The Beginning of Everything audiobook

I was waiting in line and happened to have this book with me, and after only 10 minutes I was already hooked. The first few pages recount a horrifying situation that is bound to shock anyone, and already I could put myself in their shoes and feel it changing these boys for life. Then shortly after, we're brought into the second shock of the book: the accident that changed Ezra's life.The Beginning of Everything is narrated by Ezra, a one-time golden boy who's now feeling out of place with his cane and worthless self image. I loved this boy from the get go. His voice is brilliantly depicted as a teenager who used to have it all - or so he thought. You can not only feel his pain, but you also come to understand how hard it is for him to accept that he's not who he was anymore. Throughout this book Ezra searches for himself, and finds what he needs to find in the most realistic, though not easiest, of way. The start may be shocking, but it's a pretty mellow read for the most part. Robyn gives us a real teenage boy with genuine insecurities and flaws. Obviously I've never been a teenage boy myself, but I found him to be perfectly portrayed with a convincing - and refreshing - personality.This is another of those plots that aren't necessarily about anything in particular; at least nothing cut and dry. We have Ezra who was once the most popular boy in school with tennis championships and prom King crowns in his back pocket, and, of course, the prettiest girlfriend, but after the accident his life takes a 180. All in all, this book is about ever changing life; or in Ezra's case, a life changed by tragic force. But, is it really the worst thing that could have happened? We see him question who he really is, if he really belongs anywhere at all. The book also has friendship as a major topic; he finds out who his true friends are. It's bizarre how sometimes it takes a tragedy to change people for the better; to make them see what they took for granted.Romance is another large aspect of this novel, which is where Cassidy comes in. I adored this girl just as much. I found she brought a lot of energy to the book. She's intelligent and confident, but there's also something underneath her bright surface that is weighing her down. In a way, this made her perfect for Ezra's love interest. They bonded with this inseparable connection that you can sense through the pages, born from shared brokenness - even though they're good at hiding it. The mystery behind Cassidy's past becomes fairly predictable, however - at least I thought so - especially after her sudden change of heart. It was made obvious by the immediacy following a certain conversation if you pay attention. I knew then exactly what had happened, though not right away who exactly it involved. As for the ending, I think it's one that readers will easily love or hate. I fall more on the love side for how incredibly realistic it is. Life doesn't end neatly wrapped up with everything we expected and/or wanted, it just goes on. I appreciate realism over anything in these types of books. Compelling characters, a strong narration, and great writing fill the pages of this book. The Beginning of Everything is sad, funny, hopeful, heartbreaking; it's about dealing with what life throws at you. Lemonade, anyone?--An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

Sometimes I think that everyone has a tragedy waiting for them, that the people buying milk in their pajamas or picking their noses at stoplights could be only moments away from disaster. That everyone's life, no matter how unremarkable, has a moment when it will become extraordinary-a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen.Ezra Faulkner thought he had everything. He was the Golden Boy of Eastwood High. Star tennis player hanging with the popular crowd and dating the popular girl. Everyone knows him.Then the accident happened and his life wasn't the same. This story is told from Ezra's point of view and I absolutely fell in love with him. From the very first chapter, Schneider gives us this unique and wonderful character with an incredibly interesting outlook and voice. The dialogue was wonderfully written and so completely high school to me at times. I found myself laughing quite often.How can you mistakenly think something is porn?" I asked, halfway interested at this turn in the conversation."It's porn if you use a self-timer," she explained, as though it was obvious."Right," I said, wishing that she'd been smarter, and that her answer had impressed me.Ezra has the suffering in silence thing down to a science when he returns to school for his senior year using a cane and trying to blend in with everyone else. He's spent most of his life doing what was expected of him... preparing to go to college where his parents expect, never really looking at anything from the 'this is what I want' perspective. No longer able to be on the tennis team and avoiding his regular 'friends', he finds himself drifting to a table of misfits that includes someone from his past. Toby and Ezra were best