The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith.

Published: 5th January 2012

Format: Hardback

Publisher: Headline

Pages: 240

Age Group: Young Adult

Challenge: Standalone Challenge, YA Contemporary Challenge

Buy this book: Amazon UK

Synopsis [Amazon UK]

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Imagine if she hadn't forgotten the book. Or if there hadn't been traffic on the expressway. Or if she hadn't fumbled the coins for the toll. What if she'd run just that little bit faster and caught the flight she was supposed to be on. Would it have been something else - the weather over the Atlantic or a fault with the plane?
Hadley isn't sure if she believes in destiny or fate but, on what is potentially the worst day of each of their lives, it's the quirks of timing and chance events that mean Hadley meets Oliver...
Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

The cover...

I love the cover of this book.  The fonts of the title are eye catching and I especially love the heart around the two people (a.k.a. Hadley and Oliver) highlighting that they are in a world of their own with the blurs of everyone around them.

How did I find out about this book?

I seen this book mentioned on a lot of other blogs and it sounded like a fun read.

What is this book about?

This book is about a girl named Hadley who misses her plane by 4 minutes.  This changes the whole outcome of her day as she meets Oliver and he allows her to see her life and everything in it in a different light!

My opinion... 

From the start I was hooked on this intriguing love story.  From the chance meeting at the airport, their conversation with the old woman on the airplane to the trials and tribulations of her fathers wedding.  I am extremely interested in fate (kismet) and this book just gave me more to think about with a lot of 'what ifs'.

The sarcasm of Hadley when speaking to her parents and the witty come backs when speaking to Oliver made me relate to her a lot.  At some points I felt like I was in her shoes and figuring out what to do next.  I also found the comment on how Scottish people say 'girls' quite amusing.

However, it was the way in which Hadley and Oliver connected that got me sucked in.  It wasn't all about lust it was about working on your own differences with the help of a chance encounter leading to a strong connection of love.  This is what, in my eyes, made this book different from the rest.  We were able to see how they fell for each other through communication and taking chances.

At parts you know what is going to happen next, or at least you hope for it to happen and it's done in a way that avoids disappointment. I have no idea how the author was able to pack all of this emotion and activity into one day, but it was just right. I really enjoyed this book and I couldn't put it down, it was one in which you couldn't get enough of the main characters, yet the ending was still perfect.

If you enjoyed this book: what to read next...

If you wanted to watch a movie similar to this story then I suggest 'Sliding Doors'.  If I think of a book I'll update this post.

Fracture - Megan Miranda.

Published: 5th January 2012
Format: Paperback

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 272
Age Group: Young Adult

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge 2012, 100+ Reading Challenge, Read and Review Challenge
Buy this book: Amazon UK

Synopsis [Amazon UK]

By the time seventeen-year-old Delaney Maxwell is pulled out of the icy waters of a frozen lake, her heart has stopped beating. She is in a coma and officially dead. But Delaney pulls through. How? Doctors are mystified. Outwardly she has completely recovered. But Delaney knows something is very wrong. Pulled by sensations she can't control, she finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her brain predicting death or causing it? Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who lost his whole family in a car accident and emerged from a coma with the same powers as Delaney. At last she's found a kindred spirit who'll understand what she's going through. But Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature - or something much more frightening?

The cover...

The cover is simple yet elegant.  It shows the image of Delaney, on that icy cold day wearing her red parka jacket not knowing her fate, perfectly.  It would have been great if the title was all icy or something though.

How did I find out about this book?

I bought this book for the Debut Author Challenge that I am participating in.

What is this book about?

Whilst on the way to play a game in the snow with some friends, a girl called Delaney loses her balance on an iced over lake causing the ice to crack and Delaney to fall into the icy water below.  Delaney was under the water/unconscious for eleven minutes, enough to kill her, but something keeps her alive and changes her life in a way she could never imagine.

My opinion...

The character of Delaney Maxwell is like that of any other young teenager who wants to be the best and have fun with it.  However, her life changes the day that she and her best friend Decker decide to cross the icy lake to get to their friends instead of going around it.

The fact that Delaney has experienced something terrifying and miraculous yet is still able to consider doing school work is beyond me?  She comes across as being worried for her life and yet there still has to be that mention of school and how she wishes to be Valedictorian, and get good grades, it makes no sense to me.  I get that you would want to be successful but not when it has only been a week or so since you came out of a life threatening coma!  I see that school can become a distraction for Delaney but it gets to the point where that is all she thinks about.

It seems that for the first 60 pages or so, it firstly defines what happened to Delaney and then it goes on a path of discussions of school, a will they won't they relationship between Delaney and her best friend Decker and a controlled zombie like state (this is what I imagine) every time Delaney feels the 'pull'.  Another aspect is that of people owing others - mainly that of Delaneys' debt to all of her friends for saving her life.  They all played a part in saving her and now she owes them for this privilege, all I kept thinking here was 'I'm not jealous of those friends!'.

In reference to the characters, I warmed to Delaney and Decker's relationship rather to Delaney herself.  The way in which they were able to have a conversation full of wit and humour was a main reason why I was so drawn to it. They've been best friends for years so when they start to get jealous of each others' relationships it slightly takes them by surprise but it was fun to find out what happens between the two of them and how their relationship has its positives and negatives.  I think this is the reason why I carried on reading the book, I wanted to know what would happen between them!  However, Delaney's relationship with her parents, especially her mother, was rather strange.  Her mothers actions after the accident are not entirely motherly and the reference to her own parents to somewhat explain that was weird and made it seem like this book should have some form of sequel (maybe it does?).  The character of Troy creeped me out from the beginning and made me think 'what is your purpose?' and I was quite disappointed in what I found out in regards to him.

Don't get me wrong, the book was ok, I just wanted there to be some sort of closure in regards to Delaney's 'power'.  Throughout the book she wants to save people so what now?  It doesn't really make any sense for this to be a standalone book.  It seems like there are two different stories going on in this book, both starting off with Delaney's accident.  The first is that of how Delaney's life changes through school, home and her love life and the other is the power in which Delaney obtains through the accident.

I think the message of the book however is powerful.  The question of 'If you had one day left to live, what would you do?' is a question worth finding out the answer to.

If you enjoyed this book: what to read next...

There is a short story in relation to this book highlighting Decker's side of the story title Eleven Minutes.  I think it is great that the author has taken into account what Decker was feeling the days in which Delaney was in a coma/on deaths door, however, it would be great to know his take on more of story.

Standalone Reading Challenge 2012.

The twelfth challenge that I will be participating in this year is the Standalone Reading Challenge.

The challenge is to read 15 stand alone YA books (meaning not part of a series) in 2012.  The books must be released between December 27, 2011 and December 31, 2012.

I will be updating this post with the books that I read as the year goes on:

[1] Fracture by Megan Miranda
[2] The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
[3]

To find out more about this challenge and to sign up click on the button below!