Tuesday, May 10, 2016

A good ole fashioned YA love story

Scarred by Joanne McGregor

So, what's it about?

Life leaves you scarred. Love can make you beautiful.

Sloane Munster had the perfect life, until she didn’t. Now seventeen year-old Sloane is trying to reboot her life after a serious accident left her badly scarred and emotionally traumatized.

Starting her senior year at a different school, she recognizes Luke Naughton, a swimmer whom she once had a crush on, in her new class. But when she smiles at him, he glares back with revulsion and she’s sure he’s disgusted by her ugly scar. No matter how hard she tries to keep out of his way, life keeps bringing them together and despite misunderstandings and guilty secrets, the chemistry between them sparks. Meanwhile, tensions are mounting at their school where bullying is rife and Sloane is not the most deeply scarred person.

Sharp with bittersweet humor, Scarred is an intense, beautiful, compelling story of life, death, damage, and fighting for love against all the odds.

A great read for fans of Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins and Abbi Glines

In a word, it was... swoony.

Pain can be a drug. There's an addictive quality to having a perfectly sympathetic reason for any range of behavior. Sloane and Luke certainly have good reason to hold on their pain. But over the course of Scarred, they find that there might be somethings worth letting go for...

I devoured this book. I lost myself into their story and their pain and the very authentic complexity of falling in love with someone inappropriate. I loved their love. Mostly because it was messy and not the usual "insta-love" but instead grounded in mutual respect and compassion. But also because there-was-no-love-triangle (can I get an amen!).

This book could have been written by Sarah Dessen; it was so believable and rich and "swoony". But it wasn't - it was written by Joanne Mcgregor and I think it firmly establishes her as one of the most talented YA writers working today. Go read it today.

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