friends but as years passed they drifted apart... (wait until you hear about his big tragedy!) Ezra to the popular table and Toby to the debate team. Seeing them reconnect was a wonderful treat.But he also meets Cassidy, a new girl who seems to be a mystery and doesn't quite fit in with everyone else either. The debate team knows her because she used to debate for a private school but they don't know any details of her disappearance from the debate scene or why she's now in their school. Ezra begins to fall for her despite the warnings from Toby. She tasted like buried treasure and swing sets and coffee. She tasted the way fireworks felt, like something you could get close to but never really have just for yourself.I'm not sure what specifically I loved the most about this book, as one of my updates says... this has been added to my all-time favorites after reading. Maybe it was the first person narrative, maybe it was the dialogue, maybe it was the characters themselves, which even though I finished this book early yesterday, I'm still thinking about.The best part of this story though for me, is definitely Ezra. He brings this story to life with his sarcasm and unique sense of humor. Seeing the rise and fall of his relationships and the growth his character experiences was wonderful. There were times when I wanted to shake him and say 'stand up for yourself' and 'do what you want to do', and 'don't put up with that crap' ... but he needed to find the strength to do that within himself. When all Cassidy's secrets are finally revealed I think you'll be as surprised as I was in the end. But when you turn that last page you'll realize what a captivating and incredibly lovely story you just read.If you're looking for something that has moments of sadness, moments of laughter, moments of romance and just a wonderfully told story, then I think you're going to really enjoy Severed Heads, Broken Hearts. Like I said, this book has gotten a spot in my permanent all-time favorites.Make sure you run out and get this one as soon as it's released in August!This review can be found on my blog, Fic Fare:

I guess I’m a sucker for happy endings. I like it when life works out in a neat little package wrapped in red ribbon and blue paper, and I find the warm, gooey center filled with sugar and jam. But sometimes life kicks you in the ass, staples your forehead to the living room carpet, and then swipes your lunch money.While it would have been easy to call this novel cheesy, and then add a bit of sap and honey for good measure, I don’t feel as though that truly sums up THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING. Of course, if that’s how you would like to view it, and then move on with your life, I can understand where you are coming from, and respect your decision. But I do think you have to dig a little deeper on this one, and pull out your backhoe (that you just happen to have lying around) instead of your shovel.When I did this, I discovered a world where Ezra Faulkner had a big head on his shoulders, and brushed off all the folks who could have helped him make a difference. But then his leg was shattered in a tragic accident, and he was forced to reinvent himself. Rather than crying over his iPhone, and watching House reruns, he got his shit together, and took the racket off his shoulder. And I respected and admired his decision.Cassidy Thorpe might have more than a few pairs of boy shorts and button down shirts in her possession, but she’s beautiful on the inside and out, even if she has a slightly different perception of herself in the bathroom mirror. And, yes, I may have looked at her with a bit more than just fond affection.I sucked this novel up through a straw in three days’ time, and the teenager inside of me (and all of us) was more than happy with my decision. The romance was beautiful and thrilling, even if it kicked me in the pants at the end, the dialogue was intriguing and spot-on, the pace proved to be both intriguing and interesting and just about right, and the characters were just odd and awkward enough to help me reminisce my high school years.If you’d like to rediscover your teenage self, then you might want to take a peek behind the curtain, and see what this particular book has in store for you. You might just be glad you did.Cross-posted at Robert's Reads

*3.5 Stars* I thought about the metal in my knee, replacing this piece of me that was missing, that no longer worked. And it wasn't my heart, I kept telling myself. It wasn't my heart. Ah, okay...so. So. I'm going to venture out and say I have no clue what I want to say. There. Simple. I said it. Except...I had so much to say. I had little notes written here and there and I found some great enjoyment and humor from page one to the end. And then there was so much sadness entwined in each layer of humor, of each dig at his being crippled. It was a very complex book in the aspect that you didn't know if you should be happy or sad sometimes....Like, at times, I wondered why this book focused so much on popularity, like it was almost mockingly downplaying the tragedy