Review: The Beginning of everything by Robyn Schneider

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publication date: August 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Read: August 2014

Pages: 335

Rating: ★★★★★

Summary

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes? 

Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

My thoughts

"I still think that everyone's life, no matter how unremarkable, has a singular tragic encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. That moment is the catalyst; the first step in the equation. But knowing the first step will get you nowhere; it's what comes after that determines the result."

First page, BANG! That is what you see. It got my full attention and I couldn't wait to read the next pages. I like it when they take a paragraph or a page from the story and put them at the very beginning of the book. It's really a good idea to make readers' more interested in reading the story.

"Go ahead,I give you permission to aim an invisible crossbow at my heart."

I knew from the beginning that Iwill love Cassidy's character. She's smart and has a good sense of humour too. Then as I read more pages, I realized she's also mysterious and she made me curious to know her big secret. At first, I thought Cassidy was just a new student who is a total nerd and is very shy to talk to people. But I was wrong. She was actually a pretty friendly person. I like how sometimes she acts tough and happy, other times sad and hesitant. Her flaws made me really love her. Maybe in some parts, I don't quite understand Cassidy, but everyone has their secrets and I don't hate her for acting very annoying or mean about it. 

"...she was gorgeous that it hurt."

I didn't expect to like Ezra a lot but I did and I still do. He's now one of my fictional boyfriends... Yep! He honestly is very funny. Maybe for some of you guys who have read the book didn't find him hilarious but I did. The way he laughs and tells jokes in serious situations is what makes him different. And I like different. He's also romantic and smart. Out of all the fictional boys I've "met" in my head, he's unique. I've never met anyone like him and I just want him right. now. Maybe I'm just saying that because all I can think about right now is Ezra Faulkner but to be honest, he's one of the characters I appreciate the most.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?"

I also liked the secondary characters like Toby, Austin, Phoebe, Evan and Jimmy. Yes. Evan and Jimmy too. They acted like total jerks sometimes but I'm happy they're in the story. Toby is such a very good best friend. I got scared of what happened to him. That was creepy and I couldn't imagine how he felt right after that "tragedy". I didn't really like Luke. He reminds me of a guy at my school. The only difference is my friend is actually nice. I wasn't a fan of Charlotte, Ezra's ex-girlfriend,  she's such a *&%^#. I think she only dated Ezra because he was the school tennis team's captain. She's just one of those popular girls at school.

"Sometimes I have to remind myself that I don't have to do what everyone else is doing."

Overall, I really really love this book. To be honest I thought I was going to be bored at some point but that didn't happen. On page 241, I had this theory in head and at the end, it kind of happened. It was a little bit predictable but there was one thing that shocked me because I didn't expect that to happen and that is why I gave this book a 5/5 stars instead of 4/5. I love Robyn Schneider's writing and props to her because she made me laugh with her words. I think it's really hard to make someone laugh with written words. In some books, the author tries to be funny but ended up failing on that part. Robyn definitely did not fail me. She's an amazing author and hopefully she'll write more books.