Review: Outside In by Chrissie Keighery (Perry)

"From the outside looking in."

I think at one point in our lives that short sentence applies to us. I move a lot, and more often than not I find myself starting over and over again to find new friends and just try to be part of a group, which is never easy. Chrissie Keighery's novel discusses that and more, because more often than not, people like to see what's on the outside, but how about what happens on the inside? Now we get to know it all through the eyes of one girl on the outside, trying her best to look in.

Title: Outside In by Chrissie Keighery (Perry)
Pages: 208
Release Date: August 2009
Published by: Hardie Grant Egmont
Source: Publisher (thanks Jennifer!)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary (from Goodreads):

The cool group at school is not as luminous as it seems. Sure they appear to have it all, but there are problems lurking just below the surface. Beautiful Jordan is struggling to cope because of her newly divorced parents, Meredith covers her past by playing the clown, Cecilia hides her feelings and a shameful secret, Sam is growing up, and Jack is caught off-guard when he falls in love for the first time. And then there’s someone else. She’s not part of the group. The others have no idea she’s there. But she knows that there are cracks. She watches them from the inside, out. From the outside, in.

The cool group may not be as cool as they seem. The perfect ones may not be as perfect as you think they are. Told from the perspective of the various characters that gives life to this novel, and an unknown source from the outside, Jordan, Jack, Sam, Meredith, Lee and Cecilia's lives are about to be seen from the inside out in this moving, heartfelt book. They were all part of a clique, but they have their own stories to tell.

Jordan is the it girl, but they didn't know how much she's been struggling with her parents divorce. Jack is the jock, a great athlete with his sights focused on the State team, but no one knows what happens when Jack comes home to a drunk father who couldn't bother watching his son's basketball game. Lee was the poster girl for kindness, but nobody knows how much she tries to be that way. And now she likes the same guy Jordan likes. Will she play the friendship card and be nice or break out from her shell and take a chance? Sam is the clique's nerd, awkward, always unsure about everything, even the way he feels about Meredith. And Meredith is the playful one, always making a joke out of anything and everything. But does her friends know how much she misses her mom? How she struggles without her? And then there's Cecilia. Quiet, withdrawn, petite, graceful Cecilia. But does her friends know the horrors she does to herself to stay the way she is?

It's worth a look to see how each of their stories unfold through each character's point of view. The shift from a particular character's perspective to an unknown person gives the reader a whole new understanding of that person, because you don't just get to read what each of the characters think about themselves and their lives, you get to know what others, another person they don't know, think about them. You get two sides of the story and I think that makes the entire novel a lot more interesting. More complete, a little bit whole, maybe more than what was supposed to be seen.

But it's not just about Jordan, or Jack, or Lee. Or even Sam, or Meredith or even Cecilia. It's also about that "unknown" person. The one who sees all of them from afar, looking, just wanting to be a part of something. Little by little this person makes herself known, taking her first steps, no matter how small they are, to make people like Jordan and her friends see that someone like her exists. This particular part of the book is what I liked the most. It's not just about the "somebodys", but it's also about that "nobody".

Outside In makes us realize that none of us are perfect. That even the most popular girl, the most popular boy, is also struggling. It makes us realize that maybe we just need to look a little more closely to see the flaws, what's really underneath, what's real, and think that like everyone else, people like them have problems to deal with. That they also get hurt and make mistakes like all of us.

The content made up for lethargic pace of the book. A great coming of age novel, of first loves, family, acceptance, and ultimately, of enduring friendship. Once again, Chrissie Keighery has written a novel about what it's like growing up, a book which we can all relate to because at one point in our lives we were like them, we're all young once and we faced the same fears, problems, and got through them not just with our family, but with our friends as well. With realistic characters and overall, an honest, simple story, Outside In is a great read.

Chrissie Keighery, with this book, is definitely in my list of one of the best contemporary authors. Her books will be a must-buy from now on. Give this book a chance everyone!

