Between Us and the Moon audiobook

"You watch the world. I'm not even sure you live in it." It's so weird how nearly every 2015 YA book that promises fast-paced action and/or fantasy turns into a story about that guy (or guys) with the beautiful eyes, and yet most YA books pitched as cutesy summer romances turn out to be powerful and moving coming-of-age stories. Between Us and the Moon is just that.This is a story about Sarah - the baby of the family, who everyone calls "Bean". Her older sister, Scarlett, is the beautiful one, the popular one, the one who rebels and goes to parties; their parents don't even ask Sarah where she's going when she leaves the house because they know how sensible she is. They know she only wants to study comets and stars, and apply for a scholarship.Except there's a different side to Sarah. One that is growing up in her sister's shadow. One that hurts inside when her aunt buys Scarlett beautiful slinky gowns and buys her pink frills instead. Like many teenagers, she's torn between the pull of who she is and the need to be someone likable and desirable. I thought it was an exceptionally honest portrait of a confused, scared, selfish teenage girl, right from the very first chapter. “I want to be able to care about clothes and boys, but be good at science, too. I want to be both." The book opens with Sarah being dumped by her boyfriend, Tucker. Following the advice of her amazing, gay, hippie grandmother, Sarah decides that she does not need this stupid boy and will continue applying for her scholarship and being awesome (hell yeah!). But, of course, she's an insecure teenager and things aren't quite so simple. She wants to understand why her sister is this popular goddess and no one looks twice at her. And to understand that, she does what she does best - a science experiment. “Scarlett does and says specific things that make people want to be around her all the time. Just like Becky. There has to be a direct correlation between Scarlett’s specific behaviour and style to the response of acceptance and popularity.” I know some readers won't like that Sarah essentially tries to change who she is and wear different clothes because she gets dumped by a guy - I respect that - but I also think there's an important lesson to be learned here, in the end. I remember a little something about trying to become someone else to fit in back in high school, so this book made me a little nostalgic and sad. Sarah was selfish at times but I sympathized with her and felt her sadness and frustration at every turn.Between Us and the Moon does have a romance that is central to the story, but I think it acts as the stage on which the author plays out the themes of growing up and learning to accept who you are. I personally didn't get as much of a sense of the "forbidden" from Sarah's relationship with Andrew. She's sixteen and he's nineteen (nearly twenty), which might cause issues with maturity but is still completely legal in the U.K. Though while that didn't come across, I enjoyed reading about them together.My favourite thing about the book was Sarah's growth. Both her personal growth and the development of her relationships with her family members. So many lessons to be learned. Her family has to see her in a new light, as she grows up, and she also has to realize that there's more to them than she first thought. There were some really great family dynamics that left me feeling quite emotional at times.A surprisingly great book.Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr

4.5 stars - I am not going to sugar coat it. This book ruined all my pre-conceived notions of what I need in a story in order to fall totally in love with it. I think many of you are either going to love it or hate it. Sarah (Bean) has lived her life in the shadow of her older sister Scarlett. She’s spent her life focusing on Science and school instead of getting out and meeting people and making friends. Except for Tucker. Tucker who she’s been best friends with for as long as she can remember. Tucker who kissed her and pushed their friendship into a whole new territory. Tucker who broke her heart by breaking up with her because he felt like she spent too much time watching the world around her instead of living in it. So Sarah’s summer plans are to be more like her beautiful older sister. Which is how Project Scarlett is born. And it’s a relative success when she meets the engaging Andrew on the beach and is immediately drawn to him. I can’t lie. I was completely sucked in by him too. He’s everything a swoony, summer love should be. But the catch is that Andrew is 19 and Sarah… well, she’s only just 16. Instead of telling him the truth though, in order to keep her plan alive, she lies and tells him that she’s 18 and on her way to MIT in the fall. UGH – this is where it gets so hard to understand my love for this book because … because she lies. Outright lies and you see where their relationship is headed. BUT the age thing is the only thing she lies about. She’s truly herself when she is with him and it’s so hard to watch them fall for each other knowing that the road ahead isn’t going to be pretty. I totally get her struggle to come clean because she finally HAS found someone who appreciates all her quirks and geekiness and how do you honestly give that up easily? You don’t is the answer to that by the way, and the story shows just how painful the whole thing can be once the truth comes out. I struggled a bit with the family dynamics… the relationship between Sarah & Scarlett and also between Sarah and her parents. I get being the little sister but it’s like none of these people wanted to see the person that was right in front of them. I think what I really liked here was seeing the eventual growth of our main character. Yes, she’s immature, insecure and naïve and doesn’t see the full picture almost up until the very end of the book, but she does grow in other ways. Her insecurity over the idea that people won’t like the real her all but vanishes and all it took was letting a few people know who she is and what she’s about… and they didn’t go running. Her confidence is another way, being face to face with her ex best friend and boyfriend after knowing that the things he said are no longer true really changed her. And of course the romance. Hard as it is to swallow, was done really, really well. I loved the way these two got to know each other and it was truly what you would imagine a summer romance to be. Especially because Andrew is totally one of the loveliest book boys I've read in quite some time. Overall, I still really am struggling with how much I loved this… because it almost doesn’t make sense based on my normal feelings. This lie that Sarah tells… it has more of an implication than just fibbing about your age. Especially between her and Andrew, and when that comes to light I honestly wanted to throw the book because my heart was broken. The epilogue was definitely needed and though it didn’t make everything all bright and shiny again, it eased my heart a bit and left me definitely wanting more… maybe something a few summers after. I’m just saying… I would read it. If you like a coming of age story with a very complicated romance … and an MC that while she isn’t perfect is learning who she is and wants to be, definitely pick this one up!Thank you to HarperCollins for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I think I ended up liking this a lot (except for the awkwardness I felt).

