Title: Saving Me
Author: Sadie Allen
Standalone
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Mental Health, [Young-Adult]
Trigger Warning: Depression, Attempted suicide
Heat Rating: Cool
Page Count and Format: 290 pages, Ebook
Published: February 22nd, 2018
Source: I received an eARC of this book from Enticing Journey Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
My Rating:
Blurb (from Goodreads):
On the outside, Ally has everything any teenager could want. She’s beautiful, popular, and athletic. She has the right friends, an adoring boyfriend, and the picture-perfect family.
Too bad it’s all a lie.
Every day she’s dying a little on the inside, drowning in everyone’s expectations and opinions, the weight of it all pulling her under.
She wants to do the unthinkable … until a boy with shaggy hair, unusual eyes, and a lip ring changes her plans.
This book was beautiful. First of all, I loved the fact that the author acknowledged that love is not the solution for curing mental illness but it definitely helps in the process. That love doesn’t always have to be romantic, it can be any kind of love and when you have a strong support system, your will to get better definitely increases. At least that much I can say from my personal experience.
Ally lives the life of a puppet. Although it might seem that she has everything, a perfectly planned future, a boyfriend and a gang of girlfriends but in reality, each and every one of her decisions are made by her father. Overwhelmed by everything, when she finally decides to give up, a ray of hope appears in the form of Sterling, a guy she has always considered way above her level but he shows her that there are things that are still worth fighting for.
Saving Me is seriously a beautiful book which touched my heart. The narrative flowed smoothly giving us a vivid picture of Ally’s life. Ally’s father is the dictator of her life who wants to fulfil his dream of becoming an athlete through her. I have seen real-life examples of these kinds of pressures and the endings are almost always not positive. This breaks my heart. Whatever happens, a person should have the whole liberty to live his/her life in a certain way they want. Of course, it’s the duty of the parents to guide their children when they are growing up or if they are making a mistake but when it crosses that level, it becomes controlling instead of caring.
On top of her father’s pressure, her cheating boyfriend was a cherry on top. That guy, oh my god!! I wanted to bash his head with a frying pan. Like seriously?!! How can someone be that dumb and shallow!! Anyway, I could feel Ally’s depression. I could empathize when she felt the world was closing down on her, choking her in every possible way. She didn’t have the luxury to share her troubles with the kind of parents and friends she had in her life. That’s where the importance of the support system comes in. When you have people cheering for you, it is a little easier to hold on to the hope. And seriously, every freaking one needs to understand what a mental illness can do to a person, and like very fast because even its the 21st-century, the world is still narrow-minded and we are losing way more people that way.
Ally’s support system came through Sterling and the friends whom she met in the theatre. I seriously loved that guy!! He was the ray of hope that Ally needed in her life and with him, she started finding a way out. Also, she had been an athlete her whole life but in the theatre, she gets to do something different, she discovers a whole new side of herself. Finding oneself is as important as loving oneself and that message was beautifully described in this book.
The only part which I didn’t like was the cliched jealous ex-girlfriend trope who cause unnecessary troubles. I would have loved if the book focused more on Ally and her new non-toxic new friendships and more of that instead of the drama. Nonetheless, I loved the faith that Ally and Sterling had in each other, despite everything their faith never wavered which I absolutely loved!
Overall, Saving Me was a great read! I enjoyed the plot and the character development throughout the book. The writing was smooth and easy to read and the pace was even throughout the book. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of Allen’s works.
Recommend it?
Yes!
Author Bio:
Sadie Allen lives in Texas with her husband and three young children. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, catching up on her favorite shows, or chasing her family around the house.
Author Links:
Amazon || Facebook || Facebook Group || Twitter || Website || Pinterest || Instagram || Newsletter
Purchase Links:
Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Kobo || iTunes
Soo guys have you read this?? Is it on your tbr? Have you read any other book by this author?
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