This was more than the cliche book where the girl finds someone to help her through the grief because love can do that. No, she found out the hard way that she can be the only one to help herself if she wanted it. Also, the part of how some people deal with everything after a tragic event was truthful and honest. What a beautiful way to talk about a terrible event.

J. Lynn Bailey managed to hit close to home with Standing Sideways. Never have I been able to connect so completely to a book in my life. Having gone on a downward spiral myself do to the grief caused by losing a loved one I was able to relate to Livia in a way that I have not been able to connect to any other character ever.

This book takes you on Livia's journey of coping with the grief that accompanies the loss of her brother Jasper. It is a raw, gritty look into what it is like when you have no clue how to go on with your life without that person in it. Standing Sideways so an honest account of how painful and destructive decisions can become when your emotions are running around madly.

Bailey did not do what most authors do when showing what loss is like; she did not sugar coat how nasty this pain can be. She takes you on a journey full of truth, even if that truth is not always pretty to look at. You may shed a few tears during this read, but you will be immersed in a world that is all too real for some of us.

For me, Standing Sideways is a must read for 2018. It is emotional and beautiful. Once you start Livia's story you will not want to put it down.

I think people react to grief in their own way and sometimes their way of coping isn’t always in the most conventional way.
I’m quite surprised by how much I liked Standing Sideways. It was touching and heartbreaking…the best way to sum up this book would be ‘a coming of age book’. Yes the characters made some stupid decisions but who hasn’t when they were at that age? or who isn’t going to? right?
Standing Sideways is told from Livia Stone’s POV and the narrative is sarcastic yet straightforward.
J.Lynn has written a book that is honest and raw. You can feel the desperation and the craving through the pages of the book.This book made me bawl my eyes out, I felt Livia loss and her utter confusion and hopelessness.
Let’s me honest here, ok? Standing Sideway at the end, is a sad book, a good sad book.

Standing sideways is a story of survival and courage.
A story of karma, fate and destiny.
A story of sadness and suffering.
It’s a story of forgiveness and love.
It’s a story of bravery.

Standing Sideways was an okay read for me. Grieving is never something that's easy. There is no right and wrong way to handle it and some of the characters in this book goes through that process. These characters need to find a way to move on because whether they like it or not, life continues to go on. I liked the characters even though I couldn't really connect to them. Liv, Cao, Daniel and Simon were good characters, they made some stupid choices but I still enjoyed them so I'm not really sure why I couldn't connect with them. Cao was really a great best friend to Liv and I enjoyed her a lot. I also enjoyed Daniel a lot. These characters are in high school and in this story it shows. However, there were entertaining parts, especially the Blog Heiress posts. The main that that stopped this story from being a really great read for me was the pace of the story. It felt as if the whole story moved in slow motion from the very begging to the end. If only the pace would have picked up a little it would have been so much better. There was also the mentioned of Daniels speech and how he pronounced words. I was absolutely tired of reading that Daniel pronounced words as if there was an O instead of an A in the word. I think after the third time it was mentioned, I got it. I didn't need it mentioned about 7 more times. With that being said, this wasn't a bad read. For me, there were some things that irritated me a little and things I felt could have been better. Yet, there were also things I liked a huge one being the characters. Would I recommend this book? Yes, because even though this book wasn't a great read, it wasn't a bad one either and some readers may enjoy it more than I did. I would definitely give another book from this author a try. I liked her writing style. I just need a book with a faster pace.

I've read some books before that has made me shed a few tears and some a lot of tears. But when I tell you that this book made my whole entire soul cry (in a good way) that's how you know the author was blessed with the ability to write in a way that will completely immerse you into the world that they created and bring the words that they wrote on the pages to life for you. The book jumps straight into the main characters life and immediately grabs you and doesn't let you go even when you finish the last page.

When Livia Stone suddenly loses her twin brother, Jasper, she must learn to navigate her new life alone. As she faces tragedy and starts down a road toward 
self-destruction, Daniel enters Livia’s life—at a moment when she needs it most. 

Standing Sideways is a poignant, relevant, and touching story of survival, courage, and compassion that will have readers crying, laughing, and most of all, debating the issues affecting the lives of parents and teens alike on a journey of hope and forgiveness.

When Livia meets newcomer and hottie, Daniel, I thought I had already figured out how the rest of the story would play out. I thought it would go the cliched route of 'InstaLove' and that Livia would change her destructive ways to be with Daniel and then they would have their Happily Ever After. I was completely wrong. It seems as fate had a hand in bringing Daniel into Livia's life when they really needed each other the most. But Livia didn't know how to stop the pain of loss on her own. She didn't want to ask for help and this story truly draws out what it means to spiral. What it means to be so lost even though you have loved ones around you that could help, if you only asked. It took a long time for Livia to recover and to mend her wounds, but even in the end, she was still healing but helping others to mend their own wounds.

The subtle touch of the spirit world and faith is so well written, that it doesn't feel like it's smothering you. You find yourself drawn in wondering if there really is another side of life and death and if Livia is really seeing and getting advise from her late Grandmother, or if she has really lost it. The answer towards the end brought me to even more tears and the conclusion of the story was beautiful and fulfilling. The raw look of what you might think are the for sure steps to alcoholism and that you can stop at any time really puts drinking as a coping mechanism into focus. As well as coping with prescription drugs.

Standing Sideways is inspired by a real life tragedy that is close to the author and ALL profits from the sale of this book goes to the Jason Dale Triumphant Return Scholarship at College of the Redwoods. I will definitely be heading to my local bookstore on January 30, 2018 to pick up a physical copy and will check out Bailey's other book series, The Black Blood Chronicles.