Under My Skin
Laura Diamond
Published by: Swoon Romance
Publication date: April 12th 2016
Ages: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary Romance
Bookish Brit Adam Gibson is one wonky heartbeat away from a fatal arrhythmia. But staying alive requires Adam to become keenly focused on both his pulse and the many different daily medications he must take in exactly the right dosages. Adam’s torn between wanting to live and knowing that someone else must die in order for him to do so. He needs a new heart.
The pressure is getting to him. Adam stops talking to his friends back home, refuses to meet kids at his new school, and shuts his parents out entirely. His days are spent wondering if can cope with having a dead man’s heart beating inside his chest, or if he should surrender to the thoughts of suicide swirling around in his head.
And then a donor is found…
Outspoken artist Darby Fox rarely lets anything stand in her way of achieving her goals . Whether it’s painting, ignoring her homework (dyslexia makes a mess out of words anyway), kissing a hot boy she doesn’t even know, or taking the head cheerleader down a peg , no one has ever accused Darby of being a shy. She also happens to be the twin sister to a perfect brother with good looks, good grades, manners, and the approval of their parents – something Darby has never had.
Darby’s always had bad timing . She picks the worst time to argue with her brother Daniel. In a car with bald tires, on an icy road in the freezing cold, the unthinkable happens. In a split-second, everything changes forever.
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Review:
I was so looking forward to this book and at the same time I was so so scared that I was going to end up a blubbering mess like I did with A thousand boy kisses. I think I am a little traumatised on the amount of crying I did that day!
But I am happy to say that it was not the case here. Do not get me wrong, there are some really sad moments and there you no way to keep really emotionally detached but it is really really good.
We get to meet Adam and Darby, they are both going through very difficult times in their lives and and both plagued with loving but really overbearing parents. I think my mom was a bit like that too and it is very easy to see how both of them are feeling very suffocated. Even to this day, I find it very much unbearable the whole “how are you feeling?” when it is coming out of the parental.
Laura has done a magnificent job in terms of the swirling feelings and emotions that are so hidden and so out there at the same time in pretty much every page of the book but never does it feel overwhelming. Let’s face it, I have never undergone surgery requiring a donor but I could so easily relate and most importantly understand and agree with Adam and what was going on in his head.
When it comes to that, I really believe the book has some really fantastic writing, Darby and Adam are so beautifully written. Though we switch PoV between them, it doesn’t slow the pace and the story flows so nicely till the last period.
The one character that really got on my nerves is Shaw the shrink. I could not figure her out, her feelings and motivations. She was the most obscure of the characters and the one I liked the least. I suppose she served her purpose in the book but still!
Under My Skin was a great read and it does not disappoint, for this reason I am very highly recommending it!
I do hope you love it as much as I did.
Excerpt:
DARBY:
I force myself to take my time over to the plastic utensil dispenser, but I let myself rush—a little—back to the table. And Adam.
“Here.” I offer him a spoon.
Our fingers brush against each other. My skin tingles from the contact.
“Thank you.” He stares up at me. The light above him catches his eyes. They’re a color I’ve never seen before, a mixture of blue, green, and brown. Didn’t look that way yesterday. Chameleon eyes. Beautiful.
I sit, trying to settle the somersaults in my stomach. A simple idea hits me: Paint them.
Guilt stomps it out. How can I think about picking up a paintbrush when my brother is dead? He’ll never shoot a basketball again, or drive his precious car, or get the sports scholarship Dad’s been rooting for. I don’t have a right to enjoy anything if he can’t.
“You all right?” Adam asks.
I chew on the spoon. “Y-yeah…Hey, you wear contacts?”
“No. Why?” The lean muscles in his forearms ripple and the tendons in his hands work as he fiddles with the ice cream container.
I sort out the color combinations I’d have to mix to get just the right shades to match his irises. I can almost feel my fingertips sliding across a blank canvas, reading it, urging it to tell me its story. My fingers twitch, aching to hold a brush again. Can I?
Author Bio:
Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist currently specializing in emergency psychiatry. She is also an author of all things young adult—both contemporary and paranormal. An avid fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and anything magical, she thrives on quirk, her lucid dreams, and coffee. When she’s not working or writing, she can be found sniffing books and drinking a latte at the bookstore or at home pondering renovations on her 225 year old fixer upper, all while obeying her feline overlords, of course.
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