Accurate in its comparison to THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, but the two are definitely different stories. It's a little forgettable, but I did like the book.

3.5

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

All Things New by Lauren Miller follows the life of a girl living with anxiety and the repercussions a bad night at a party and a subsequent car crash has on her life, leading into a conversation for how one deals with such circumstances. I have to admit, this was a hard book for me to get through, though not because of the subject matter. I actually found the subject matter to be quite intriguing and relatable, which is why I picked this book up in the first place. I’ve lived with anxiety for as long as I can remember, with panic attacks coming and no way of stopping them. And I have to give Miller this, she does a pretty good job (for the most part, anyway) of portraying what it’s like to go through a panic attack.

But that’s about all this story really has that I appreciated.

The book starts out alright, leaving the reader feeling interested and curious about where the book is going to go. It even has a lot of strength in Miller’s portrayal of anxiety, which I haven’t found often in novels. But after a while it just…falls apart. I regularly found Jessa annoying as I neared the end of the novel and I think that this was largely due to a plot device that resulted in her hallucinations and the heavy connection it had to religion and spirituality which I found incredibly irritating. Now, while what she does hallucinate is revealed fairly early on, I won’t reveal that piece to avoid spoilers, but I just found the concept of what she was “seeing” and what it actually meant vastly ridiculous.

When its meaning was revealed about three quarters of the way through the novel, I literally rolled my eyes every single time it was brought up. It just felt exceptionally dumb to me, not to mention quite unrealistic. You have to give up a level of believability in order to accept this portion of the story and in order for me to buy into something like that, the rest of the book has to be pretty exceptional. All Things New was not. There were simply too many far fetched pieces of it for me to accept.

The most irritating piece of this novel, for me however, was the religious/spiritual aspects. This is definitely a personal thing for me, but I just don’t appreciate novels that try to project religious things as reality. I’ve always had a hard time with this and combining it with the poor writing completely ruined the book for me. Now, this aspect wasn’t exceptionally strong within the novel and really only irritated me at the end as ultimately it was the writing and Jessa’s characters that led me to initially dislike the book. But, I can say without a doubt that any chance of improvement was gone the second the spiritual connection was brought up.

Miller also added a number of side plots that felt somewhat distracting, though they weren’t entirely terrible. I found Hannah and Marshall to be the most developed and interesting characters, however there wasn’t really a whole lot going on with them either. Their plots felt somewhat repetitive and as they were told from Jessa’s voice, weren’t really portrayed well. And I really just hated Jessa after a while. She barely developed at all, and any development she did have was credited to some sort of religious interference. Ugh.

Finally, this book spoiled another book for me. I’ve been meaning to read A Picture of Dorian Gray for a few years now, but just not gotten around to it. As Jessa is working on an essay about the book, Miller basically describes the entire plot in her novel. Admittedly, I was rather angry about this, despite knowing that the book in question has been out for a great number of years. Even so, it was thoroughly disappointing to realize that I’ve now had a book I’ve been looking forward to reading completely spoiled for me because someone decided to spell out the entire plot of the novel in their own. So, just a heads up for you readers out there if you haven’t read Dorian Grey and still want to…don’t read Miller’s book until after you do.

I don’t particularly think that All Things New is a bad book, but I definitely wouldn’t call it a good book either. It exists more in the average level, where it’s really just okay. There’s nothing exceptional about it and I feel like very little interesting things happened throughout, but perhaps someone else might feel completely differently.

I thought that Miller did a great job of getting us to connect with Jessa right away. Her mental health issues and the fact that she was totally wronged by her boyfriend set us up to sympathize with her right from the start. The book doesn't have a lot of action---it's more of a character study, which was okay with me for the most part. It did take a turn toward the end that threw me (even though I was expecting the twist---the reasoning behind it was surprising to me for a book that focused on mental health, and I wasn't 100% sure about it). I totally loved Marshall, though, and I loved the complex relationship between Jessa and Marshall's sister.

I unfortunately did not connect with this book, I’m not sure why but did now I had to DNF it, maybe I’ll give it another go some other time.

