Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Funny story: I accidentally ordered two copies of Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider from the Book Depository, so I gave one of my best friend a copy. When I was visiting her, I didn’t have to bring my book, because I could just read her copy (which was a good thing, because I didn’t have to wait a whole weekend to keep reading).

(…) I realized I was the GPS. I was the one who hadn’t understood about the detour, and who kept stubbornly trying to get back en route. I’d been rerouting at every turn, when the only thing to do was to stop protesting and go off course.

When he’s sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.
But when he meets Sadie and her friends – a group of eccentric troublemakers – he realizes that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn’t have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.

“You’re not broken.”
“Then how come I can’t be fixed?” she asked, shaking as she held back tears. “If I’m not broken, how come no one can fix me?”

Honestly, I was little torn about Extraordinary Means. But putting my thoughts to paper (or screen) helps.

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider has a great plot about teenagers with tuberculosis who are sent to a boarding school to recover. Lane, the main character, has some trouble letting go from his senior year where he’s preparing to go to an Ivy League school while in recovery.

That’s what I loved about the book. While I don’t have tuberculosis (thank God), I know it’s hard to let go of what you’d planned for the next few months and years of your life because of sickness. But Lane grows. Like I did, and in a way, this book helped me a little bit.

Extraordinary Means is easy to read, the character grows throughout the book, the plot is great, and the book made me (ugly) cry more than once. There are even twists that I didn’t expect at first.

On the other hand, it’s cliché. Sure, the sick teenager thing has been done by The Fault In Our Stars, but that’s not what I mean. There are thousands of books revolving around the same idea.

It’s the cool group of outsiders, the pop culture references that don’t make sense (even for me, a gigantic Potterhead). So I’m taking some points off there.

Other than that, it’s really good and you should read it if you love YA fiction and coming of age stories. It’s often compared to The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, bot16h of which are amazing books and I think there are worse books to be compared to.

Add ‘Extraordinary Means’ by Robyn Schneider to your Goodreads to-read-list, or buy the book at the Book Depository or on Amazon.

Happy reading—

Petra