Title: Sia
Author: Josh Grayson
Pub Date: November 20th, 2013
I received this book via NetGalley.
Let's start with the cover. From this cover, I didn't know anything about what was going to happen. I liked the color scheme, but it gave no clues to anything about the story. Girl on the cover, whoop de doop. That should've been my first warning sign, I guess, but nope.
As I started reading, I was honestly thinking of DNFing. I didn't know what was going on. We start with a girl (Sia) who wakes up not remembering anything. I assume that she's a runaway. But when she climbs into the car of a guy, I'm just like "this is a really stupid character".
Turns out she has something called Fugue Amnesia and she's like filthy rich. After spending a week as a homeless person, she arrives at what is a mansion. She's also introduced back to her life. We get a taste of what her life is and that includes a lot of makeup, material things and jerks. Basically, before she lost her memory, Sia was the mean girl (like in those TV shows) and she loved to pick on the "losers of the school". After her memory loss, she has an epiphany moment where it's "I don't have to be mean anymore!"
What my main issue with this book is? It's not realistic at all! By the time I was done with it, I was like "this is something out of an ABC special or those stupid teen movies". I'm honestly wondering if this author knows anything about teens and how it works. I'm not in high school, but I know that if one person stands up to the "popular mean girl" (who BTW doesn't really exist) and she backs down and swears to be nice. School doesn't work like that. Even the world doesn't work like that. If someone is a bully, do you honestly think telling them once is going to make them see the error of their ways right there and then?
And then, to top everything off. Sia's like "I'm sorry for the way I acted" and then everyone's like "okay". If I'm not mistaken, you were supposedly the meanest to everyone and they kind of just accept you on the spot? I think if someone continuously bullied me for a few years, I'd forgive them in that same duration. It isn't some joke or light topic; it's bullying -harassment.
The stars I'm giving is to (parts of) the story and Kyle, the male lead. Kyle is basically the kind of person Sia would've bullied if not for her amnesia. He's like pure goodness in a body. I thought he was really attractive, not even for his physical looks, but for how kind he was. This guy is always trying to help the homeless and do things right for the world, even though the world isn't right to him. This is a person (though slightly unrealistic) who I always aspire to be like. He was such a well built character that it just gave me a connection.
Let's get one thing straight. Most of the stars taken away are from story and how believable this story is. The characters who weren''t cliche were okay built. Sia, her parents, Kyle, and Alyz were examples of characters that I actually enjoyed reading about. These are characters that didn't get on my nerves too much, and still helped the story progress. As well, Josh Grayson's writing can be compared to descriptive to the point of overboard (in some sense). I'd seen some paragraphs trying to describe a park bench or a dress. It was unnecessary and I felt myself skipping over a LOT of info. Also, there is also no explanation on how Sia got amnesia and if there was, I don't remember. That's a hole in the story that I don't think is filled
I think it's got good morals, overall. If this was written in a way where it were a bit easier to connect with, I think I'd like it better. The whole "happy ever after" ending was also unimpressive to me. And it literally ended with Sia going "Kyle, I love you" and getting her memory back. That was just too much for me because they had literally just met a month ago.
Author: Josh Grayson
Pub Date: November 20th, 2013
When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.
I received this book via NetGalley.
Let's start with the cover. From this cover, I didn't know anything about what was going to happen. I liked the color scheme, but it gave no clues to anything about the story. Girl on the cover, whoop de doop. That should've been my first warning sign, I guess, but nope.
As I started reading, I was honestly thinking of DNFing. I didn't know what was going on. We start with a girl (Sia) who wakes up not remembering anything. I assume that she's a runaway. But when she climbs into the car of a guy, I'm just like "this is a really stupid character".
Turns out she has something called Fugue Amnesia and she's like filthy rich. After spending a week as a homeless person, she arrives at what is a mansion. She's also introduced back to her life. We get a taste of what her life is and that includes a lot of makeup, material things and jerks. Basically, before she lost her memory, Sia was the mean girl (like in those TV shows) and she loved to pick on the "losers of the school". After her memory loss, she has an epiphany moment where it's "I don't have to be mean anymore!"
What my main issue with this book is? It's not realistic at all! By the time I was done with it, I was like "this is something out of an ABC special or those stupid teen movies". I'm honestly wondering if this author knows anything about teens and how it works. I'm not in high school, but I know that if one person stands up to the "popular mean girl" (who BTW doesn't really exist) and she backs down and swears to be nice. School doesn't work like that. Even the world doesn't work like that. If someone is a bully, do you honestly think telling them once is going to make them see the error of their ways right there and then?
And then, to top everything off. Sia's like "I'm sorry for the way I acted" and then everyone's like "okay". If I'm not mistaken, you were supposedly the meanest to everyone and they kind of just accept you on the spot? I think if someone continuously bullied me for a few years, I'd forgive them in that same duration. It isn't some joke or light topic; it's bullying -harassment.
The stars I'm giving is to (parts of) the story and Kyle, the male lead. Kyle is basically the kind of person Sia would've bullied if not for her amnesia. He's like pure goodness in a body. I thought he was really attractive, not even for his physical looks, but for how kind he was. This guy is always trying to help the homeless and do things right for the world, even though the world isn't right to him. This is a person (though slightly unrealistic) who I always aspire to be like. He was such a well built character that it just gave me a connection.
Let's get one thing straight. Most of the stars taken away are from story and how believable this story is. The characters who weren''t cliche were okay built. Sia, her parents, Kyle, and Alyz were examples of characters that I actually enjoyed reading about. These are characters that didn't get on my nerves too much, and still helped the story progress. As well, Josh Grayson's writing can be compared to descriptive to the point of overboard (in some sense). I'd seen some paragraphs trying to describe a park bench or a dress. It was unnecessary and I felt myself skipping over a LOT of info. Also, there is also no explanation on how Sia got amnesia and if there was, I don't remember. That's a hole in the story that I don't think is filled
I think it's got good morals, overall. If this was written in a way where it were a bit easier to connect with, I think I'd like it better. The whole "happy ever after" ending was also unimpressive to me. And it literally ended with Sia going "Kyle, I love you" and getting her memory back. That was just too much for me because they had literally just met a month ago.
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