Tenth Book of Christmas: The Beginning of Everything

"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 Ezra's ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.
But 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 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."

I was sincerely excited to read this book─what with all the hype it has received last year and have been getting until now from the social media─that I put it on the latter part of my 12-Books-of-Christmas list just to build a little bit more anticipation. And now that I've finished reading it, my emotions and thoughts about it were all over the place (for days now!) that I've been sitting here in front of the computer, writing this very review and I still couldn't find the words to say. Maybe because I was a little disappointed because I really expected so much from it and those expectations weren't met?

Since I don't know what to say, I'll just list down the things I liked from the story (because, really? I don't want to focus on the negative aspects and come on, it's more fun to read about the good stuff, right?): firstly, I liked the opening paragraph.

"Sometimes I think that everyone has a tragedy waiting for them... 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." 

Thought-provoking stuff right there. Though I think the story went dragging from there. But I truly did enjoy reading Ezra and his story. He's the second thing that I liked most about this book because he was so realistic and I thought Ms. Schneider did a good job writing him. I could easily picture him in my head most especially when he was with his "misfit" friends (even when wasn't or alone) and I found myself chuckling on some parts. Speaking of which, I specifically loved Toby─the awesome, bow-tie-wearing, Doctor-Who-quoting best friend of Ezra. Haha. He was one of the few reasons I continued reading this book, actually. *ducks under the computer table*

Above all, I loved the ending nevertheless I admit that I wished there could have been "more" from it. But I liked how Ezra realized that his maturity was all his own doing and not Cassidy's. I dunno why but I just couldn't motivate myself to like Cassidy no matter how much I wanted to. I mean, I just didn't find her as a real teenage girl, at all. The whole time I was reading the novel and learning more about the characters, I didn't see myself attached to her─which is saying a lot because I could easily do that (at some point) with every heroine I came across with─and I think that was the major disappointment. Or maybe Ms. Scneider wanted to prove a point here and I just failed to get a hold of it? Or was it possible I just misread her entirely?

Anyway, it was an okay read. It has a few similarities to John Green's Looking for Alaska, I realized, so if you enjoyed that one I think you'd like this one, as well. Though I can see myself reading Alaska, again, in the near future, I'm afraid I can't say the same with Ms. Schneider's debut. :(

However, I would love to read more of her works,
Joey