I was talking to my Mum about the book, how sad it was and how awful all the things that were happening were, and went to get myself some chocolate for comfort eating Mum: "You can make me a cup of tea while you're down there. Because you CAN make me a cup of tea. I'm not dead. And By the Way I absolutely loved it, and can't recommend it enough. I'm so looking forward to the sequel! View all 4 comments. Oct 30, Sinead rated it it was amazing Shelves: sad , romance , awesome , romantic , young-adult , favourites , favourite-heroines , funny , cute , contemporary.
When most non-Irish people think of Irish people they think of alcohol, leprachauns, and more alcohol. So when an Irish book comes out it's hard to be optimistic. But as a sometimes proud Irish girl, I am so honoured to be from the same country as the setting of this book!
I loved this book so fucking much. You get drawn into the story, begin to love the characters, and cry with them along the way. Definitely one of the best things to come from Irish soil. Go you, Denise Deegan! You've made ou When most non-Irish people think of Irish people they think of alcohol, leprachauns, and more alcohol. You've made our country awesome again!
Then Mum died. And I died too. I can't go through that pain again. It grabbed your attention and gave you a "Yeah, tell me about it" feeling whenever she talked. It tells the story of Alex, a girl who's still recovering from the sudden death of her mother, and dealing with having her famous "Rockstar" father drift slowly away from her grasp. She finds comfort in David, a boy who understands her pain, and her two best friends, Sarah and Rachel who each get a sequel with their POV.
Alex is a very complicated character. She doesn't want to get close to anybody ever since her mum died as she doesn't want go through the pain if something bad happens to them. This is what makes her romance with David so intriguing.
He knows what she's going through, and wants to help, but she continually refuses. But he won't take no for an answer, and eventually Alex stops refusing. The connection between them feels genuine. Her relationship with her dad is even more complex. He starts ignoring her ever since her mum died, but we start to see their relationship evolve throughout the book and Deegan makes it happen so naturally.
It's not like on one page they hate each other and on the other Alex suddenly realises how much she needs her dad kind-of-way. She has a crap load of stuff to deal with throughout the book, and you can't help but cheer as she begins to deal with it all and start to move past the mind-boggling grief and realise its okay to not be sad all the time.
Even though I thankfully haven't dealt with losing the death of dear close family member besides grandparents, I could totally believe how Alex felt when she felt she was being swallowed up by grief. It makes me wonder whether the author actually experienced that sort of grief, or was she that good of an author?
This book is recommended to anybody, teen or adult, and so would And For Your Information I haven't read And Actually Jun 20, Sue Wallace rated it really liked it. Six months ago, I lost my mum to cancer and my dad, 'The Rockstar', to work. Now, I don't do close. With anyone. That way I won't get hurt. My friend, Rachel, won't give up on me. And that's a problem. So is David McFadden, a guy in my class who says he wants to help.
Six months ago, he could have but didn't. The last person I'm going to listen to is David McFadden. When he calls me Ice Queen, I'll show him just how right he is. A very good read with good characters very moving. Tbc on fb. Jan 25, Michelle Caffrey rated it it was amazing Shelves: love. Alex is sixteen and struggling to deal with her mother's death and her father's apparent indifference to it all. Then she meets David.
This book was recommended to me by a friend after my mother died. I was a little reluctant to read it at first but now I'm delighted I did. I liked how the author handled the relationship between Alex and David. It was sweet, but not over the top. Both characters were well de Alex is sixteen and struggling to deal with her mother's death and her father's apparent indifference to it all.
Both characters were well developed and I really came to love them. Despite that I couldn't help but be frustrated with Alex at times, probably the only negative thing I have to say about the story.
The main issues in And by the Way were handled excellently. Much as it hurt to read I knew that Deegan was remaining true to real life. This book helped me a great deal at a time that was very difficult and continues to do so.
Jun 12, Kel rated it really liked it. A lovely book focused on love and loss and learning to trust and live again. I really enjoyed the style in which this book was written with the main character being very emotional and torn throughout the book, the characters closest to Alex are also emotionally charged and at various stages of grieving.
The characters all slotted together well and helped to create a visual story that deepened as the story established. I found it took a longer than I expected for the story to warm up and for the A lovely book focused on love and loss and learning to trust and live again.
I found it took a longer than I expected for the story to warm up and for the characters to jump off the page but once they did it made compulsive reading and I am looking forward to the follow up book to this one. Jun 23, Sharon rated it it was amazing.
A fantastic, emotional story about Alex dealing with the loss of her mother and her father who is lost in his work. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Thanks to TBC for the review copy.
Shelves: on-my-wishlist , for-review , contempory , read , romance , in-my-mailbox , favourites-shelf , ya , favourite-series , real-to-life-fiction. Though she's surrounded by people all the time, she always feels completely and utterly alone.
But she doesn't want to let people in. Not again. The last time she did, her heart was broken and she just can't live through that again. Her dad's no longer there, no longer 'dad' - he's just "The Rockstar", the man who's never there and pays other people to look after her. Alex's friend Rachel wants to help, but Alex won't let her. So what if this means she's called "the Ice Queen" by David McFadden, the one who could have helped her six months ago and didn't.
So why is he bothering now? And why can't Alex stop thinking about him? So when Hachette offered me the chance to read the series, I jumped! And, my God, how I wish I'd picked it up much, much sooner!
It was such a powerful, emotional, beautiful book, one I loved to pieces and gobbled up as fast as I possibly could. I just can't wait to read more by Deegan - it was just so freaking amazing!
The characters were all so amazing and real. None of them were as they first seemed, all of them grew and changed throughout the book.
