Just Finished Reading ... Survive by Alex Morel

Survive
by Alex Morel

To by published by Penguin Razorbill
on August 2, 2012

Source: ARC traded with another blogger





My summary: It's December, and Jane is headed home to spend Christmas with her family. Jane has a secret, and it's not her Christmas list. She doesn't plan to make it off the plane. She's researched a mix of over-the-counter meds that will kill her, planned how to evade the rules of the Life House treatment center in order to buy the drugs on the way to the airport, figured out just what to say to her therapist so he won't suspect a thing. Jane's plans are thrown into disarray when her plane crashes. She and her seat mate, Paul, are the only crash survivors. They'll need to depend on each other, and Jane will have to dig deep to find her will to live.

My take: This book was an emotional roller coaster that I wasn't sure I wanted to get on, then didn't want to get off. I loved Jane's narrative voice. Her father committed suicide, and she feels that's her destiny too. She's a patient at Life House, a girl filled with witty quips and self-effacing humor designed to hide her pain. She says stuff like:

I can't die in these shoes. They're old lady shoes my mom bought me in case Life House had a prom or something. Think about that for a second, and you have a little window into what I'm dealing with. My mom figured there might be some nice boys I could dance with here at this fine mental institution.

Survive had some definite parallels to This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. Both books take a character who thinks she has lost her desire to live, then plunge her into tragedy. At the outset, Jane is a snarkier, edgier character than Sloane. After the crash, she's still cracking me up, still using her razor-edged humor to keep Paul at a distance. But slowly, the two of them bond and begin to work together to move to a location where they might be able to be spotted by rescuers. Paul has sorrows of his own, and getting to know him helps Jane move out of her therapy-induced narcissism.

This book was intense, and got even more so as the story developed. There were two aspects of the ending that bothered me in the abstract, but after I thought about it, I decided they actually worked for the story. One of them is a spoiler that is also mentioned in the book's blurb, so don't read to the end of that if you want to be surprised. If you read the book, please email me so we can discuss. My friends and family are tired of hearing me yammer on about books they haven't read.

My biggest complaint about this book was that there were parts of it I wanted to read more slowly, but I couldn't do it. This is the kind of book that won't leave your hands until you turn the last page. I definitely recommend Survive to fans of edge-of-your-seat reads, snarky narrators, and heart pounding suspense. What a ride!

Forgot to say -- this ARC will be up for grabs on Freebie Friday this week!

Comments

  1. Great review! I love how the book was intense and I felt the same way after reading Bloodrose! I just needed somebody to rant and rave about it to and although I haven't read it, Survive looks really great and it sounds like something I have to be on the lookout for :)

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  2. This is definitely my type of book. Adding to my list!

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    1. Are you sure? Maybe there are zombies in there!!

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  3. I've never heard of this book and at the outset I wasn't sure it was my kind of read. But after reading your review, it sounds really interesting and thrilling!

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  4. I've read a few good reviews for Survive. I've been reading some pretty intense books lately so I may just have to add it to my TBR pile but get to it a little later. I need a break lol

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    1. Yeah, it was intense! I do love books like that, but I agree, it can get to be too much!

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  5. Wow, you've done it again. This book wasn't even on my radar until just recently, but you've made me want to pick it up. And thanks for the note about the spoiler in the synopsis. I didn't read it, and I'm glad for that now. But I've found too many books terribly predictable as of late, and so my new thing is *not* reading the summary in hopes that it helps on that front. So far, I'm probably 50/50 on it. :P Anyway, now I'm really excited to read this, especially if it's similar to This is Not a Test, which I thought was phenomenal. Great review, as usual!

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    1. Yay! Hope you enjoy it. If I read on my kindle I end up reading without any summary beforehand. It's interesting to read that way!

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  6. Great review! I actually had no idea what this was about, but I now want to read it..lol Survival stories are great, even more so if the main character wants to kill herself..

    Sounds pretty interesting!
    Thanks for the review!

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    1. I'm scared of survival stories --scared that they'll be too gory or freak me out. But I really liked this one!

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  7. Ok now I am officially sold on this book. You had me at snarky narrators which I love reading. That quote you put up is so funny. I really like how Jane went from trying to commit suicide to doing everything in her power to survive when the plane crashes. Sounds very inspiring.

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    1. Sorry -- your comment got marked as spam but I have rescued it!
      I also love snarky narrators!! That's probably why we both love Kody Keplinger books so much :)

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    2. Very true :-)
      Wow have I been marked as spam before? That's random.

