Book Review: Send Me a Sign

Send Me a Sign
Send Me a Sign
By: Tiffany Schmidt
Published by: Walker Children's
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Genre: YA contemporary
384 pages 
Buy it on Amazon, IndieBound
 or Barnes and Noble
Source: Galley kindly provided by publisher


My thoughts: 
Send Me a Sign is a sobfest, girl-with-cancer book. But here's the thing: I wanted to roll my eyes at it, but it's hard to roll your eyes when they keep running across line after line of writing, and you can't find a good stopping place. Because with Send Me a Sign, the only good stopping place is the last page.


The main character, Mia, is gorgeous, popular, smart, and oblivious to just how perfect her life is- until it isn't perfect anymore. We get to watch the house of cards fall. It doesn't all collapse at once, though; it comes down in slow motion, one piece at a time. Once Mia is stripped of all the glory of her former self, she can finally see who she really is and what is really important.

There is a love triangle in this book, though it's not the kind that makes you want to throw the book across the room. And I'm not sure it even qualifies as a triangle, since Mia isn't aware of one boy's feelings for the majority of the book. These two boys really are equally wonderful, and neither stoops to worse than mild verbal attacks of the other. Another reason I couldn't put the book down is that the neighbor boy bff is SO much like Adam Wilde in If I Stay. I picked the book up to sneak 10 minutes over coffee at 5 AM because I was at a really good scene featuring him.

Contemporary isn't my favorite, but once in a while, it's nice to have an excuse and permission to ugly cry. A hot boy is a bonus. Send Me a Sign delivers both, with a side of girl friendship. It's the best kind of reading indulgence. I recommend to a girl who's up for a guilty pleasure- one that you wouldn't be embarrassed if your mom caught you reading it.

Summary from GoodReads:

Mia is always looking for signs. A sign that she should get serious with her soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. One sign she didn’t expect to look for was: “Will I survive cancer?” It’s a question her friends would never understand, prompting Mia to keep her illness a secret. The only one who knows is her lifelong best friend, Gyver, who is poised to be so much more. Mia is determined to survive, but when you have so much going your way, there is so much more to lose. From debut author Tiffany Schmidt comes a heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of one girl’s search for signs of life in the face of death.



Comments

  1. I would love to win the Outsiders for my personal library, because I read it in 9th grade English, and it is one of my all time favorite books! Thanks for the giveaway!!!!

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  2. This sounds like my kind of read! Great review :)

    - Ellie @ The Selkie Reads Stories

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    1. Thanks, Ellie! Heading over to see what you're up to. :)

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  3. Although I have never read stories about heroines with cancer, I really should start reading some.
    I love to know how they deal with cancer and how they survive through it. Send Me a Sign really looks interesting and engrossing. You gave it five birdies, Paula! That should be something.
    I absolutely LOVED your review, and I hope that I will be able to buy it when it comes out next week!
    Your constant reader,
    Soma
    http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/

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  4. You're making me so excited to read this! A book that can make us ugly cry is so so so worth it!

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  5. Don't like triangles, so good to know there's one in it.

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  6. I liked this one, but I didn't love it. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters.

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  7. Oh, I don't know if I'm up for a book that will involve crying. :) Sounds like a great story though, so I might have to check it out.

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  8. I've been avoiding this one because it sounds like something that will make me cry, and I haven't been in the mood for one of those books for a while. I'll definitely keep this one in mind for next time that's what I'm looking for, though.

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  9. Thanks for the review---as an oncology RN, I will be avoiding this one!

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  10. I don't read many contemporary books so I might not get around to trying this one, plus I don't really like the sad ones but I think I know someone who might like it. Thanks for the review!

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  11. It does sound like a sobfest but it also sounds as if the characters take over, how it's about her life, how she loves, how she deals and it transcends the issue the author chose to put her through.

    LOVE how you root for the characters and how you loved them as well!

    Lovely review :)

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  12. The next time I want a good cry, I know what book to go to. It's always interesting to read YA characters who may not live and their philosophies on life because they are so young.

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