Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Title: The Beginning of Everything 
Author: Robyn Schneider
Publisher: Harper Collins Canada
Publication date: August 27, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Source: HCC Frenzy Presents event 

Format: ARC

Pages: 335

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Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

"Everyone gets a tragedy" - Robyn Schneider 

So, Lauren (from Lauren Reads YA) and I have a book recommendation every month or so. (We try to make it monthly, we sometimes fail.) It's where I recommend a book, and vice versa. THEN WE HAVE TO READ THEM! Simple right? Lauren's pick was The Beginning of Everything, and I'M GLAD TO SAY I REALLY LOVED IT! The Beginning of Everything is a story of Ezra Faulkner, 17 year old boy who was the captain of the tennis team, had a hot girlfriend, and was loved by everyone. One day, one accident later, he's got a crippled leg and can no longer play tennis. High school being stupid high school, Ezra is immediatly the hot new topic at school. Everyone stares at him, and Ezra stars feeling uncomfortable with his old "jock" friends. He's not with his girlfriend anymore, and tennis is out of the question. Talk about a 180-degree change of lifestyle. 

As a character, I LOVED Ezra. I actually went into this book assuming it was told from female POV, but when I found out it was male POV, I was like "oh boy, hope this is good". Something about male POV's scare me. Like maybe I can't relate to them because I'm female and they're male? ANYWAYS. Ezra was hilarious. I loved his personality, and was easily able to connect to him. All the other characters, Cassidy, Luke, Toby, Phoebe, ect, were so real and realistic and yes real. I loved the diversity and the relationships between them all. The romance? The romance was so... different. Not bad different, very good different. I liked how raw and real, (YES THIS BOOK WAS SO REAL YOU GUYS) the romance felt. I just loved it all. As for the writing, it was so beautiful. The  humor and sarcasm was just my cup of tea, and I really found myself laughing by butt off whilst reading. I also found myself marking a LOT of quotes that I found to be very interesting and well written. I'll share a few below.  

"Words could betray you if you chose the wrong ones, or mean less if you used too many." - Robyn Schneider

As I closed this book, I felt like I'm leaving friends I loved and got to know. I will no longer know what has become of them, and that's the sad part to getting emotionally attached to fictional characters. What I loved most about TBoE was how realistic it was. The ending was realistic too, and it was life. I just really loved this book, and will definitely have to check out Robyn's other books. Fans of The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay will definitely enjoy this book. 

These are so beautiful you guys!