Review: Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Title: Live Through This
Author: Mindi Scott
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release date: October 2nd 2012
Pages: 304
Genre: Contemporary YA
Source: Bought
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Sometimes hiding the truth requires more than a lie . . . From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her from the annoying drama. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a stepdad and mom who would stop at nothing to keep her and her siblings happy and safe.
But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now, Coley and Reece are getting closer, and as Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Live Through This is subtle but stunning, raw and heart-wrenching. I don't even know what to say about it; the more I think about it, the more I realize how amazing this book truly is.

I loved Coley's character; she's so real, her feelings about the abuse are so heartbreakingly honest. I felt her pain and her shame, and how this relationship goes back and forth between pain and hatred and love and loyalty. This concept is something I hadn't read about before, and this different kind of abuse was eye-opening to read about. Live Through This was a shocking read, but it also makes me so happy that Mindi Scott found the strength to write about this topic, which couldn't have been easy, given her own experiences with abuse.

While reading, I didn't like how late we find out about the book's main issue, but the more I think about it, the more I like how the novel is structured. I liked the suspense in the beginning of not knowing who the abuser is, how it made us feel Coley's confusion about the whole situation. I saw it coming, but I kept hoping it wouldn't be him, and when we finally found out, I wanted to hold on to Coley and never let her go. I like how this set-up allowed the reader to also have some happy, light scenes, like when we got to read about the innocent romance between Coley and Reece; Mindi Scott really impressed me with how she layered this dark issue with lighter sub-plots and sweet, fun scenes. Still, I wish we'd gotten some more time at the end to explore the main issue, but maybe that's just because I wanted the book to go on longer.

The secondary characters added a lot to the novel; each of them is fully fleshed-out and has their own story. I loved the cute romance with Reese, the sweet friendship between Coley and Noah, and Alejandra's story as well.

As a huge fan of Mindi Scott's debut, it also made me happy to find out that Live Through This is set in the same town as Freefall, and to see some of Freefall's characters again.

I still can't put my finger on what it is that makes this book so special; it's everything. It's heartbreaking and raw, honest feeling, but at the same time, it's sweet and funny. Mindi Scott tells a stunningly beautiful and powerful story that I know I won't soon forget.

And one more random thing: I love how Coley wears considerable amounts of makeup! It seems to me like YA MCs never wear much makeup, or do anything for their appearance - there are so many scenes where the MC just jumps out of bed and is naturally beautiful. But, well, when is that ever true in real life? If I were about to meet up with my swoony YA love interest, I would definitely take the time, you know, brush my hair. And I love how there's references to Coley needing too long in the bathroom in Live Through This.

Interview with Mindi Scott (Live Through This Blog Tour)

Today we have Mindi Scott here for an author interview! This post is part of The Teen Book Scene's blog tour for Live Through This by Mindi Scott. You can find out all about the tour here. 

1. I loved your debut, Freefall! How, would you say, does Live Through This compare - are the two books similar in style or more different? How was the writing process different for your sophomore novel?

Thank you! I think these books will attract a similar, but not necessarily identical audience. Different narrators call for different things style-wise, and the main characters in these books are about as different from each other as two people can be. Interestingly, Seth in Freefall was kind of a loner with a prickly persona at school, but he was overall pretty confessional and willing to clue readers in to his every thought. Coley in Live Through This is a girl with a very bubbly persona at school, but I think she is less “chatty” with readers. Of course, that makes sense given that she is always keeping secrets, even from herself. 

The writing process for writing my sophomore novel was very different from the first. I spent a year and half (somewhat) leisurely writing and revising Freefall. But Live Through This sold on proposal, which meant that my agent submitted only a detailed outline and around 40 pages to the publisher. After that, I had basically four months to write the entire draft. (I did get more time for revising and adding scenes later, of course.) It was frenzied and the deadlines weren’t as comfortable as I was used to. Between my day job and writing/revising my second book, I worked almost non-stop from January 2, 2011 to November 20, 2011.

2. Without spoiling anything, could you tell is what was your favorite scene to write in Live Through This?

This might sound weird, but all of my favorite scenes to write in this book were those containing the most devastating events. (The exception was Chapter 27; that was my absolute least favorite chapter to write ever in my life so far.) It isn’t that I get enjoyment from making my characters suffer, but emotion and tension in writing just flow so easily for me.

3. What is the best writing advice you've ever received?

I guess it would have to the one about how first drafts don’t have to be perfect? I’m getting better about following that advice, but it’s still something that I struggle with.

4. I read that you wrote diaries throughout your teen years. How does that help or affect your writing today? 

My diaries are a big reason why I write for YA versus another fiction market. My teen diaries were detailed for a few years. Having easy access to them means that it’s impossible for me to forget what it felt like to be a teen.

5. Freefall's narrator is male while the one in Live Through This is female. Which point of view do you prefer to write?

This is hard. I think that I prefer male, for one reason: When I’m writing a guy, I can make sure that the voice and point of view always stay true to him. When I write a girl, it’s easier to let my own voice and perspective creep in.

Thanks for the great interview answers, Mindi!

Make sure to check out all the other stops of the tour, and keep your eye out for Live Through This, which has already been released. 

Live Through This by Mindi Scott
(Add to Goodreads | Purchase from Amazon)

Sometimes hiding the truth requires more than a lie . . . From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her from the annoying drama. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a stepdad and mom who would stop at nothing to keep her and her siblings happy and safe.
But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now, Coley and Reece are getting closer, and as Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.

Review: Freefall

Freefall by Mindi Scott
(Amazon / Goodreads)


Goodreads description:


How do you come back from the point of no return?
Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend, Isaac, alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time when Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn't wake up. Convinced that his own actions led to his friend's death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.
Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth soon realizes he isn't the only one who needs saving . . .


My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book – it made me feel sad and happy within a few pages. I was expecting it to be very dark, dealing with Isaac’s death and alcohol abuse, and it did portray Seth’s grief and struggle beautifully, but most parts of this book just made me happy – the humor was great and made me laugh out loud. It reminded me a bit of Looking for Alaska by John Green – serious and emotional at times, light and funny at others.

Usually, it’s kind of hard for me to relate to a male main character, but Mindi Scott’s characters were great, so that wasn’t a problem. Seth was a realistic, likeable character with believable challenges. All of the characters were beautifully written and three-dimensional – especially Rosetta and Kendall were believable, complex characters, and their relationships were realistic as well.

My favorite part of the novel was the romance between Seth and Rosetta – it was just so cute! All of their scenes made me smile. Their relationship evolved very naturally. I particularly appreciated that the author mentioned, but didn’t focus on the rich-girl/poor-guy aspect, because that storyline really annoys me when it’s overdone.

I also enjoyed the scenes during the IC class – I want a class like that!

When I read the description of this book, I thought Isaac’s death would play a much bigger role than it did, and while I enjoyed the other storylines, I think the book could have used a few more flashbacks, etc. – I never felt like I knew him as a character. I enjoyed how Seth worked on his grief with Kendall, but didn’t think it was all that realistic how little everyone else cared about Isaac’s death.

I was a bit disappointed by the ending – it was a good ending and made me smile, but I wanted to know more, especially about Rosetta and her progress with her issues.

I definitely recommend this book! It really makes you feel something – the main character’s good and bad feelings. While some parts were underdeveloped, in my opinion, the characters and writing were great, making this debut definitely worth reading!