YA novels are always very hit or miss for me. As a full fledged adult I read them (as many do) and there are pieces of the human condition that will ALWAYS translate. A good YA book shouldn't be classified as solely a "good YA book". A good book is a good book is a good book.

This is a solid effort that focuses on how prevalent panic attacks are in today's society. I deal with them myself, so when Jessa explains the attacks she has I am with her. There is some bridges built between this book and the Picture of Dorian Gray. I liked the nod in this context to bring me back to my college class in critical reading. I would definitely read another book by this author.

Sorry but I was unable to give a review for this book as the file didn't open correctly on my e-reader.

A thoughtful and compassionate read about a young woman scarred not only on the outside, but the inside, and her struggle to find her way after a terrible accident. She finds that in running away she does not escape her problem. It is only when she makes friends with a young man and his sister that she finds hope and meaning.

To be honest, I did not actually finish reading this book. I simply did not enjoy it.
This book could have been great. The descriptions of anxiety that the main character experienced were well written and seemed somewhat believable. Unfortunately, I feel like very often books that center on mental health issues tend to disregard how helpful mental health professionals can actually be. Like, they are trained to help people and spend their entire lives working on just that. So maybe more positive portrayals of a mental health specialist would encourage youth to ask for and receive help?
I also felt that the characters mostly felt flat throughout the book. I did not witness much character growth throughout the story, and the romantic relationship felt forced.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I have lost interest in the title, partly due to trusted reviews, and will not be reviewing the title. I have, however, promoed the title through my weekly recap with links to Amazon. Thank you again, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

I really enjoyed this book. Jessa is a character I really understood and admired despite her insecurities and anxiety. It's a book suitable for all ages and I will defintiely recommend it to my family and friends.

This book wasn't my cup of tea, whether it's the subject matter or the writing style I don't know but found myself struggling to read this one. I dd persevere to the end and liked the outcome but this book didn't make me excited. Unfortunately this one gets 3*s from me.

Beautifully writren novel I absolutely loved the whole story line from start to finish x

This is one of the best depections of anxiety that I have ever read. Jessa’s thoughts are invasive and controlling-- physically represented by lower-case italics that interject her conversations and several daily activities.

All too often, YA treats mental illeness like something that can be ‘cured.’ Like throwing the two love interests together will ‘fix’ them and everyone will be magically happy. Not here. Jessa previously tried to move past her struggles by throwing herself into her relationship, sacrifcing part of her identity in doing so. This was a really strong plot point, and handled very well.

I really enjoyed most of the characters! Marshall is fun, with creative outlooks on life. Struggling with a heart-condition since birth (that left him without symptoms) he has a completely different definition of what it means to be ‘sick” and it lead to interesting discussions.

Marshall’s sister, Hannah, was also a very interesting character. Devoted entirely to her piano studies, she quickly has to reevaluate her goals and what she’s willing to do to get there. I also appreciated the large amount of focus on Jessa/Hannah's friendship, instead of just focusing on Jessa’s romantic relationship.

Cons:

That ending was disappointing.

Suddenly everything turned into a Hallmark special? With all this talk of souls and miracles and everything magically working out?

It just felt like a cop-out to me, and the heavily spiritual themes overshadowed the previous character development. Jessa no longer had to find strength inside herself, as the universe handled things for her.

With so many interesting characters and dynamics, I don’t understand why Jessa’s relationship with her mother was completely glossed over? There are references to Jessa not getting along with her new stepfamily, and wishing she belonged, but nothing where she ever tries to work this out. It almost seemed an easy way to write her mother and old life out?

