I pretty much won't read a book if I hate the cover (or it'll get lower and lower on my to be read pile). lol so don't feel bad.

    I saw your comment on Bookblogs.ning about just joining (back in April). I'm still kind of new to that site, but it's a great way to connect with other bloggers. Anyways, I'm following you now here and on twitter since I mostly keep up with blogs through twitter posts.

    -Melissa
    Harley Bear Book Blog

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    1. Haha, library due dates are the most common reason I finish books that are taking me a long time to read. I hope you like this book, if you get to read it!

      Thanks! I'm following your blog now, and I'll follow you back on Twitter when it's working, because right now, it won't let me log on. :P

      Thanks for stopping by!(:

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  13. Hi Cheyenne - I like the the format of your reviews, it's great! I'm a new follower - would love it if you could follow me back at http://novelundertaking.blogspot.ca/. Thanks! :)

    -Jenna

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    1. Thank you for the compliment and for following! I followed your blog back. (:

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  14. Where It Began is one of my most anticipated books of 2012, too! I'm currently reading and enjoying it so far. Great review, can't wait to dive deeper into the story:)
    Seattle Limo

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