I adored this book... right up until the last page.Okay, let me rephrase that. I adored Andrew through the last page and beyond, Sarah--and that ending--not so much. We’ll get into that, though.Let’s start with Sarah first.She’s young. Fifteen. She's immature, still finding out what her purpose in life should be. She thought she had it figured out. She was pretty certain it involved science and the sky and the endless number of stars she’d spent the last year looking at particularly hard while she tracked a comet that could make or break her chances at a prestigious scholarship. But when her best friend since childhood, and boyfriend over the last year, breaks up with her right at the start of summer vacation, things begin to change. She quickly loses focus on the things that were important to her, and decides instead that she’d like to step out from beneath the big fat shadow of her older sister, Scarlett, and see what life would be like for her if she were her sister.Sara’s experiment starts off innocently enough, with her wearing her sister’s clothes and trying to perfect that unforgettable hair-flip…but it quickly leads to dangerous territory when her new-found image grabs the attention of nineteen year old Andrew.Yes, nineteen.Sarah’s so enamored with the attention, she lies to him about her age. Adding a few years on to her almost-sixteen and claiming there’s a spot for her at MIT in the fall.And he believes her.He was one of the sweetest boys. I swooned. I definitely swooned a lot. But I hurt for him so bad. I wanted to choke Sarah for him. I won’t spoil it all for you, but he obviously ends up somewhere he never planned to be and it’s just…gah. My heart. The feels.That ending though. I am…not a fan. I needed more. I wanted more.I hate being disappointed by the ending of a book I really enjoyed (which is why this didn’t get all my stars). It felt very much like the ending to E&P for me, with no real resolution or answer. I mean, I know they were in an impossible situation, but at least give me something. I know some will appreciate that there were no pretty boxes with perfect bows, but I am not that person. I want bows, damnit.

Sarah is just about to turn sixteen and is sick of being overlooked by her family. Her mother and father mostly ignore her and her older sister treats her horribly. Sarah has always admired her sister's social skills and confident air in public—Scarlett is beautiful, popular, and attracts attention at every corner. She's the center of her group of friends and certainly never has to try to be charming.So Sarah, who is a nerdy, intelligent young scientist at heart, decides to undergo the "Scarlett Experiment." She's going to take on Scarlett's personality and way of life for a little while to see what being popular feels like.I loved that Sarah was a realistically written, insecure teenage girl. She isn't perfectly satisfied with her body and envies Scarlett's willowy ballerina frame (like any girl naturally would). She's also pretty terrible at starting conversations with guys. There was a certain depth to her that really made her come to life, and though she was a very flawed character and made a number of bad choices, she was smart and relatable and I found myself sympathizing with her.This book's main focus is on Sarah growing up and coming to terms with herself and her family, but there is also a romantic aspect. Let me tell you about the love interest, Andrew. Sarah meets Andrew on the beach on the first day of the Scarlett Experiment. They talk and laugh on the sand and Sarah finds out that Andrew is a lifeguard. Then Andrew asks Sarah her age (he's nineteen) and she lies, telling him she's eighteen.There were some really sweet moments between these two. Sarah is studying astrology and tracking a comet, and she and Andrew watched the stars together by the ocean a few times. But Andrew is also his own person and isn't just there to fuel the romance. He's struggling over the loss of his best friend who died in a car accident (which Sarah helps him cope with). I really liked that he was far from perfect, but still likable.At first glance, this book might seem like it's all fluff, but it can be dark and emotional at times. Sarah's experiment isn't an immediate success; she screws up a few times and eventually has to deal with the consequences of her mistakes. But I liked that everything wasn't all rainbows and sunshine in the end. It closed off leaving me feeling satisfied . . . but not entirely happy. It was more realistic than a lot of endings I've read.

Between Us And The Moon is a great summer story. As summer comes I am thinking beaches, fruits, and long walks on the beach. After looking at the cover of this book I knew I was going to read this book and love it.Summer romances happen all summer long and sometimes they last and sometimes they don't. I will not give away the ending but it is definitely perfect for this book.This book is about a girl Sarah who lives in the shadow of her older sister Scarlett. She wants to be like her sister outgoing and have lot's of friend and a great boyfriend.But Sarah is just a simple girl who likes what she likes. Then Sarah and her family go to the Cape for the summer and she decides she is going to reinvent herself and be more like her sister.This is where the story had me reading fast because she meets Andrew who is much older and in college and Sarah starts to lie and her lies snowball and things get a little crazy. When the summer is over and Sarah has to make a decision to tell the truth or keep up the lie what will she choose?Summer love can either make or break the heart...........