of his accident. But then, before I could get too judgmental, the main character kind of snapped out of it-He began to see life for what it really was, what it meant, who he could be...and that's where I found my greatest enjoyment. Everyone's life, no matter how unremarkable, has a moment when it will become extraordinary-a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. I'm sure a lot of teens do go through the motions from day-to-day, taking for granted the fact that they woke up breathing, had many friends, and were a part of whatever tier their little social hierarchy was...I know I did. I never cared or thought twice about who I was or where I ranked. I never had to worry about it-until I did. Life changes. People evolve. You meet your soul mate or whoever you think you should be with, you make career choices or college choices or even life choices, and your friends might no longer be compatible with where you are going. I understand that, because it happened to me. I never thought of my rank...until I met THE one-Yeah, that guy I'm married to, now. Tennis was like a video game, one that I'd beat a million times, with the pleasure of winning long gone. A game that I'd kept on playing because people expected me to, and I was good at doing what people expected. But not anymore, because no one seemed to expect anything from me anymore. The funny thing about gold is how quickly it can tarnish. It's funny how quickly people turn on you when you don't want to hang out with endless boys every Friday and Saturday night like they used to ask you to-how quickly I was outcast-It was almost comical. But what happens when you are outcast from the 'awesomest group of friends ever?' You move the fuck on-just like I did. You see, part of who I can say I was (and I still am, really), is that I never was mean to people. I had friends in every clique, group, sports team, whatever. So I just walked to the other side of the hallway to my other friends standing by their lockers, and it was as easy as breathing-except it wasn't. It hurt. It hurt like a mother fucker that my best friend, the girl who had spent the night at my house for a whole summer while we stayed up 'til 4 AM watching scary movies and binge-drinking Mountain Dew (except when we had a game the next day!), had iced me out, was spreading rumors about me, talking behind my back, and generally trying to make my life a living hell-and it was-internally. Keep in mind: One day we were totally fine, the next, people were approaching me saying that my best friend was talking about me and we apparently weren't friends anymore. This was news to me. All because of who I chose to date. It's sick, and there's more to the story, as there always is, but that's the gist of it. We were at pivotal moments in our lives, and she wanted to start rebelling, to start drinking and partying, as most kids do, I realize, but I was never that way. I didn't need anyone to pull me in that direction, my parents aren't/weren't drinkers, so I was never going to take that path. She had started to go out behind my back (I don't know why? I wouldn't have cared...just proof positive of her insecurities-who am I to judge? You're my best friend for fuck sakes...) and fib-Me dating my now-husband was just the final jealous nail in the coffin. It is what it is. My point? While it hurt that my soccer friends and everyone on that social tier was being kind of ridiculous, I held my head high like I didn't care, moved on to my other friends, and walked down the hallways laughing and acting as if my world hadn't changed. Sometimes life takes a direction you never expected-but it makes you a better person for it, in the end. It was like the part of me that had enjoyed those friends had evaporated, leaving behind a huge, echoing emptiness, and I was scrabbling on the edge of it, trying not to fall into the hole within myself because I was terrified to find out how far down it went. And believe me when I say that I had no intention of writing any of that-it never even crossed my mind while reading this book, but, for some reason, when I started this review, that story felt relevant. You know, the lack of similarities as you grow older, the fact that I chose to take a different path, a harder path. Oh, PS, she had apologized a year later-after I was okay with standing on the other side of the field during soccer practice and acting like it didn't bother me at all to hang with other girls on the team. It came in the form of-"Oh, wow *grabs ear* when did you get this pierced? That's cool!" I guess we acted like it never happened...except for a letter of apology. Needless to say, we barely talk now, but we're on okay terms. Sigh. Anyway. I am not comparing myself to Ezra, I think he was a little skewed on his thoughts of who he should hang out with and why...but it felt right to mention that, even when things aren't going the way you want them to, it might not be the worst thing to happen to you, nor is it the end of the world. He'd grown up into exactly the unabashedly nerdy, quick-witted guy you'd expect from a kid who went