All Things New by Lauren Miller

Jessa has always felt broken inside, but she’s gotten very good at hiding it. No one at school knows about the panic attacks, the therapy that didn't help, the meds that haven’t worked. But when a severe accident leaves her with a brain injury and visible scars, Jessa’s efforts to convince the world that she’s okay finally crumble—now she looks as shattered as she feels. 

Fleeing from her old life in Los Angeles, Jessa moves to Colorado to live with her dad, where she meets Marshall, a boy whose kindness and generous heart slowly draw Jessa out of her walled-off shell and into the broken, beautiful, real world—a place where souls get hurt just as badly as bodies, and we all need each other to heal.

     I really liked the way All Things New started by having the main character “Jessa” narrating the story. Upon reading the first chapter I felt like I had just put the book down halfway through the story. I felt like “Jessa” was describing all the same experiences and emotions I had gone through at her age. While the story is a work of fiction and the characters aren’t real; I felt like the emotions and some of the situations could be real experiences (at least for some people.) I liked how Lauren Miller was able to incorporate real emotion into the character’s experiences and situations. While all authors put emotion into the stories they write; I felt like Lauren Miller succeeded in making me feel the same emotions as “Jessa” and at the same time I also felt a lot of sympathy for what she was having to go through.

     The two characters that I didn’t really care for were “Jessa’s” parents. I kept thinking that they were more into themselves and one-up each other. It seemed to me a few times that they didn’t really seem to care about what their daughter was going through. I thought it was sweet how “Marshall” really seemed like he was always trying to impress her. While he was able to break down the walls “Jessa” kept around herself he was able to help her at the same time to accept things the way they were. I felt bad that “Jessa” seemed to have a lot of trouble with her panic attacks and how she was having a lot of trouble trying to get used to her new reality. I think anyone who reads this story will feel sympathy for “Jessa” and will be able to see a little of themselves in her and her experiences.  I liked that the length of the chapters weren’t too long, but they weren’t too short either. I think the chapters were the right length especially for any young adults who read All Things New. Out of a 10 I give All Things New an 8.5 and Ms. Miller a 9. I think many young adult readers will love this story as well as many adults as well!

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Tiffany