I received this Advance Review Copy by Netgalley and  Charlesbridge Teen in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and Charlesbridge Teen!!

"Mountains are not fair or unfair. They are just dangerous."  -REINHOLD MESSNER (Mt. Everest First solo ascent  without  supplemental oxygen)

"The challenges here are tremendous, and the risks are sobering. But there is no place I would rather be than in the mountains." -Lucien Cartier (Character in the book)

Review
Above All Else is the story of two teenagers Rose and Tate who aims to summit Mount Everest. Summiting Mount Everest is not the simplest of things, even daring to wish for it is a task in itself. This book will make it possible for every reader to summit Mount Everest in their heads with the help of this beautiful piece of work by the author. The readers can vividly see Nepal and the Mount Everest in their mind's eye pretty distinctly. It also clearly broadcast how it feels to climb the highest mountain in the world. The experience acquired from reading this book will always stays with the readers, just like they had been a part of the summit in reality. 
The emotional turmoil encountered by the characters while taking the climb has been described efficiently. Although certain behavior of the lead characters initially seemed to be unreasonable but gradually it started to make more sense as we travel with the characters to higher altitudes. Both Rose's and Tate's reasons behind their hesitation to go for their lifetimes ambition was natural and humanlike. The character development of Rose was initially good but towards the end it kind of slumped slightly. Whereas Tate's character was filled with lot confusing thoughts and decisions but in the end his clarity and development as a person was remarkable and appreciable. The romance parts between Rose and Tate seemed pretty forced, them falling into love din't bring about any earth shattering changes. The story would have been as affective, even if they had remained friends. All the side characters were super good and helped in the maturation of the plot. Most of them managed to make an imprint on the reader's heart.
This book also focusses on describing the life of Sherpas in Nepal who helps the climbers in achieve their goal and at the same time it also talks about the economic status of the country and the people. All these were said in the book in a readable and entertaining manner. The plot was sharp and clear and also unexpected. It will definitely takes some time to get into the plot and understand the characters but after that, with each passing page everything only seem get more and more better. Towards the end and all, it was written so beautifully and emotionally. The writing style was easy but in the beginning the perspective swap between Rose and Tate was mildly confusing, author could've brought some kind of variation to make the swap easier for the reader.
In the end the book emphasis on the ability to say "NO" to something in which one's heart is not into. Saying no to things at times seems like a stupidest thing to do but what we all tend to forget is Saying No is actually healthy and  everyone should inculcate this skill. 
Apparently the author has nearly taken 7 years to complete this book, she has done a lot of research on climbing the Everest and has even visited Nepal many a times to gain first hand experience about climbing. And of course all her efforts are clearly visible in the book. 

"No is my superpower and amazingly, it hasn't blown anything up." -Tate Russo (Character from the book)

My views
A senior of mine has ascent Mount Everest when we were at school. I used wondered, what is so special and difficult about climbing Mount Everest while seeing all their picture at the Everest. This book came as an answer to all the questions I had in my head back then. I know I will never be climbing the Everest ever, I don't have the stamina or the mindset to accomplish it but this book made me ascent the Everest in my head. After reading this book I almost felt I summited the Everest and that feeling was really satisfactory. It also helped me understand the mindset of the climbers and hurdles faced by them throughout the journey. I really enjoyed reading this book.
I would suggest this book to young adults, teenagers and to people who are into climbing and adventures. And I also suggest it to people like me who are too lazy to climb the Everest but still wanted to experience the climb. You guys will definitely enjoy this book.
My rating for this book is 3 / 5 stars

"It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves." -SIR EDMUND HILLARY (First climbers to ascent Mt. Everest along with a Sherpa)

Happy Reading Folks!!!

~Meenu

I went into this hoping it would reignite my simmering obsession with Mount Everest, and I was not disappointed!
This well researched and fast paced adventure story was everything I wanted. I could feel the dreams and fears and heart-stopping moments as they happened, and I loved every minute.
While there was romance in this, it wasn't the main plot, which I found refreshing. It didn't take away from the fact that these teens were attempting something few achieve; summiting Everest is not for the faint of heart.

Each of the characters had their own motivations throughout, and while they made some mistakes, I felt they were pretty realistic based on their ages, life experiences, and setting.

Excellent read overall! And, while I still love Everest and her fierce beauty, I will never sign up to climb anything like it.

What an adventure this book was! I thoroughly enjoyed watching Tate and Rose attempt to climb Everest with a gaggle of a team along their way. It was interesting to get tidbits of back story and find that there was much that was going unsaid between our main characters. I loved the romance and thrill that this story provided. This was such a fun read.

Thank you Netgalley and Charlesbridge Teen for the ARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Fantastic. I feel like I just climbed Mt. Everest! This book took me on a journey of emotion. And I LOVED it.

Thank you to Charlesbridge for this ARC, Above All Else by Dana Alison Levy, in exchange of a honest review!

I really really enjoyed this book.

This book sucks you in and makes you feel as if you’re climbing the Mount Everest with Rose and Tate. The 2 teenagers obviously didn’t climb Mount Everest all by themselves so I liked the fact that every character that climbed with them or got a role in the story, had their own background and wasn’t just seen as a character without any further explanation.

The story is a bit of a slow burn but the last 100 something pages are an emotional rollercoaster, but I guess that climbing Mount Everest is similar. With that I mean that at the beginning of climbing Everest it’s mostly a hike, but the further and higher you get, the more happens and becomes the most emotional rollercoaster of your life. So I think writing the book the way the author did was a very smart move.