Thanks to NetGalley and Three Saints Press for the opportunity to read and review All Things New by Lauren Miller. Jessa struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. She can’t seem to deal with life very well. After her accident, she’s dealing with so much more than she was before, plus the scars on her face. She refuses to talk about why she’s angry with Wren or anything that’s bothering her. Jessa agrees to move to Colorado with her dad and attend an art school. She makes some friends and builds a relationship with her dad while learning to deal with the aftermath of the accident. Along with her anxiety and scars, Jessa sees bruises and scars on people even though their faces are blemish free. She realizes that she’s hallucinating and her mind is seeing what isn’t there. Jessa works on her confidence, the relationship with her father and building friendships and trust in others. As she’s doing these things, Jessa grows and understands more than the eye can see. 4 stars for this eye-opening realistic fiction novel for young adult readers!
I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary consideration.

This was an absolutely incredible book, different from the others I have read by Ms. Miller but no less amazing. In fact, it may be the best she's written yet.

Ms. Miller portrayed anxiety and panic attacks with unflinching honesty but also with utmost empathy. I am not one who has suffered panic attacks my entire life, but there were a few years after my sister was killed that I would have a panic attack anytime I heard police or ambulance sirens, loud noises (like gunshots), or other triggers. I can say honestly that Ms. Miller nailed the feelings, the terror, the concern that you're "going crazy," etc.

On top of the authenticity, the characters are written with such care and love it is impossible not to be on their side. Jessa was complicated and conflicted and oh so real, and Marshall was darling. I have to say a special note about Jessa's dad, who was absolutely incredible. I love the fact that he's in the book and plays such a big role, and the fact that he's written as a "real" parent, as opposed to an ideal that pretty much never happens in real life. He is tough yet kind, strict yet loving, and ultimately exists to lift up Jessa and let her fly on her own.

I love everything about this book and highly recommend it!!

Jessa Gray was used to hiding her anxiety, pretending to be brave and in control. Her boyfriend Wren was enough for him, didn’t make any other real connection except her mother, who didn’t know how to deal with her. When an unfortunate accident left her grasping for air and bruised and scarred, her world of pretense and lies crumbled. Unstable, fragile Barbie soon became broken and wounded.

After the accident, Jessa’s brain was affected so much, she could no longer picture anything with her mind. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t see anything, couldn’t even imagine a thing. When she open them, she saw scars on other people’s faces, bruises, wounds, disfigurement. In her own terms, she hallucinated.

Moving and settling in to her father’s place might just be the change she needed to deal with her hallucinations and panic attacks. Jessa met and made new friends with twins, Hannah and Marshall, two distinct personalities, each with his own burden to bear.

I totally get why other people didn’t seem to get a grasp of the story with the heroine always controlling her emotions and not accepting the reality of her scarred situation. If you would have asked me to read this three years ago, I wouldn’t be able to understand anything, too. But after I’ve read so much about panic attacks and learned about mental disorders from various channels, I finally have better concept of people dealing with this mental and emotional health issues. I’m also glad I was able to read this book during the World Mental Health day a week ago, it even made me more aware of this disorders and helped me understand the depressed even more.

I hurt a lot as much as Jessa did. It may have been painful to see everything with her eyes and not with her mind, but I believed it was even more painful to see everyone’s scars right in front of you. I thought she was a strong girl, especially when she finally admitted she needed help, she acknowledged her fears and had joined a group that doesn’t judge nor ridicule her imperfections. The depiction of Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray was a genius idea, perfect and on-point. This book by Lauren Miller was splendidly written and heartbreakingly beautiful. Cut right through my heart, drove it like a race car and plummeted it to a deep ravine. Her harrowing journey to recovery was definitely something to read and think about!

This wasn't my favourite book by the author but I did enjoy it. I think anxiety is hard to write and I was feeling the angst I needed which I appreciated. It was quite an interesting and thought provoking read that I would recommend!

A teen suffering from generalized anxiety disorder must deal with the condition head on after moving to a new town. She fights for normalcy as she deals with a new school and friends along with her estranged father, and she re-learns the definitions of beauty and acceptance as she also re-learns how to view herself. Author Lauren Miller gives YA readers a touching novel that deals with the realities of today in a refreshing manner in her latest book All Things New.

