Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Title:  The Beginning of Everything 

Author: Robyn Schneider

Publisher:  Katherine Tegen
Publishing Date: August 27th 2013

Pages:  355
Genre:  YA Coming of Age 

Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

  

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 anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as 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 more 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.

This was a book I was very excited for and took a bit longer to get to than I had originally anticipated.  It kind of got lost in my pile of TBR and soon it became out of sight out of mind. Well digging through my TBR books I came across it and decided to read it now. I am so glad I did. The book was very inviting from the very beginning and never lost its momentum. I enjoyed the characters and the story. 

Ezra was the all American dream boy. Talented, charming, good looking. He had it all and had some big dreams in front of him. One night before his senior year he gets in a car accident and it shatters his knee and his dreams. All summer he lays up in bed without visitors, feeling sorry for himself. His senior year starts and he decides he no longer fits into his old life so he creates a new one with a very old friend. Along the way he makes new friends, finds a new hobby, and falls for a girl. What he never expected was to find a new place he very much belonged. 

There was so much good in this book. I loved the story, the popular guy loses what made him popular and has to remake himself but does it with the unpopular crowd, by choice. He finds a new way and new friends. Its a real feel good story. It seems cliche among ya but this book didn't feel cliche. The author did a spendid job on finding a fresh voice for the main character and a fresh look to an old tale. The book was very well done, a light hearted read with a few serious issues, and it read at a very steady pace. It caught me a bit off guard I must say. I thought I would like the book but didn't expect to devour it. 

I have enjoyed many male POV stories in the past. I will admit it hard to find good ones at times but I have read some pretty decent ones. I have been pleased with my choices. This book stood out for a male POV. I loved the main character, Ezra. I found him very lovable, honest, relateable, huggable, real, and so on and son. There were times he frustrated me. He seemed a bit naive about the real world. It seemed to have fit with his upbringing and lifestyle. He has been a bit sheltered in the world of earning your keep and working for something you really want. What this in turn left him missing was real enjoyment of life. He found a way very quickly to make up for all his lost time thanks to Cassidy. Ezra had been popular and though he didn't make it his mission to run with the other crowds he was never the bully. I liked this about him. He thought for himself and he didn't seem to let peer pressure get to him. He was a bit of a sucker for the wrong kind of girls in his past but most teen boys are. I really liked him. 

Cassidy was an OK character. She didn't win my heart, but she did complete the story . The story was better off for her having her and Ezra was better off for knowing her. I didn't dislike her but there were some things that rubbed me kind of awkward with her. In the end she made sense to me, but moments leading up to that moment, she was kind of lost to me. I couldn't figure her out and she had me wavering on my feelings for her. This was the author's intent I am sure, but it did get in the way, just a bit, of me connecting to her. My lack of connection with her had some to do

with the story being told from Ezra's POV. In the end she made a difference and that was her sole purpose.


The only complaint I have was the ending. It was fitting, yes, it was completed, yes, it left me satisfied, no not really. I mean I don't need more for my enjoyment of the book, I think I just wanted more. I really loved Ezra and I think in many ways he got the short end of the stick. He needed to experience the department of lacking and he was a better person for doing so but I loved him bunches and I wanted more than what I got for him. It was not a bad ending just not the ending I would have picked. But... its not my book and the ending was fitting and more realistic than what my mind would have chosen.... So good fitting ending for a to a really wonderful and emotional story.

It was really really really good and you should read it very soon or now, that works too.