Once Upon a Twilight!: Book Review: Between (+ giveaway)

Between
Author: Jessica Warman
Pages: 320 Hardcover
Reading Level: YA
Published: August 2nd 2011
Review Source: Walker & Company
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) Elizabeth Valchar--pretty, popular, and rich--wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday on the yacht where she'd been celebrating with her closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, she finds her own drowned body is hitting the side of the boat. Liz is dead.

She has no memory of what happened to her, and can only observe in horror the fallout of her death. She's also soon joined by Alex Berg, a quiet boy from her high school who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The two keep each other company, floating in and out of memories and trying to piece together the details of what happened to each of them.

In her regular life, Liz was a runner. It wasn't abnormal for her to run 8-10 miles per day. But as memories from closer to her death begin to surface, Liz finds that she'd been running much more than normal, and that she'd all but stopped eating. Liz's mother, who died when Liz was nine, had battled with anorexia as well, and those around her worried Liz was following in her mother's footsteps. But something more sinister was consuming Liz from the inside out. . . .

From critically acclaimed author Jessica Warman comes a shocking mystery, a heartbreaking character study, and ultimately a hopeful tale of redemption, love, and letting go.

Between is not the typical kind of genre I read all the time. So when a book that I normally don't read grabs my attention, you know its amazing. From the moment I read "Thump, Thump", I was completely engrossed in the pages. I would categorize this book under contemporary ghost story. Its all the elements of a contemporary novel with some ghost spirits involved. Now if your judging the book by its cover, you might think its a creepy or spooky but its not even close to those descriptions. This novel will tragically break your heart (but in a good way).

I will try and describe Between without giving anything away. Which I usually write my reviews in that format, but here I have to be extra careful. Between begins with Elizabeth being on a yacht along with some close friends. The only strange part for Elizabeth is that she is now starting at her body floating in the water. So how is that possible and she sees herself on top on the yacht. She tried and wakes her friend but no luck. She is dead and doesn't understand how or why. What a 18th birthday surprise that is for her. Then all of a sudden Alex appears, he is also a spirit. Alex knows Elizabeth from the high school they both attended, but he passed away a year ago when by a hit and run. Elizabeth doesn't remember much from her pass, just bits and pieces. Alex starts teaching her how she can try and go into a past memory and that way she can begin to remember. They figure that there is a purpose they are together and need to figure it out. The funny part is that in their real lives Elizabeth was part of the popular crowd and her group actually made fun of Alex was he was alive. Of course they aren't really getting along now either. Alex and Elizabeth start making their peaces by figuring out who or how she died and begin uncovering some strange and horrible memories. They continue to explore the past and present following all the friends and family around and even Elizabeth mother;s journey before she died.

The plot to Between is so tragically beautiful but so unexpected at the same time. The adventure you take with both Elizabeth and Alex will keep you on your toes trying to figure out everything. Warman is definitely a author I will add to my watch list. Warman shows us how to learn to let go of the past and appreciate life. Now Between deals with a lot of older YA material, so I would take caution for anyone younger than 16.

So since I loved the book so much and it impacted me so strongly, I decided I would give my ARC copy away. So check out below how you can enter to win this amazing book. Of course you don't have to wait to win it from me, just go out and buy it today. You wont be disappointed.