"One girl’s journey to acceptance of her new heart and a fresh start at life."
This is a tender and beautifully written coming of age story, where Sydney also has to come to terms with life after a heart transplant.
She had almost forgotten how to live as her life gradually closed down and more and more things were taken away from her while she was waiting for a donor. Her friendship group had shrunk to those comrades like Chloe, sharing the waiting list with her. So, the survivor’s guilt that she feels is not just about the fact that somebody died in order for her to live, but also because of those still waiting, who may not survive.
Sydney becomes obsessed with finding out more about her donor and thinks she has found her: Mia a girl who died tragically in a nearby town and she recklessly attends the memorial service and meets Mia’s best friend Clayton. Clayton is suffering his own survivor’s guilt, and the pair take on the task of fulfilling what they think is Mia’s bucket list as a memorial to her.
Sydney must concoct a tissue of lies to hide what she is doing from her family and Chloe, and the truth from Clayton. All the time compromising her own recovery and falling ever more deeply for Clayton who seems to reciprocate. But the strength of this book is that there is no sentimentality or mawkishness, although there is some devastating tragedy, and every moral decision is carefully considered, and Sydney learns and develops.
The fact that the author is herself a heart failure survivor has no doubt contributed to the authenticity of the characters and circumstances. So much more thoughtful and rewarding than just a YA romance, but it will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Before I Die and The Fault in our Stars. It will surely make readers think about what it means to live.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
For fans of FIVE FEET APART, this emotional and romantic YA offers an unflinching look at not only the realities of heart failure, but at memory, grief, guilt, and what it means to live-in spite of another, because of another, for another. For yourself.
Sydney Wells should have died. She was supposed to die.
She never expected, after years of waiting, to receive a heart transplant. Now, seventeen-year-old Sydney doesn't know what to do with her life. Her daily routine consisted of staying indoors, eating heart-healthy foods, and posting about her transplant list experiences on TheWaitingList with her long-distance BFF (and heart failure buddy) Chloe.
Now, Sydney latches onto the one thing that gives her meaning: learning as much as she can about the person whose heart she inherited. After finding the family of her likely-donor, Mia, Sydney falls deep into her world-and may also be falling for Mia's best friend, Clayton.
But Sydney isn't the only one hiding something. Mia's brother Tanner won't talk to Clayton, and Clayton won't tell Mia why. And hundreds of miles away, Chloe's health has taken a turn for the worse. Sydney needs to face what's in her heart-the truth, the guilt, and the future-before it's too late.
Every Borrowed Beat features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Friendship stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Romance and love stories, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Illness and specific physical health conditions, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Families and family members
Every Borrowed Beat is available in Paperback
Every Borrowed Beat was written by Erin Stewart and published by Delacorte an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Every Borrowed Beat has 352 pages
