By: Lisa Schroeder
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: June 28, 2011
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 307
Source: S&S Galley Grab
Amber’s life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself.
Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he’s also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets.
The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she’s drawn to him. And the more she’s troubled by his darkness. Because Cade’s not just living in the now – he’s living each moment like it’s his last.
Simply put, this a really beautiful verse novel about two teens who each end up at the beach to escape their lives for a day and wind up spending that day together. I don’t usually seek out novels written in verse, generally finding myself drawn more to prose, but I’m really glad I gave this one a chance. It is so wonderfully written, and once I got into it I completely forgot that I was even reading verse. Admittedly there were some sections that felt more like sentences broken into different lines rather than poetry, but I think that can be a style of verse in itself.
I loved how the reasons for both Amber and Cade wanting to escape from their real lives slowly unfolded over the course of the novel. We were given little hints and pieces of information along the way, and everything was just revealed very gradually and naturally.
Conversely, the relationship between Amber and Cade develops very quickly (the book only spans about 24 hours, after all), and although I did believe their connection, I like my romances to happen more slowly. I realized toward the end of the novel that I was looking at them more as friends then as people falling in love. I just don’t believe that love can happen that fast.
The other thing that I had an issue with was Amber’s reason for being at the beach in the first place. Without giving anything away, I felt like her whole situation was kind of unrealistic and supremely selfish on the part of the people doing it to her. Every time they referenced it I would get frustrated and felt myself taken out of the novel and the beautiful writing.
Other than those minor things, I really enjoyed The Day Before. It is definitely a great way to be exposed to the verse style of writing and I can’t wait to read more from Lisa Schroeder.
I really want to give this one a try. I've only read one other verse novel and that was also one of Lisa's - Chasing Brooklyn. It was fantastic and so beautifully written! Despite the minor issues, this still sounds really good, great review!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I was totally frustrated by Amber's situation too. Those people needed to BACK OFF. Surely at some point there was enough for Amber to get a restraining order, right? LOL.
ReplyDeleteThis was a lovely read and I really enjoyed this as my first YA verse novel. Great review!