Content (plot, story flow, character):

.5

Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

Book Cover:

I'm starting to love this particular art style! Simple but lovely!

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Whisper by Chrissie Keighery (Perry)

Demi's world came crashing down abruptly, in a very agonizing way.

She was a normal person, with normal friends, with a normal life. But suddenly the world is on mute. After her bout with meningitis, Demi became deaf, and her world was never the same.

Title: Whisper by Chrissie Keighery (Perry)
Pages: 256
Release Date: August 2011
Published by: Hardie Grant Egmont
Source: Publisher (Thank you, Jen!)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary (from Goodreads):

I'm always trying to figure out what's really going on. Always having to fill in the gaps, but never getting all the details. It's like trying to do a jigsaw when I don't even know what the picture is, and I'm missing one of the vital middle pieces.

How do you know if your friends are talking about you behind your back or if a boy likes you? They could act innocent, but you'd know from the rumours. You'd hear the whispers. But what if you couldn't hear those whispers anymore? What if everything you took for granted was gone? Being a teenager is hard enough.

But being a deaf teenager?

Demi's world was full of sounds, until one day it just stopped. Now deaf, she's struggling to make sense of her new world, a world filled with words, but not hearing. Learning sign was a given, but can someone who use to hear get used to being deaf? Demi's also a wreck emotionally, falling for her sign language instructor and trying to reach out to her friends who hears and speaks when she can't do that anymore. On top of it, her mother wants her to go back to the way she was before she went deaf. But some things are irreversible, and not all wishes come true, Demi knew that.

Whisper is a quick read that takes you alongside Demi's journey to a new world. At first there was fear, then anger, and all the while Demi tries to question why it was her who became like that. Deaf. And why she appreciates and misses all the things she had, ordinary things, when she was hearing, now that she's deaf. Readers get to see how it is to live from both sides, making us aware of the difficulties as seen through Demi's experiences. But it wasn't always difficult, and Demi was slowly but surely starting to live life anew.

Whisper will open your eyes to a world not much different than ours, but tells us that sometimes, it was us, the hearing, who make the hearing impaired feel different. Demi tries to break the mold by navigating through two worlds, one where she used to belong, and one where she now belongs to, which she was slowly understanding and loving. One thing I learned about this story is that you do not let the things that you lack define you and the way you want to live your life. Demi had "hearing" friends, and she also had friends from College of the Deaf, and all of them, hearing or not, had something to share, experiences to learn from and problems they confide to Demi and their other friends, and in that aspect they weren't much different.

It was interesting, however, to view Demi's situation through what Stella was doing. Stella, who has never heard any sound ever since she was born. She was constantly challenging what Demi thought of being deaf and being able to hear. The prejudice, the weird stares, the discrimination. There were truths in what she was fighting for, and she's a fierce and strong person who stands by what she believes in, but I'm glad that even though Demi's life is changing, she was also changing other's, like Stella's, making her understand that hearing people are not "enemies". Also, the romance in this book made me feel warm and giddy inside. Ethan was one of a kind, not quick to judge people, accepting, and most of all, he cares for Demi genuinely.

Whisper is a book perfect for everyone who likes to read a simple, but endearing novel. Hearing impaired or not, you will be able to appreciate what Chrissie Keighery has written. Whisper is a novel that teaches you to appreciate what you got, and whatever tragedy you may encounter, use it to make you stronger and do not let it stop you from living your life to the fullest. It is about growing up, family, relationships, and the love you share with those important to you, that you can still feel complete even if you think you are not. Demi might have lost her hearing, but she knew that even if it's like that, she had a family to support her, friends who are there for her, and Ethan, who likes her for what she is.

This is the first Chrissie Keighery novel I've read, and she quickly became one of my new favorite authors. Simple, sweet, and full of truths, Whisper is a book you should all read!

Content (plot, story flow, character):
Great characters, smooth flowing plot and strong protagonist!

Stunning: Worthy of a Goddess' Praise!

Book Cover:

Simple, yet stunning~

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.