Adi Alsaid

{My Thoughts} – Never become a cliche. Always be there for your best friend no matter what. And sometimes it’s okay to break the rules.

Julia and Dave have been friends for many years and when they started High School they created a list called the Nevers. On that list is ten things that they aren’t allowed to do during their four years in High School. Which when you read it basically says that they aren’t allowed to have a normal High School experience. Although I suppose it could depend on how the reader perceives the list once they read it.

Julia is a sweet girl with a lot to learn. She was adopted and has two gay dads. Her mother is in the picture sort of. She always makes Julia promises that she never intends to keep. I am sure any child that is raised by someone other then their actual parent knows what that is like. I was raised by my grandparents and experienced it a lot when it came to my mom saying she was going to come visit and do things and well never showed up or had some creative lie as to why she couldn’t show up. The fact of the matter is, I had an easy time identifying with Julia through out the book because of my past with my own family. She’s also rather quirky, she doesn’t like to wear shoes and it is mentioned in many of the pages with her description which I find rather humorous, since I couldn’t not wear my shoes. She also likes to call Dave anything but his name. It seems to be some kind of inside joke between them, which is interesting to see what she comes up with when she barks out his fall name but it isn’t his name at all. It leaves one with the ability to giggle.

Dave is like any other guy. He wants to please his best friend. He supports Julia to the best of his ability and does everything he can to help her feel like she is important to him as a friend should be. He goes on missions with her, they have movie nights, they sleep over at each others houses, but they aren’t dating. They have never dated. One of the rules on the Nevers list is that you can’t date your best friend. Dave lives with his Brother and his dad. His mom passed away some years earlier and so he understands why Julia has a fascination with her living mother that keeps breaking her heart in some way or another. However, he always seems to be the one that is there to help pull it together once she is hurt because of it all. Which isn’t always fair to him.

In the beginning of the book they discuss the writing of the Nevers list and then they discuss doing everything on that list so that they can share in the real High School experience before it’s too late. At this point they only have a little bit of school left before they are going to graduate. The two of them put their heads together and they work out which Nevers to cross of first and how to go about completing them before it gets to late.

When they agreed to do the things on the Nevers list though, I don’t think they bargained for everything that would come with it. There was a massive emotional roller coaster that shot through this book. IT made me want to cry, laugh and scream at some of the characters. Especially Dave and Julia. I couldn’t believe some of the things those two had been capable of doing, but then again when your with your best friend and they know everything about you, why wouldn’t you be okay with doing nearly everything together, the good and the bad and well everything.

I really enjoyed reading the book, but for the most part I struggled to complete it because I had began it at a time where my schedule because rather disruptive and then when I thought about the book, I thought about other things that made me sad and I couldn’t separate the two for awhile. However, I did manage to finish it and I am glad that I did. It’s nicely written and the author blended all the characters stories together so brilliantly that its flawless to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants read a soft High School adventure/ romance/ finding your identity kind of book.… (more)

Ever read an anthology where each story caused an impact you felt in your chest? Reading Come on in was like that. Honestly, I'm not sure if I am going to be able to adequately write how this book made me feel, I am afraid that whatever I saw won't do this book justice, but I am going to try.

The first adjective that I would use is powerful. The pen is supposedly mightier than the sword but there are not a lot of books that can display this. However, the stories in this book have the ability to showcase just that. The second adjective would be magical. Each story was written in a way where I felt I was transported there right along beside the characters.

I know I will never truly be able to know what any of these characters really feel considering I was born in the U.S. but my mother wasn't and it really puts into perspective of what she must have felt and gone through. it makes me feel closer to her. One of the things this anthology does, is give you information about each author after the story and since I absolutely loved each one (which is a rarity for me), so I now have a list of authors to add to my must read list.

Overall, this book is a must read to me.

*A Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this for an honest and unbiased review*… (more)