And Alex: she was so, so broken. I could feel her pain in every single word and it just broke my heart. I loved watching her as she changed and grew and came back to life. And I adored her dry sense of humour. She wasn't perfect and she made mistakes, but I just loved her and my heart ached for her all the way through.
He was just the sweetest thing — Alex may have some competition! Rachel was brilliant: so sweet and thoughtful, she wanted so badly to help and was the best friend ever, putting up with everything.
Sarah was chirpy and cheeky and was totally mad — she was also a bit of a total idiot: sure, she had issues but man was she stupid at times! But what really shone about this book was the relationships.
I loved the relationship between Alex and her Gran - her Gran was just a legend! Alex and David - I loved the way their relationship developed. It was so real and so touching and so unlike your usual YA romances.
It was perfect. And the relationship between Alex, Rachel and Sarah was so strong nd powerful - I mean, they stuck with the Ice Queen. That's friendship, people! I also loved seeing the changing relationship between Alex and her dad, as well.
Man, Deegan's voice was amazing. It was a teen going through the loss of a parent: the anger, the pain, the feeling of being totally lost - it was heart-breaking. But funny too, thanks to Deegan's amazing writing talent. My heart was aching and my eyes tearing up one minute, my heart then filling with love as I giggled the next. I just loved Deegan's wry, dry, witty sense of humour - it killed me. But all the emotions in this book, well, they just broke my heart! I could feel all of Alex's pain, all her despair.
I felt almost constantly on the verge of tears. And I also loved seeing all the different kinds of grief in the book, seeing how all the different characters dealt with loss. It was amazing. And grief wasn't the only pain tackled. Every single character had some kinda problem - they were all so real and padded out and complex.
I loved that. A story about love, loss, grief and surviving, And By The Way was a book that left me totally overwhelmed, full of love and sadness and beauty. The phrase don't judge a book by its cover definitely applies here. This book is not fluffy or pink. It's complex and emotional and heart-breaking - both in its beauty and sadness. And By The Way is the sort of book that will totally break your heart - and you will love every second of it. You will feel every single thing Alex does and you will love her so much to hurts, faults and all.
You will fall totally in love with David and you will feel so emotionally overwhelmed you will be too wrapped up in everything to cry, even when you are on the verge of a breakdown. And you will hope and laugh and love. I honestly cannot recommend it enough - to everyone! Nor will I ever underestimate or dismiss my time with my family — who knows what could happen next? And By The Way, you really will love every single second and will not be able to stop reading.
So enjoy - this book will not let you down. Jul 15, Lauren rated it really liked it Shelves: own. And By The Way tells the story of Alex, a girl who has felt nothing but lost ever since she lost her mother six months ago. However, everything changes when David McFadden suddenly catapults himself into her life.
What happens, though, when their relationship begins to lose the glimmer it once held? Will Alex once again retreat into her shell, away from her family and friends, or will she grow stronger? Only time and more pages call tell in this heartwarming yet heartbreaking story of first love, friendship, and moving on. However, as the novel progressed and Alex began to let go of her past mistakes and live again, I began to see how important that character trait of hers way, because not only did it allow her to bloom into someone amazing, but it also made her as well as her relationships stronger over time.
This leads me to one of my favorite parts of the book: seeing the relationships Alex held with others. All of the relationships in this one were flavored with complicity to keep things interesting! Not only because David was swoon worthy, but also because it was always interesting as well as fun to see how both of them, especially Alex, grew because of it all. Moving on, I also enjoyed the focus on the relationship between parents and their kids in this one.
The overall plot in this one was great! For a contemporary, it managed to surprise me in some surprising ways. Denise Deegan sure knows how to pack in suspense to say the least! She also fully developed the supporting characters to the best of her ability and even further at times, and even though the story did drag at times, I was quite impressed overall with her storytelling ability. Highly recommended. Grade: A Nov 28, Heather rated it it was amazing.
The author of this book, Denise Deegan approached me to read her three novels when I got a chance and I agreed because 1 She was extremely polite in asking me 2 Worked really hard at getting me the novels because for some reason since she's in Ireland and I'm here, she can't gift them to me from Ireland. Some Amazon Law. I haven't read a YA novel set in Ireland.
So, I started it on the holiday weekend, and I couldn't put it down! Alex, the main character is broken an The author of this book, Denise Deegan approached me to read her three novels when I got a chance and I agreed because 1 She was extremely polite in asking me 2 Worked really hard at getting me the novels because for some reason since she's in Ireland and I'm here, she can't gift them to me from Ireland. Alex, the main character is broken and jaded and angry and expects nothing but to be let down for the rest of her life.
When she lost her mother, she lost everything. She closed herself off from everyone but her Gran and Homer, her dog. Her philosophy is, if you don't care about someone, then losing them won't hurt so bad. But she's got two best friends, one a bit smarter than the other and she's wise to what's happening. Shaking her isn't too easy. And then there's David McFadden, the American that she's paired up with for sailing class and who makes her actually laugh. But she can't laugh, because that would mean forgetting her mother.
Alex is caught between honoring her mother's memory and needing desperately to move on. Denise won the Raindance Pitching Competition, January , following a general anaesthetic! Denise lives in Dublin with her family where she regularly dreams of sunshine, a life without cooking and her novels being made into movies. Denise has been a nurse, china restorer, pharmaceutical sales rep, public relations officer, entrepreneur and college lecturer. Her most difficult job was checkout girl, though it did inspire a short story.
Fairy-tale retelling of The Princess and the Pea , where the prince and princess get to control their own destinies. And by the Way… Butterfly, 1 by Denise Deegan. Juni 12, Posting Komentar.
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