Extraordinary Means - Robyn Schneider
Book Synopsis: At seventeen, Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.
There Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.
But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down.
Told from alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.
I was naive to think that this book was going to have a happy ending, and be the fluffy fun read that I thought I was getting myself into. DEAD WRONG. This was WICKED. Talk about plot twist, but in hindsight, I should have seen this coming, I mean really, the cover itself says: LIFE GOES ON until it doesn't. But, I soldiered on and read it cover to cover.
Boy oh boy was I in for a surprise. TDR-TB wasn't even a real disease! Which doesn't really seem like a big deal, but I was absolutely thrown.
To be frank, I had high hopes for this book, and it fell a little flat for me. Sadie and Lane were kind of... annoying. The other characters were a little stand-offish, and the plot left more to be desired. And nothing, nothing is more wicked than an ending that doesn't feel like the end.
My recommendation? If books about teens on the verge of dying are your thing, then by all means read this book. However, if not, I would skip the book.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