On the surface 17-year-old Jessa Gray looks like other kids. She’s dating a star athlete, and she keeps up with the latest fashions so that she presents herself as the perfect girlfriend. But Jessa’s hiding a secret: she suffers from generalized anxiety disorder, which manifests itself in panic attacks. She’s tried to explain to her boyfriend what she experiences, but he’s losing his patience. When Jessa sees him with someone else, she knows she doesn’t need to waste her own patience on him anymore.

She doesn’t even have time to absorb the full impact of his infidelity when she gets into a car accident that leaves her with major injuries, including a brain condition called aphantasia that prevents her mind from creating images. Her divorced parents can’t agree on how to handle her recovery, and in an act of desperation Jessa accepts her father’s proposal: to leave sunny L.A. behind and move to Denver with him. It’s what she’s wanted all along, ever since the divorce, but Jessa’s also still pretty angry at her dad. When she needed him most he left the family; now he wants to make amends? The alternative is to stay in Los Angeles with her mother, stepfather, and half twin brothers, though, and they’re too busy being a family on their own to worry about her. So Denver it is.

Her anxiety threatens to crush her in her new school, but then Jessa meets Hannah. Just like that, she has a new friend. It’s been a long time since Jessa’s been able to call anyone a friend, and before long Hannah introduces Jessa to her twin brother, Marshall. The three hit it off as if they’ve known each other for years.

It doesn’t hurt that Marshall is funny and cute and calls Jessa’s bluff on a regular basis about hiding behind her condition without making her feel like some kind of freak. He challenges her to see herself as he and Hannah and her other new friends see her. When another emergency springs up and Jessa’s the only one available to help, she will have to fight through her old definition of normal in order to come out on the other side.

Author Lauren Miller creates characters that her target audience will recognize, because they’ve most likely seen the same types of kids walking the halls at their own schools. With a teenage protagonist, Miller makes mental health issues more accessible and more real. Jessa’s struggles become magnified by her anxiety and the mask she must maintain to hide that anxiety. As the book progresses, however, Jessa becomes bolder, and readers may find themselves emboldened to allow their own masks to slip more often thanks to Jessa’s increasing confidence.

Even in a first-person narrative that can turn biting or sarcastic, Miller manages to create sympathy for Jessa. The supporting characters help maintain that sympathy while managing to generate some for themselves. Hannah, an accomplished pianist, deals with high levels of stress about her career as a musician. Marshall must face the realities of life with a heart defect. The brother and sister provide Jessa with the perfect foils because of their own imperfections, and Jessa learns that even people who don’t have generalized anxiety disorder struggle. That’s a lesson any teen can take to heart: everyone has to fight a battle of some type every single day.

Ultimately Jessa’s story allows for the acceptance of grace for one’s self as well as for others. I recommend readers Binge All Things New by Lauren Miller.

I am very torn on this book. I want to give it two stars - because there were a few things that really really bothered me - but at the same time, I think this is an important story that a lot of kids need to read (to know they aren't alone) so I'm bumping a star up just for that.

So, first things first. This is a story about anxiety and panic attacks. I like that Jessa's anxiety and panic has a clear starting point but a very fuzzy why. Because a lot of time, kids can't name why they are suddenly anxious. The point that pushes them could be a small blip to others but large to them.

Both of my kids suffer from anxiety. I think this is a big part of kids' world these days - between the need to be perfect, to achieve and to have acceptance through social media outlets (which will never happen because of trolls and bullies). So this story hits close to home for me and I think it's good for teens to read about someone else who has anxiety and to read about someone who's like you. Like the story says, to name the dragon for what it is and let it out.

However, here are my hang ups.
I didn't like the religious slant it took. I'm glad the theme didn't tip to "you would suffer a mental illness if you had more God in your life" but it was a little too close for my liking and I think this will turn many teens off (and isn't a clear hope or planned outcome for many.)

I also was pulling my hair out at all the typos. I don't typically notice them unless they are affecting my reading but these definitely were. There were words missing from sentences at least 10 times. There were parentheses missing sporadically from conversation threads. It halted my reading too many times and was overly frustrating.

But I'm giving it 3 stars because it tackles anxiety and pressures and stress and I think there need to be more books out there like this.