Aimee

Rating:
Summary: Intense book
Review: This was a very good book. I was drawn into it right away. One of the things that I really liked about the book was that you don't know what the main character's name is until almost the end of the book. Usually this would be annoying, but I think there was some symbolisim in this. Up until that point in the book she was basically a walking zombie. She wasn't really the person she used to be. I think this is a great book for anyone who has ever known anyone who commited suicide, especially if they blaim themselves for the death. It is also a good book for anyone who has ever thought about suicide or knows anyone who has ever considered it. It makes you rethink life a little bit and appreciate the good things in life. For me it helped to see that others have worse lives than my own. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read lots of different types of books, but because of the topics discussed in the book, I don't think anyone much younger than high school should read it.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: Though I read this book more than four months ago now, clips of the author's gentle yet unyeildingly powerful words still flash before my mind.

The book is about a group of friends torn apart by a sequence of terrible events. Aimee, the best friend of lead character Zoe, commit suicide about a year ago when the book takes place. Zoe was charged with murder because she was sleeping over at Aimee's house that night. We get conflicts of viewpoint throughout, which makes for an incredibly moving storyline, but we also feel Zoe's shame and inability to forgive herself. Though she was proven not guilty at trial, she still feels responsible.

You also get a wonderfully emotional look at Zoe's life. The author speaks so genuinely, it's impossible to believe that she hasn't lived Zoe's life. The words flow easily and make the story both darkly wonderful and easier to relate to. Zoe feel entirely unloved by her parents, and feels that her group of friends from "there" were the only people who ever understood her. All the bad memories are covered by the wonderful memories.

It's a book that keeps you guessing. Will Zoe and Chard be able to make it as more than friends? Can her parents, in spite of their possible divorce/separation, become closer to her and show her she's cared for? And, most importantly, can Zoe ever overcome her traumatized adolescence?

Buy the book and find out!

Rating:
Summary: A Cry For Help
Review: To begin with, I cannot describe the excitement that suffused my body as I finished the first two pages of the book. I immediately knew the story was going to be a narrative that brilliantly told about the chronicles of a young, teenage girl who was struggling through adolescence because of the many misfortunate events that occurred in her life. This is a fictional story of friendship, loyalty, insanity, recovery and hope that can appeal to almost anyone who has ever lost someone or something special to them.
In the story, Mary Beth Miller tells a chilling account of a young girl named Zoe, who is charged with the murder and accused of assisting her best friend's suicide. Though proven innocent Zoe cannot let go of the thought of being tried for such an appalling crime. To get through the chaos Zoe was recommended to a psychiatrist, whom she does not enjoy sharing her thoughts and feelings with. Even though she does not like her psychiatrist, she is to recount in the journal what she went through with Aimee and her posse of friends before and after Aimee's death. One chilling fact that was brought to the surface was that Aimee admitted to Zoe and her friends that her stepmother was physically and mentally abusing her. By doing so little by little the events leading up the Aimee's suicide were revealed. This was only the beginning of Aimee's cry for help, but nobody heard her screams in time to help her. After writing her feelings and thoughts into her journal Zoe had come to terms with Aimee's death and was ready to start life over. Zoe changed her way of life and moved on from her past. She now is a scholar student and a state track champion.
I ended up finishing this book in less than two days because the book takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that entices you into reading more and more until you read the book from front to back. I thought this book was excellent in every aspect. I was very impressed with Miller's uncanny ability to get into the character's head, while never even knowing the narrator's name, which was later found out at the very ending of the book. I believed the character's roles were very well developed and realistic. The only criticism that I had about the characters was about Zoe's parents. I felt as though they were not explained well enough and seemed to be one-dimensional at first, but later in the book, I got more insight as to their roles. Although fictional, I felt as though I was reading a true story from someone's journal by using the first person perspective to narrate the whole story. To add to this, the author was able to capture even the darkest emotions of the narrator that it made me feel as though the events were happening to me. Lastly, I think the best part about this book is that it brings up issues that plague teens today. Such as, depression, suicide, eating disorders, illegal drug and alcohol use, divorce, and love in a very realistic way.
Overall, I found the book to be an exceptionally good read for teenagers to young adults. For a fictional novel, it was terrific and profound, which made me enjoy it even more. It made me think about life more than usual and how similar events could one day occur in my life. I would highly recommend it for anyone, but I will prepare those who read it to have a box of tissues beside him or her. I say this because you will hear a girl recount her life after she lost her lifelong best friend.

Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Message
Review: Zoe was found holding the body of her best friend who took her own life, accusations that she must have somehow helped Aimee commit suicide led her and her family through a trial. After Zoe is acquitted the court orders that she can no longer have any contact with her other close friends and she is ordered intense therapy. Her parents decide a move is the right thing for Zoe, and their family, Zoe is left feeling alone, guilty, and depressed. She sees many counselors, finally when the court tells her mother she can no longer keep changing therapists, Zoe finds Marge. Marge makes Zoe keep a journal and through that journal, that later becomes the book, she goes back and deals with what happens one step at a time. This story has a powerful message about the consequences of suicide and the lasting effects that it can have on those that are left behind. The "flashback" method used by Mary Beth Miller allows the reader to see just how much the events of one terrible night can haunt a person forever.