Inspired by the true story of a teen who was killed at a railway crossing, the author weaves the tale of fourteen-year-old Paige, who, taking a shortcut alongside the tracks to avoid the school bullies, is tragically hit by a train and transported to a surreal world where she encounters Kim, who died seven years before. Convinced she is only dreaming, Paige must discover a way to return to her former life. Poignant, gripping, and full of unexpected twists and turns, Best Friends through Eternity will resonate with readers who have struggled with cultural identity, a sense of belonging, and the real meaning of home.

 

I was excited for the premise of this book, but it ended up feeling overly contrived and simple.

 

The main characters were fourteen years old, but I wish their speech hadn't felt like it. The way they talk just feels juvenile, and has little depth to it. Also, at fourteen I don't think that losing a boyfriend is worth the revenge Vanessa and her friends exact. There were many points where I wanted to roll my eyes at the characters.

 

Paige was adopted from China, and I wish this had played more of a role. Because her parents had abandoned her, she hated everything to do with Chinese culture and I found this to be disappointing. Her mother goes as far as to offer her a trip to China, but she's decided to hate a whole culture based on one family. I'd have liked to see how her cultures had mingled.

 

I didn't really understand the big deal she made about discovering the true cause of Kim's death. As they had been seven, her parents had said that Kim had just moved away. She's more upset about this than the fact that she's either dead or hallucinating.

 

Also, I'm not sure who the title refers to--the girls were seven when Kim died, but Paige and her current best friend Jasmine don't seem to have that intense of a relationship.

This book felt very good intentioned, but I had a lot of trouble buying it.

Everyone makes mistakes and they live with them or they learn from them and most individuals move on. But the chance to have a do-over well, I myself would be pretty nervous going into that situation. Paige gets one week to have a do-over, one week to make everything okay. In that one week, Paige cannot let any of the other parties aware that she knows what their future holds or her time is up. She’s trying to get everything aligned so everything falls into place, but life is not like that, it just isn’t perfect.

I enjoyed reading how she discovers herself and the individuals around her. Her eyes were finally opened to see herself how she really was and who the people were around her. She was seeing life with her brights on. People were being honest with her and she was able to express herself to others freely finally and unfortunately this should have been happening her whole life.   The time limit aspect of her journey, cast a darkness over her agenda but it kept her focused on the task she set out to do. I got caught up in the writing of this novel, it just didn’t feel right to me. This wasn’t book I was expecting, but it had some finer moments.

It's your turn to back a decision. Is she guilty or isn't she? Did she kill someone or was it a simple mistake? Perhaps it was a pack with the family of the patient and she was setup as the fall guy or perhaps we don't understand much of anything at all. In this book, the reader gets a chance to do something that many jurors wish they could do. We get to hear the evidence, hear the case, and get an inside look into the accused mind. My mom is addicted the murder mystery/forensic files/cold case shows so I am familiar with the whole process that takes place in a murder trial but this truly sounded interesting. It appeared to be right up my alley, although I ended up being slightly disappointed in the end with the main character and some of the story. 

 


There are some people in this world that just happen to rub you the wrong way and it's hard to forget, even if they change. Sunny, sadly, was one of those characters for me. Her vibrant pink hair didn't honestly bother me because it fit her rebellious spirit. However rebellion doesn't always equal bratty attitudes and disobedient behaviors that grated on my nerves. I admire characters who manage to show their true nature through their facades of brattiness, however I failed to see it. Yet she did manage to prove that she did care for the residents of the care center and her disobedient behavior became a way to try to make these patients lives better. Her attitude really did continue to bother me though, which proved to be a problem regarding the rest of the story. 

 


The main men of this story are Cole, the son of one of the patients in the care center and the eventual supposed murder subject, and Donovan, whom she actually claimed to be her boyfriend but seemed to lose eventual interest in him. Her parents had forbade a relationship between Donovan and Sunny after he was caught shoplifting but as any teenager and parent knows, when you say no, it only makes the opportunity seem that much better. It drives the girl into the wrong guy's arms and leads her farther away from the good influences of the people who should be closest to her. However, she eventually begins to show some form of interest in Cole but refuses to entirely admit it to even herself. This little crush has a small motive in the whole plot of the story, even if she claims that he is only a friend.

 


So, now it is your choice. Is this your type of book? It wasn't really mine but I understand that to each their own! Check it out and maybe share your thoughts.

 


**This book was received from the publisher via NetGalley. None of the review was influenced by the author or the publisher. This is a completely original review. The thoughts and feelings of the reviewer are entirely her own and have no ties to the publisher.**

Review to come.

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.From the cover, I thought that this was going to be some kind of paranormal. Even the title, Crush. Candy. Corpse. hints that there's going to be some made up creatures. I'm not sure what my final classification will be, but without a doubt, there was no paranormal activity in this one.It was actually kind of a mystery-- did Sunny or didn't she kill Helen? It wasn't what I was expecting at all.I actually liked Sunny-- I feel like she made a lot of bad decisions, and that she definitely could have done better for herself than Donny, but she's a teenager. We're prone to screwing up. I loved her interactions with the old folks-- she was very patient with them, and she did her absolute best to please them all.I liked Cole too, but I felt like he could have had some more development. For half of the book I was trying to figure out where he went and all, so I was really surprised by the ending, to say the least. I wish that we had gotten to see more of him, and more development on his part.My favorite part of this story was definitely the flashbacks, though. I love it when books have a present/past kind of thing going on. It gives me better insight into the characters, then and now.All in all, I enjoyed Crush. Candy. Corpse., but I feel like the characters could have had more development. It's a quick read that's definitely worth a look, though.