door-to-door selling homemade comics to raise the start-up capital for our summer lemonade stand when we were ten. And I'd grown up into a massive douche-with a cane. My story had a happily ever after....but did Ezra's? His story, even from the beginning, while riddled with his humor, had a dark undertone. His life was tennis, he was popular, he had a girlfriend...then one fateful night he gets slammed into by an SUV-shattering his knee beyond repair. He will never get to play tennis again. His whole life, career path, etc, are gone...or so he thinks. I loved that he was a closet nerd. It made me deliriously happy, actually. I can't say I always loved all the conversations he had with his new found (some old, some new) group, but I loved the sincerity with which he connected with them-how he finally felt like he belonged and that was where he always should have been. I loved Ezra, in the end. She was achingly effortless, and she would never, in a million years, choose me. But, for the next few minutes, I contented myself with the magnificent possibility that she might. I had a lot of problems with this book. I can't even tell you why (See blur rating shelf above). But some things I can tell you:1. The Romance-Fuck that bitch, Ezra, you could do better. I didn't like her-ever. But that's my personal opinion. My heart melted as he fell in love with the mysterious Cassidy Thorpe. He was such a fragile, adorable boy who fell for a girl completely high on herself. Eh, I'm biased, sue me. As always, she left me wanting more, and dreaming of what it would be like if I ever got it.*****************She tasted like buried treasure and swing sets and coffee. She tasted the way fireworks felt, like something you could get close to but never really have just for yourself. 2. The Plot-While a wonderful message, in the end (for a while it seemed a tad clique-y and cliche, maybe it always was, but I stopped seeing it near the end), it was a tad day-to-day activity for me, and I didn't like the people he surrounded himself with enough to love it.3. The Characters- See above. But I loved Toby and Cooper. More on Cooper here in a sec. I never really believed the character's reactions-not all of them, anyway. Some of it felt false or misplaced and I kind of thought those parts were a little exaggerated. But that's probably just me. 4. The Voice/Humor- I LOVED Ezra's voice. I wasn't sure at first, but as the story progressed, I started to highlight more and more of his hilarious voice. His humor was THE BEST. Perfectly cheesy humor and bad puns-win.5. Nostalgic References- If you were a child of the 90's, or even remotely aware of any happenings, toys, shows, etc. in the 90's, the nostalgic ramblings, conversations, and throw backs were epic. I was smiling SO big about stuff I had long forgotten. Wow.6. Cooper-Cooper the dog was by far my second favorite character. The way he talks to him and the bond they have breaks my heart. He had read The Great Gatsby over the summer and had a ton of those type of references, imagining the dog referring to him as 'old sport' on more than one occasion. I LOVED this dog-he is loyal, fun, and a total badass....I absolutely adored this aspect.7. I cried-That is all. Out of nowhere. Right in the feels. We move through each other's lives like ghosts, leaving behind haunting memories of people who never existed. The popular jock. The mysterious new girl. But we're the ones who choose, in the end, how people see us. And I'd rather be misremembered. So, without further adieu, I will wrap this up. I never meant for this to be long. It was actually supposed to be short because I both loved and hated this...but sometimes, as my friend just said, the review decides for you. I think there was a lot of stereotype stuff in here, but the message was clear: It wanted to be stereotypical. It wanted the message to pop out at the end for all to see, and I get what the author was doing. I just wonder if people with this dislike in books will be able to get past that and the somewhat slow pace to actually get to the message at the end. I don't know. Either way, I had a fun time with this one-for the most part. **PS, there were literally so many quotes I wanted to use that I couldn't-if nothing else, this book had a million quotable parts. I am sad I didn't have enough room, lol. For more of my reviews, please visit: ***This one hurt, Guys-really, truly, deeply. Ouch. But not for the reasons you'd suspect....Or maybe exactly for the reasons you suspect. Who knows. Review to come.

3 to 4 stars I liked it as much as I liked Looking for Alaska. I think both books seem to be talking about similar themes and even some of the patterns and characters are a bit similar though I would have to say that reading this book is a bit lighter than reading LFA maybe because of the more familiar high school cliches in this book. But despite mentioning the existence of high school cliches in this book, I still liked this. This is another young adult novel that implicitly helps or teaches readers how to go through and move past unpleasant realities of life.

