"When he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.
But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure."
Also, the cover is just gorgeous, and that really was the main reason I picked this book up! It's so pretty, and I know they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but, be honest, don't we all?!
There is a lot of talk around this book concerning its 'unoriginality' ; it is described to be a cross between The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, both by John Green, and while I can see why some people might think this, Extraordinary Means does have some features of its own. Okay, so the idea of this book might not be completely original, but that doesn't stop it from having some amazing twists and moral messages. This book did have a few surprises, too, so please don't be put off reading it just because it's said not to be too original.
As said in the premise, this story revolves around a group of teenagers who have been sent to Latham House, a secluded boarding school, because they have developed a deadly and contagious disease, TB. Lane is the newcomer to the school and is initially intimidated when he meets Sadie and her friends - the school's group of trouble makers. However, after a little time in their presence, he finds out that there can be more to his life than his illness has meant, and that, even in the state he's in, he can still find love.
I really loved the writing style in Extraordinary Means. While it didn't differ too much between the dual narration of Sadie and Lane, it suited the book well and gave the book a great feel to it. Robyn Schneider's voice brought Sadie and Lane to life in an incredible way. I loved it.
I loved the depth of characters in this book so much. Lane was the hard-working, stressed out kind of guy who hadn't embraced his illness and wanted to go back to school as soon as he could. Sadie was almost the opposite; a rebellious trouble-maker who wouldn't be controlled by anything- especially her illness. At the start of the book, I doubted that they would fit with each other, but as the story progressed, I fell in love with their relationship as much as they fell in love with each other. But, saying that, romance wasn't really a huge or important aspect of Extraordinary Means. However, I do believe the book benefited from this - after all, not every book has to be filled with lovey-dovey scenes, and I liked the fact that this one wasn't since it made it more original.
I feel like there's not really much else I can say about this book without spoiling it, but I think I would recommend it to pretty much anybody. It was such a heartfelt and meaningful book, which was surprisingly funny while devastatingly sad. The humour was very dark, but it still brought glimmers of light into this amazing story, which it definitely benefited from.
If you haven't read this book, I suggest you do! It very quickly became one of my favourite books and I gave it 5 stars!
From this point onwards, there will be major spoilers for Extraordinary Means, so if you have not yet read the book and would not like to be spoiled, please stop reading now and come back when you have finished the book. Thanks :)
Okay, on to the spoilery bits now!
Since it was set in the 'kind-of-future', this book features a lot of references to things we have now, such as Harry Potter, John Green books, Starbucks, etc! I'm not quite sure how I feel anymore about pop-culture references in books like this. I used to love them being there because it made the characters more relatable to my ways of thinking, but recently I've almost got tired of seeing them there. References like these are in so many books now and it's just starting to feel unoriginal. But, having said that, I think that if I ever wrote a book set in this world, I would probably still end up including some Harry Potter references or something like that!
From the very start of the novel, I had guessed that either Lane or Sadie would end up dying, and I had an idea that it might be Sadie who went. So, if you have read the book, you'll know that my prediction did end up coming true, but even before it happened, I would never have guessed how she would die.
As much as it was a devastating and horrible ending, I am actually really glad (in a weird way) that this is how she went. I mean, obviously I would have preferred her not to go at all and for Lane and her to be able to have a happy ending, but I still feel that if she hadn't have died, they wouldn't have had this anyway due to them being cured and then sent to live back with their families, who wouldn't understand any of what they went through, which is also showcased after Sadie's attack when her Mum stays with her and barely lets Lane see her.
The ending, while utterly heart-breaking, was very well thought out, in my opinion, and very well timed with the cure becoming available and really gave the story an unexpected twist and was extremely thought-provoking. I also think that Sadie, given the choice, would have preferred to go out this way as opposed to just dying from her illness, since this aspect showed how she lived her life, and didn't follow the rules, which she seemed to be proud of. I think that just letting her die wouldn't have been nearly as important for her as this death was.
Also, while redrafting this, I realised that Sadie's name literally has the word DIE in it! How did I not see this before?! Of course she was going to die with a name like that!
So, what did you think of Extraordinary Means? Rate down below if you've read it!
That's all for this post but I hope to be back for more very soon!
Much love
Charlotte xxx
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