The Buzz: Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you all are in your pj's like me :) First of all, I have to admit that I haven't been around much lately...no Twitter, Facebook, blogging...I've been in baby world, and in all honesty I'll probably be there for a while. I'm trying to get in some last minute traveling before I'm tied to the house. Next...off to Boston, MA on Friday :) Wooohooo! Watch out world, this pregnant lady is taking you on.

For today's buzz I wanted to post about a book that really sucked me in. It's called Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery. Thanks to my awesome publisher I got a stack full of ARCs for my traveling this summer. This was one that I really loved. It will be out through Hyperion in 7 days (Sept. 11, 2012).

An inspiring, bittersweet love story about making every day count.

Bryce remembers it like it was yesterday. The scent of chlorine. The blinding crack and flash of pain. Blood in the water.

When she wakes up in the hospital, all Bryce can think of is her disastrous Olympic diving trial. But everything is different now. Bryce still feels seventeen, so how can her little sister be seventeen, too? Life went on without her while Bryce lay in a coma for five years. Her best friend and boyfriend have just graduated from college. Her parents barely speak. And everything she once dreamed of doing—winning a gold medal, traveling the world, falling in love—seems beyond her reach.

But Bryce has changed too, in seemingly impossible ways. She knows things she shouldn’t. Things that happened while she was asleep. Things that haven’t even happened yet. During one luminous summer, as she comes to understand that her dreams have changed forever, Bryce learns to see life for what it truly is: extraordinary.

What I really loved about the book is the writing style. It's written beautifully with lots of symbolism and the most amazing figurative language. I love when a book makes me think: "I want to write like this." I definitely thought that throughout this story. I was very impressed.

Now, I'm not going to lie. This is a sad book. You have to go in knowing that or you're going to be disappointed. I read the reviews before hand so I had an idea of what to expect toward the end. Personally, I think the author's choice to end the book the way she did was justified, and I understood it. Still...sad. I hope you pick it up and give it a chance. It has a slight paranormal angle to it, but nothing crazy. I wouldn't categorize the book as paranormal...maybe science fiction? Anyway, worth the read in my opinion (and I'm a tough critic).