3,5 SterneErwartet hatte vor allem ein Buch, das anders ist. Das lag an den vielen Bewertungen, die genau dies versprachen. Vermutlich war das der Grund, warum ich zu Beginn etwas enttäuscht war. Der Protagonist Ezra war zu Beginn des Buches beliebt und hat diese Beliebtheit auch genossen. Seine "Freunde" waren alles andere als das, besonders seine feste Freundin war einfach furchtbar. Ezra hat das nicht bemerkt. Ich bin jemand, der sich sehr schwer damit tut, meine einmal gebildete Meinung über Charaktere (übrigens auch über Menschen im Real Life) wieder zu ändern, weshalb Bücher dieser Art meist gar nichts für mich sind. Before I Fall ist ein anderes gutes Beispiel dafür. Allerdings war es hier nicht so, dass es Ezra gewesen wäre, der mir so extrem unsympathisch war, sondern sein komplettes Umfeld. Das ändert sich nach Ezras Unfall. Was ich hier so gut fand, das war, dass die Veränderung, die stattfand nicht von Ezras Umfeld ausging, sondern eigentlich von Ezra selbst. Ihn hat der Unfall verändert und nicht die Meinung seiner Mitmenschen. Das ist generell etwas, das in Romanen oft falsch dargestellt wird. Man nimmt der schüchternen Maus die Brille ab und TADA alle mögen sie. Die Beliebte der Schule bekommt einen Eimer über den Kopf und Voila alle finden sie furchtbar. Im wirklichen Leben funktioniert das nicht so. Die innere Haltung ist viel entscheidender, als uns Romane und oft glauben machen wollen. Das hat dieses Buch sehr gut eingefangen.Ebenfalls gut eingefangen hat die Geschichte den Coming-of-Age-Faktor. Generell sprühte dieses Buch von dem Gefühl, das das Jugendalter ausmacht. Die Zukunftsängste, das Gefühl, dass alles möglich ist, die Freiheit, Verantwortungslosigkeit, die Wankelmütigkeit, einfach alles, was das Genre ausmacht. Der Schreibstil schafft es super, gerade auch die Liebesgeschichte glaubhaft herüberzubringen. Ich mochte beide auch sehr gern.Leider ist es trotzdem so, dass das Buch Längen hatte. Zu Beginn habe ich mit den Freunden von Ezra gekämpft, die bis zum Ende auch sehr blass und klischeehaft blieben, aber im Laufe des Buches gab es auch sehr viele Stellen, die schlicht langweilig gewesen sind. Da hätte man meiner Meinung nach einiges von weggkürzen können.Und dann ist da das Ende. Ein mutiges Ende, das sehr gut ausgeführt worden ist und dadurch sehr lebensnah blieb. Wenn ich nur das Ende bewerten würde, würde das Buch fünf Sterne bekommen. Aber ein Buch besteht leider nicht nur aus seinem Schluss. Wenn die Geschlechterrollen vertauscht wären, würde ich das Ende noch 100 Mal mehr feiern. Aber auch so war es beeindruckend wahrhaft wirklich und vor allem anders.

See more reviews at YA Midnight ReadsThank you Simon and Schuster Australia for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review. “You have this maddening little smile sometimes, like you've just thought of something incredibly witty but are afraid to say it in case no one gets the joke.”Severed Heads, Broken Hearts (or The Beginning of Everything) was one of my most highly anticipated novels of 2013. So when going into this, I had high expectations. And for what seems finally, my expectations were fulfilled. Before I go into this review I'd just like to point out that I much prefer the old name, Severed Heads, Broken Hearts which also happens to be the UK/AUS title, I mean it describes this book perfectly in the most direct and indirect ways.Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes he has just encountered his worst tragedy ever. And he is relatively correct- his life basically did a 180 spin. Now not-so-golden-boy Ezra with a shattered knee finds himself falling lower down the social ladder with his passion for tennis disappearing as well. Severed Heads, Broken Hearts is all about finding yourself, finding true love and friends, as well as learning from old mistakes. Robyn Schneider does a remarkable job at creating such a credible male voice that will and have moved readers significantly.Being a fan of Pretty Little Liars, my main concern when going into Severed Heads, Broken Hearts was the characters. Ezra and Toby, two of the main characters in Severed Heads, Broken Hearts also happen to be two of the leads in Pretty Little Liars. I was quite afraid for my prejudice to kick in and paint them with my natural instincts towards the PLL personalities. However, this was totally not the case. Robyn Schneider's characterisation was glaringly distinct and strong, I was utterly enthralled into the story no prejudgement issues. Ezra's character arc was a momentous leap, after giving up his passion for tennis and old 'friends'- ones on the highest peck of high school no longer talking to him; he was