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    3. Not to you but it happens to someone every other week or so and I have no idea why

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  8. Wow! This book wasn't even on my radar but after your review I am adding it to my TBR list. I was just able to start This Is Not a Test and already love it but this sounds intense and awesome regardless! Thanks!

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  9. I'm way more interested in reading this now that I know the voice is funny. I love intense, but I can't handle it if the tension isn't regularly released.

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    1. I love funny -- which is why I'm friends with you LOL. You make me laugh all the time ;)

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  10. Great review! :)
    I know how that feeling when you want to stop reading some book so you can enjoy longer but then again is so interesting that you can't stop reading. :D
    Happens to me a lot! :)

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    1. Yep -- I couldn't look away from this one!!

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  11. I didn't like the ending either :-( I was crying whic isn't really a big shock I'm a big cry baby. lol But oh man I was cold just reading it. I hate the snow and snow eating it?! I get so thirsty! I drink like 12 bottles of water a day so if I'm hiking through the snow there is no way that all I would drink is one tiny little melted bottle every day. I would scarf down some snow and take my chances. Glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. Oh, yay -- someone who has read it. I'll email you...

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  12. This does sound like I would enojy it. I like survivor stories, I just get nervous if there are sharks... Are there? I have a fear of water, and flying but mostly sharks so sometimes I get nervous if it will be too much. I think I would enjoy this one though. Thanks for the great review!

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    1. No sharks in this one. I don't like flying over water either!!!

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  13. Wow, I love fast-paced reads so I definitely have to check this one out. It caught my eye a few months ago but I hadn't heard much til I came across your review. :) Can't wait to read it!

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  14. I'm so glad you liked it! I want to read it and I quite probably would have changed my mind if you didn't like it.

    I read the synopsis on Goodreads and I am pretty mad that I did. That kind of stuff does not belong in a SUMMARY!!!! I still want to read it... but it's just not going to be the same.

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    1. Sigh. I don't get it. I mean, I still enjoyed the book a lot. Sometimes with a suspenseful book I have been known to peek at endings -- I know, it's terrible that I do that.

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    2. I was a big peeker in my early reading years, but than I read the last couple pages of Whisper of Death (Christopher Pike) and it ruined the entire freaking book. That was the last time I peeked. I've caught spoilers elsewhere, but never intentionally.

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  15. Ooh. Snarky characters are my favorite! I haven't seen this one and it sounds really good. I've read a couple of other books where two people are stuck together trying to survive and I really liked them. This one might be a little tough if both don't make it through. I would have to have another happy ending book in the wings so that I don't mope around the house after I read it. :)

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  16. I hadn't even heard of this book before I read your review, but it sounds really intense & like something I'd definitely enjoy. I really love snarky characters (it's why I love Seth from the Convenant series and Adrian from VA) and I'll definitely try to get my hands on this sometime in the future. Thanks for the heads up about the blurb!

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    1. I love snarky characters too. I haven't read the Covenant series, but I'll go check it out!

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  17. I think I'll have to add this to my "to read list"

    I hope that as a nervous flyer you found the crash scene okay to read :)

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    1. Ha -- I read it on a trip, which was unusually brave for me. But I was okay! Thanks for asking :)

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  18. Awesome review!! I really want to read this book!! It sounds so fantastic. Your review has made me really excited for it.

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  19. Seems like you really liked this one, Jen! Survival books and I have a somewhat strained relationship. I have to REALLY be in the mood to read them, and there has to be more to it: more in the humor department, more in the romance department, something. Sounds like this one has a narrator with a great voice, so that definitely bumps it up a notch in my opinion.

    What's up with a spoiler in the BLURB, though? That seems like a major faux pas!

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    1. I don't know -- to me it was a serious spoiler and I spent the whole book wanting to peek at the ending!!!

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  20. So I went to add this one to my TBR after reading your review and I saw that I added it back in May! Lol! I have way too many books on my TBR is what that's telling me!

    Why did I read the end of the blurb? Why?!

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  21. Awesome review..I loved This is Not a Test..and this one sounds like a winner..i loved your only complaint..and um ..i can live with that LOL

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  22. This sounds like a fantastic book! Definitely my kind of read! And thanks so much for the warning about the spoiler in the book's blurb. I normally read a blurb, put it on my TBR list, and then try not to read the blurb again, simply because I like to know as little about the book as possible! So I'll definitely stay away from that blurb! Hmmm, I just had an idea for a feature on my blog! Must brainstorm! ;)

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    1. I've learned from Netgalley reading that sometimes it's interesting to go into a book cold, without the blurb!

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