Sarah has always felt like she's lived in the shadow of Scarlett, her older sister. When her boyfriend breaks up with her right before the family is leaving to go to Cape Cod for the summer, Sarah decides it's an opportunity for an experiment. She'll act more like her older sister and see if that attracts friends and boys. This is how she meets college boy Andrew. She finds herself having real feelings for him, feelings that seem to be returned, but he doesn't know the real her. If she tells him the truth, she'll lose him. But if she doesn't, it all might come crashing down anyway at her sister's going-away party.I went into this book thinking it would be a cute, lighthearted read that would be perfect for summer. It was still cute and a great book for the summer, but it wasn't as lighthearted as I expected. There was a lot of depth to it that I found myself both enjoying and appreciating.I found myself really relating to Sarah. She surrounded herself with science and astronomy the same way I would surround myself with books and baking. Her story arc became more about her discovering who she was as a person than about her experiment. She made mistakes, sometimes big ones, and she would have to learn from them and accept them. I loved how scientific she was about the experiment. It really suited her.I did find the love story part of the book hard to get behind. It was cute and I thought they did work well together, but it was based on a lie and I knew something would likely happen. Either he would find out, she would confess, someone would use it against her, so many options for some drama. He knew her only from the persona she was pretending to be, even if that persona was slowly turning out to be the real Sarah. If their whole relationship hadn't started on lies, I probably would have gotten into them more than I did.The coming-of-age arc was my favourite part of the book. Sarah's experiment may have started because her boyfriend broke up with her and accused her of watching the world instead of living in it, but it turned into a great growth arc that had Sarah stepping out of her sister's shadow, discovering new things she liked, and making mistakes that caused her to grow as a person. I also loved that her discovering herself didn't mean she lost her love of astronomy and science.Overall, I know it started out with Sarah changing who she is because of something a guy said, but it turned out to be the catalyst behind an enjoyable coming-of-age story.*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah, who is 16 and the main character in this book, wants to be more like her older sister, Scarlett. She doesn't want to base her whole life around astronomy, she wants to date guys and be a girl. So, she comes up with the Scarlett Plan. She'll borrow her sister's clothes and makeup and try to pick up a guy. Surprisingly, she meets Andrew, who is everything her Scarlett Plan boyfriend is. The only bad thing is, she's lied about her age, going to college, even though she's still in high school, and Scarlett being her sister. All, except for her love for astronomy. Now, Sarah has to find a way to tell Andrew who she really is and hope that he will still love her, and hope that he doesn't figure it out himself. I really did love this story. It shows that life isn't always perfect and that not everything ends with a happy ending. I found that this story was a lot like Slammed by Colleen Hoover, especially with the whole age misunderstanding situation. I loved Sarah and Andrew together as a couple and really did hope that Andrew would understand her about lying about her age and pretty much her whole life. But, there was a big part inside of me that knew it couldn't turn out well if he didn't. I actually read this while I was at the beach, on vacation, in between going out into the ocean but, there wasn't a long gap in between not reading this book! Overall, Between Us and the Moon is a heart warming and heart breaking book that teaches you to always be yourself and not someone the other person wants you to be.Thank you so much Harper Collins for providing me with this Advanced Readers Copy!

This book is so beautiful. I actually needed this, it reminded me so much of Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty, I absolutely loved it. What I loved the most about it was the character growth of both Sarah and Andrew. At first I wasn't sure where I stood, I never formed an opinion on relationships that are forbidden due to age gaps, involving an underaged. After reading this book I realized it doesn't bother me, if the gap isn't big and the underaged is mature enough to know what they want. Now the part that really bothered me here was the lie, the big fat lie. She manipulated him. We could tell she really loved him but that's screwed up. Thank god she realized the repercussions of her lie in time to avoid ruining his life any further.I absolutely loved this book but I have one complaint. The ending. It felt rushed? I wanted to know what happened to Andrew, if his feelings for Sarah changed after she came clean?

I really enjoyed this story, and could not put it down toward the end. I did find the main character Sarah and her lies off-putting, but I absolutely loved Andrew! Full review to come.

This book began with some heartbreak and ended with some heartbreak, at least for me. I didn't agree with all the posturing and lying Sarah did along the way, but she did grow a lot from the whole experience, and it moved many of the relationships in her life in a positive direction. Things I loved:• All the science nerd stuff was top notch for me. I ❤️ science• I loved being out at the Cape again. It's been years and it was fun to revisit• I was a fan of the romance. It was sweet and Andrew was a doll. Even if it started with some misconception, almost everything else was real, and I wish circumstances could have been different for these two. • The epilogue was bittersweet, but necessary for meOverall: I wasn't happy with the way Sarah went about it and the collateral damage along the way, but I was happy with the outcomes with respect to Sarah, herself, and her relationship with her family. BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS