The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Title: The Beginning of Everything 
Author: Robyn Schneider 
Pages: 330
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary 
Release Date: August 27, 2013

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Summary: 

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes? 

Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

Review:

Now this book is a Must Read!! The Beginning of Everything was one crazy and addicting read because of the amazing plot and the craziness of high school. It makes you think how one day you are popular then next you are at the bottom of the high school ladder. Golden boy Ezra Faulkner was the star of the Tennis team, had the beautiful girlfriend, then an accident happens and his knee is injured. He goes through a depression of sorts. 

Ezra was an upcoming tennis star and one night in an accident his knee is injured and he distances himself from his friends and his popular status. When his friends turn him away, his girlfriends starts dating his friend. With the accident behind him, Ezra will have to find another thing to do because he cannot play sports now. He also admits to being intelligent and to rediscover his relationship with Toby after so long. 

When they were best friends until the age of fourteen until the horrible accident on the rollercoaster at Disney. The tourist's head then landed in Toby's lap! (hence the original title- Severed Heads, Broken Hearts.) I really did love Toby throughout the book, he was a great supporting character who was fun. But after that day Ezra was never close to Toby.

Cassidy is definitely a character who in a way resembles Ezra. She is smart and carefree while he is more reserved. There relationship was a unique one. There is not any insta-love but with this, we can see the characters fall in love. They were friends at first (with a lot of bantering and not so friendly encounters). Cassidy is a mystery, she is brilliant and she opens Ezra to a new side of himself that he never knew. The romance is slow yet it works. Ezra takes an interest in Cassidy immediately, and they have chemistry, but she always holds back and never opens herself to Ezra. She does like his buns and is very snarky in return. There is the realization of how she actually  is the perfect girl for him because they are more alike than it seems. She opens him up to the debate team and many other things. 


The Beginning of Everything was told beautifully and it is definitely is one of my favorites of this year. The entire story was phenomenal and it hooked me from the beginning. The writing was humorous and full of drama. This book will not disappoint!  Ezra is a very complex character going through a lot.  Overall it was fun, romantic and self-discovery of who you are. Robyn Schneider is another we definitely have to watch. I liked the ending at the same time it was clever. This is a book of coming of age and you must have this on your shelf!! 

5/5