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Welcome to Paula and Sarina's Book Blog! Avid readers, hard core fan girls of fictional literary male characters, proud library captains. We started this blog because of our love for reading YA novels and decided to share our thoughts on the books we read. We hope you enjoy our blog and contact us if you have any questions :)
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Friday 28 June 2013
Name: My Life After Now
Author: Jessica Verdi
Date Published: April 2, 2013
Grade: A

Goodreads Summary: Lucy just had the worst week ever. Seriously, mega bad. And suddenly, it's all too much—she wants out. Out of her house, out of her head, out of her life. She wants to be a whole new Lucy. So she does something the old Lucy would never dream of.

And now her life will never be the same. Now, how will she be able to have a boyfriend? What will she tell her friends? How will she face her family?

Now her life is completely different...every moment is a gift. Because now she might not have many moments left.

Review: When I first read the synopsis for this book, I really didn't know what to expect. The summary on Goodreads was intriguing; What drastic, life changing challenge will Lucy be having to face? I wondered. This book really exceeded my expectations; It was heartwarming, thoughtful, well written, and informative- with just the right amounts of realism, romance, self discovery, and dream chasing thrown in as well. 

Lucy is a sixteen/seventeen year old actress in the making, a smart and talented girl who has her entire future ahead of her. After what seems to be an awful week, she makes some bad decisions that leads to a life changing event- Lucy is diagnosed with the sexually transmitted disease, HIV. My Life After Now shows how Lucy transforms from being ashamed of herself and shutting those she loves out of her life, to a girl ready to make the best of the rest of the life that has been given to her with the ones she loves. Along the way, not only does Lucy learn a ton about HIV/AIDS, she learns how to love again- She learns to love herself, even with what she considered an "infection running through her", and she learns to love the people around her again.

I loved Lucy as a character. Although she made plenty of mistakes, this made her relatable, real, and her flaws only proved how realistic her and her story was. Lucy was funny at times, and still completely fearless when she needed to be. The connections she had with her friends and parents (the two gay dads aspect of the book made it really fun to read!) were also really enjoyable to read because of the genuineness of all the characters. The romance felt powerful as well, and because both Lucy and Evan were such developed characters, I found myself being more and more drawn in by their story.

It felt really nice to read a book that tackled such a serious issue, an issue that normally is avoided. The author, Jessica Verdi, did an amazing job of informing the readers, and at the same time, keeping us engaged. I loved this book. Not only does My Life After Now bring awareness of HIV/AIDS to the lives of teenagers, it also reminds us that life is short, and that we should make the best of what we can. I highly recommend this book to those ready for an addictive, highly compelling, and eye opening read. 

Happy reading!

PAULA :) 

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