What's Better Than The Fault in Our Stars?

The question on everybody's mind.  Now, I couldn't tell you, because I have yet to read TFIOS.  I know, I know, I have to.  Trust me, I want to.  I've had a lot on my plate recently and haven't thought to pick up a new book and lose myself completely.  But trust me when I say I will read the book before the movie comes to theaters.

There is a book that I've decided will one day be just as big, if not bigger than "The Fault in Our Stars."  With all the hype surrounding John Green's love story, my statement may be hard to believe.  Yet I have read this other book numerous times and I fall a little more in love with the story each time.  It is a piece of perfection and it is called "The Beautiful Between," by Alyssa Sheinmel.  I'll admit when I read the first page of the book, I wasn't sure if I would like it, but boy did I enjoy it.

"The Beautiful Between," is not quite your classic love story.  From what I can tell, it's very different from TFIOS.  While TFIOS is about two characters who fall madly in love with one another, "The Beautiful Between" is much more real (at least in my opinion).  

It takes place in Manhattan, present day.  A high school student named Connelly Sternin lives with her mother in a modest apartment.  Connelly's father died when she was young (she doesn't know how) but up until this point she has told everyone her parents simply divorced.   Connelly attends a nice school, where a socialite's son happens to attend.  His name is Jeremy Cole and his family is well known throughout the island.  One day, the popular Jeremy attempts to befriend Connelly and from there everything changes.  There are unexpected twists, heartbreaking moments, and others that make your heart just burst with love. 

The book lacks in romance, but instead delivers with honest love between family and friends.  You'll understand Connelly, adore and love Kate, and want a best friend just like Jeremy.  There is no story like it. 

Connelly is fond of Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms," and I decided to read that book  in school.  I loved it just as much.  If you read "The Beautiful Between," I promise you won't regret it.  It's the best book I've ever read and I love it so, so much.  The simplicity of it all really strikes a chord.  Until next time xxx.

If high school were a fairy-tale kingdom, Connelly Sternin would be Rapunzel, locked not in a tower by a wicked witch but in a high-rise apartment building by the SATs and college applications—and by the secrets she keeps. Connelly's few friends think that her parents are divorced—but they're not. Connelly's father died when she was two, and she doesn't know how. 

If Connelly is the Rapunzel of her school, Jeremy Cole is the crown prince, son of a great and rich New York City family.

For we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together. -A Farewell to Arms