{My Thoughts} – Maisie is an incredible character. She was strong and mostly level headed through one of the most difficult situations that any one person could possibly be forced to endure and she came out on top with all things considering.

Have you ever wondered if when you step outside your door, if it will be the last time? When you go for a run or a car ride if it will be your last? Have you ever thought to yourself while you are doing something that you should enjoy what you are doing while it lasts? I know not many people think that way until it’s too late and then you are left with a bunch of what ifs but not until you really think your are stuck with no hope. No real answers and no way to deal with how you truly feel inside. Circumstances and situations can change everything about a person. Their outlook on life, how they feel on the inside, how they view other people and their perspective of their surroundings.

in Maisie’s case everything changed one morning when she went out for a run. It started to rain and then storm. Lightening had hit a tree near her and destroyed some electrical wires. The destruction of those wires had mesmerized her. She was glued watching it while she was burning and eventually she passed out from the smoke and other variables such as mass amounts of pain. That is not the kind of thing you think will happen to you when you go for a run in the morning hours. That is not the kind of thing that had been on her mind. She was less then a block or so from her house when it all had happened. She didn’t make it home. She ended up in the hospital. She ended up getting a life altering surgery. She ended up losing herself and her identity. She was left with trying to figure out who she really was.

When faced with life- altering situations it’s difficult to understand the impact that they can have on someone’s life and those individual’s around them. Every situation that occurs has the potential to change someone’s life. In Maisie’s case it changed her families, her friends and even individual’s she hadn’t really paid much attention to before her accident had occurred.

She went through so much, and in the end she came out on top. She was able to accept herself for who she was. I think that the author was trying to show readers that it’s okay to be who you are, it’s okay to be different. If others don’t like you for you that’s fine, you don’t have to change because of them, you need to be true to yourself. That is what I have taken away from this book, that the most important thing you can do in your life is be true to yourself. I really hope that others that have the opportunity to read this book will came to a similar solution.

I recommend this book for anyone that has gone through a massive life altering situation. I think anyone can enjoy this book and take something away from it, but it’s those that have to deal with massive change that I believe will get the most from reading. ( )

Read for work ( )

If you want a really good tear-jerker, then this book fits the bill. Maisie wakes up in the hospital after being severely burned by a lightning strike while she was out for a run. She soon has a surgical procedure to transplant parts of her face that had to be removed because they couldn't be saved. The story traces Maisie's struggle to come to terms with not only a new face, but also the entirely new life that comes with it. Her friends and family treat her differently now, and she can't do the things she has always loved making her want to escape to a place where noone knew what she looked like "before."

This is a well-written, realistic story about what happens to people when tragedy leaves them "lucky" to be alive but with huge obstacles to overcome. ( )

Received ARC.
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A strong YA novel. Students will love the page-turning tale of Maisie and how she faces a life-altering accident. ( )