Elizabeth Valchar rocks the three “P’s”… pretty, popular, and perfect. She has six close friends, all of them who come to celebrate her eighteenth birthday with a little partying and a sleep over on her family yacht. In the wee hours of the following morning, Elizabeth is awakened by a thumping sound. Annoyed that she is the only one who seems disturbed by it she slips out on to the yachts deck to investigate…
what she finds, changes everything. What she thought she knew about life, her friends, and everything in between…. all comes to a halt after she discovers the
“thump thump thump”
Ok really? How could I read a synopsis that includes a mysterious thump thump thump and not want to know more? What goes thump? How does it change Elizabeth forever?
Well… that’s for me to know and you to find out. 😛
I picked up this book in May at BEA. I was drawn to the cover immediately…was it a paranormal thriller? Dystopia? definitely YA…. yet it went into my book box and remained there until a few days ago when I noticed this book was coming up for release on August 1st. When I pulled it out of the box and read the synopsis I was instantly pulled in. I had to know and yes, a couple of books were sat to the wayside so I could pull this one to the front.
It’s been a long time since a book kept me up late into the wee hours of the morning, but that is what happened with Between.
Elizabeth’s character in short order reminded me a bit of Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall. In my review of Before I Fall I had to laugh because I started that review almost the same as I did this one… in that book it was Samantha that has the looks, the popularity… and she too was in for a rude awakening (ok… that may not be the best word…. 😉 )
Elizabeth, while stuck on herself, is likable. She is quick to see the error of her ways, and I found I liked her and trying to solve the mystery behind the thump (you got it – I am not giving it away! 😛 ) A secondary character comes into play early on, and Alex who also attended Elizabeth’s school and was quit the opposite of Elizabeth, poor, unpopular…. becomes almost as much of a lead character as Elizabeth is herself.
It’s hard to write about this review without giving moments away that while are given up early in the read, are so good to discover on your own – I don’t wish to be the one who tells you. 😛
Between will surprise you. Occasionally I thought I had it all figured out and then a couple of pages later I felt I knew nothing again. Author Jessica Warman is able to keep her readers on their toes with every turn of the page. A YA read that was just the perfect mix of mystery with a sprinkle of paranormal.
Amazon Rating
Goodreads Review
The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Between
I received this book at BEA in May 2011
Book Journey 
Okay, Sheila, you have definitely piqued my curiosity on this one, and I guess I’m not going to find out about the “thumping” until I read it!
Thanks….LOL
Not from me your not! LOL 😛
I absolutely love the cover of the first one and yes….thump, thump, thump would make me want to read it for sure!
I will just say.. the “thump” wasnt what I thought it be. 😛
this book looks so good, it is definitely on my wish list!!
Kristen it was pretty good. There were a couple things I didn’t like in the very beginning as far as partying and drugs with 17/18 year olds, but it was short lived.
This one does sound good, time to add it to the list of books to read! Thanks for the review!
Yup! I am happy to review it! 😀
I already know what happens regarding the “thump” because of a review I read. I appreciate that you didn’t spoil it for your readers 🙂 I hate it when reviews spoil big things in books. That happened to me when I read a Publishers Weekly review of Sisterhood Everlasting. 😦
do want to read this after reading your review. I was on the fence about it before.
I know Christina – I read a couple reviews after I wrote mine and they both revealed the thump. I was glad I didn’t know going in….I felt as though I was with Elizabeth (Liz) as she checked it out. 😀
I want this book! I am off to investigate on Goodreads and see if it has a UK publisher.
I hope it does Vivienne! *fingers crossed*
Hmmm… I really didn’t think the source of the thump was that big of a spoiler. It’s revealed in the first few pages. I guess if you are TOTALLY anti-spoilers then it is one, but then perhaps reading reviews before reading the book isn’t the best practice.
Emily I just loved not knowing! 😀 I seen on Goodreads it says it right away and I figure everyone will find out anyway…. but I held the suspense here as long as I could! 😛
(Really hard to review without revealing that piece too!)
That was the biggest thing for me. I just wrote a review for our local paper. I couldn’t write a decent review without including that bit. So, I just went for it. Kudos to you for keeping the suspense alive!
Oh yeah, no way you could hold it for a paper review… 😀 Is your paper on line? I would love to see your review!
I adore Jessica Warman and really wish I had been able to pick up a copy of this one at BEA. My library doesn’t even have it on order. 😦
I have not read anything else by her Amanda but I really want to check out her other books now!
I’ve just added this one to my wishlist! I wanna know what the thumping noise is!
LOL – hope you enjoy it 😀
I read this book in like 6 hours ( spread to 3 days). They should seriously consider making a movie on this book if they haven’t already.
It was pretty good 😀
I loved it!