lost, with his growing self-consciousness. Faultlessly portrayed and created, Ezra's flaws, blemishes and mistakes were just more reasons to love and empathise him.Relationships seem to be one of the main orbiting themes in Severed Heads, Broken Hearts. We have Toby, sweet and humorous just like Ezra. He can see through the slightest of lies. Toby's part in this novel was quite compelling. Once upon a time best friend, who had a bad history with Disneyland- the result of a severed head. I loved Toby for his reacceptance towards Ezra, who had left Toby after the Disneyland tragedy. Romance is another element that was focused on. I wasn't awfully convinced with it for majority of the novel but at the end I was shipping Ezra and Cassidy hard. I wasn't too convinced with the romance mainly due to Cassidy's mysterious behaviour which I began to figure out a while into the novel. Her personality was energetic, intelligent and defiant in the sense that she didn't care what other's thought of her. Therefore, a perfect match for Ezra who was failing to feel comfortable with a cane all the time.Like nothing I have read before, Severed Heads, Broken Hearts is a strong, cogent novel about finding your true self, and picking up from where you fall no matter how hard it is. It's about love, friendships and trying new things. It's about people like Ezra, whose narrative so conceivable can face new and unexpected realities. Life is hard, but like so many characters in this novel do, they keep going, head held high.

OMG THE FEELS. This was the second book I’ve read from Robyn Schneider, the first one being Extraordinary Means which won’t come out until May 2015, and I’m really amazed by the way she writes. When I read the ARC of Extraordinary Means last year, I told myself Robyn has to be an auto-buy author for me. This novel just solidified that fact more.This book tells the story of Ezra Faulkner, one of the most popular boys in their school and how he fell in love with Cassidy Thorpe, the new girl.This book hit me just right in the feels. Robyn Schneider writes amazingly realistic fiction. It’s very relatable, funny and heartwarming. It’s as if she really understand teenagers, which is really a good thing.Ezra was a very likeable and relatable character, despite his flaws and I’m not talking about his physical flaws. He might be an asshole but he really was kind and funny most of the time. He’s got an awesome sense of humor, especially the puns. His relationships with most people were unpredictable but once he realized who his true friends were, it solidifies. I also love the fact that he has a dog, Cooper, because I love dogs. I really enjoyed it when it seemed like Cooper was communicating to him with his eyes and Ezra’s trying to voice it into his head with Cooper sounding like Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. And no, I so did not imagine Leo DiCaprio as a dog. Okay… maybe a little…Cassidy was the kind of girl that could easily be my best friend. I love her to pieces. She was really interesting, especially during the first parts of the book where Ezra got to meet her. She seemed weird and awkward but I think it’s pretty normal for someone who just transferred school. I love her wits and her sense of humor as well. The kind of friendship she had with Toby and the others, including Ezra, was really great.The other characters weren’t flat. I love that they’re given enough dimension and exposure to not be considered as minor. Toby, Ezra’s best friend, was pretty funny as well. So were Austin, Phoebe and Luke. Their gang actually reminded me of my high school friends. I also love the fact that they’re on the debate team and the fact that they do love to geek out. I loved the Harry Potter and Doctor Who references, and possibly a huge Vampire Weekend one because the band was mentioned twice and the main character shares the same name as the band’s frontman. AND I DO LOVE VAMPIRE WEEKEND.I loathed Charlotte’s character because I do HATE bitches with all my pure heart. She’s unnerving and I want to poke her eyes out with her own fingernails. Really, props to Robyn for effective writing. As for the other “jocks” most of them were just pretty much dumb assholes which I found actually pretty funny.The story was really appealing and heartfelt. I read this one in less than 24 hours which wasn’t really surprising because I basically devoured Robyn’s other book. I have to admit though that the ending wasn’t really solid for me but the entirety of the book helped overcome that one. The book was very interesting, relatable, realistic and yes, heartbreaking. I am definitely looking forward to more of Robyn’s works.