“The challenges here are tremendous, and the risks are sobering.
But there is no place I would rather be than in the mountains”

The author makes sure that the reader knows that climbing Everest isn’t just climbing a mountain. It’s climbing one of the deathliest ones out there, one where many climbers have died and are still on the mountain, frozen to death. One moment you’re alive enjoying the view at the top, but before you know the situation can turn in a few seconds and kill.

I hate it when books just tell the main story and not the aftermath, which is not the case with this story. The author made sure to explain how much of an emotional and physical toll climbing Mount Everest can take, how it affects people who climbed it but also their families, how there’s always a before and after climbing Mount Everest.

A big problem that gets discussed is climate change, it leads to more extreme and unpredictable weather conditions which cause more dangerous and deadly situations. But also the increasing tourism is a big problem as it happens more and more that there’s an actual waiting line to reach the top, which makes it deadly as it’s important to keep on moving.

“You must choose what peak you aim to summit.
You must tame your mind, before you tame the mountain.”

Conclusion
The author actually went to Nepal to the Goyko Lakes near base camp to do research for this book.

The story explains the huge contrast between the Sherpa’s (locals who climb Everest with tourists and carry their luggage and oxygen) who get about 50 cents a day and the climbers who pay up to 60k for a 3 month expedition. How the little village near base camp live off the tourism but also how many many families have lost many family members who were Sherpa’s but died during the climb. At the end of the book the author provided a list of links about how you can help and support the Sherpa’s. I appreciated this a lot.

This isn’t just a normal YA travel story, it reveals the ugly truth and we need more of these.

Above All Else is scheduled to be released on October 13th 2020

Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC!

Above All Else is a heartwarming story, about adventure, bravery, love, and challenging yourself to the extreme.

The cover is absolutely stunning, and I truly appreciate the amount of studying this author did for this book. It really payed off, and gave this book a realistic feel.

The story follows Rose and Tate, two high-school seniors who have been climbing for years, working towards their main goal--to summit Mount Everest.

There are many challenges along the way. Rose is heartbroken and must accept that her mother, a fellow climber, cannot join her due to health issues. Tate, who suffered injuries from an accident that could have easily taken his life, suffers from panic attacks and has a sudden change of heart. He doesn't want to let Rose down, but he's broken inside. Can he really do it?

Rose is becoming weaker as the training takes a toll on her body, and Tate is figuring out what to do with himself, and feeling the pressure from his father regarding his future. With all of the hardships and confused feelings for each-other, will the two of them make it to the top of Mount Everest?

The expedition aspect of this story was fascinating. I've always been interested in real-life Mount Everest stories, and putting that into a YA book was such a creative and unique concept. The romance between Rose and Tate was cute, and I found myself rooting for them.

I recommend this book if you want a meaningful yet adventurous story, with the perfect touch of romance and self-discovery.

Have you ever wondered what goes through the mind of an advanced mountain climber? Where does the will come from to put themselves willingly in danger? What happens after a fall? How hard is it to climb again? Dana Alison Levy offers young adult readers a glimpse into the minds and hearts of young climbers in Above All Else. Told from the alternating perspective of high school seniors and best friends, Rose and Tate, this book will capture readers' attention and imagination from the first page. Levy takes readers on the high, lows, terrors, and dangers of mountain climbing from Oregon to Tibet.
For as long as anyone can remember, Rose and Tate have been best friends and climbing partners, but on the cusp of graduation everything is primed for change. Rose and Tate love climbing and just being buddies, right? What if climbing was never really their dream and they would like to be more than buddies?

I really enjoyed the writing, it was easy enough to read. It started a bit slow, perhaps, but closer to the end I couldn't possibly put the book down until I had finished it. All in all it was very intense, that's the best way to describe this.

All the characters were wonderful and I loved reading about them! None of them felt boring or unnecessary, which is pretty amazing and rare.

The start of Rose and Tate's romance felt quite sudden, since at first they were just strictly friends and stated that every now and then but all of a sudden they just kissed. Apart from that, their relationship did feel very natural and realistic. I'm just not completely sure if it was necessary? I don't think the rest of the book would've changed much even if they had just been friends, there can be deep love and the feelings of anger and betrayal even between best friends.

Tate and Jordan's relationship was very believable and realistic for a teenager and his dad.

The way mental illness issues were shrugged off by the characters for the most of the book made me a bit uncomfortable but I was happy to see that there was some progress in that regard, and growth and acceptance in the characters.

I also really appreciate that the book took into account the problematic sides of mountain climbing and the expeditions in regions like Nepal.

I hope I did like this book like so much because the concept and the setting are beautiful. But it was way far than I expected.

The story pacing is quite slow. And sometime, I just skipped a free pages and just summarize what happened. The words are too many to explain one situation.

Although I like the relationship. Rose and Tate are cute together. But at one point in the story, I felt so disgust with them. You know if you read.

Thank you so much NetGalley for sending this eARC to me. This book will available on October 2020.

The premise of "Above All Else" sounds familiar. Think "Into Thin Air" for the YA group. And while it is similar to YA books like "Peak" or "No Summit Out of Sight", it's the characters in the book that set it apart and really get you to buy into the story. Tate and Rose have been best friends their whole lives, as well as climbing partners, so when they set their sights on climbing Everest at the end of their senior year, it seems like a no-brainer. Told from alternating points of view, "Above All Else" delves into heavy-hitting topics like PTSD, parental illness, ADHD, and what it means to be brave. This book flew along and kept me hooked for the entire ride.

I found it really hard to get into this book, unfortunately. I really wanted to love it but I couldn't get past the first 20%. I don't know if that was because of how the ARC was laid out.

I've finally finished reading this book. I loved the idea about teenager going on an adventure and climb mountains but for teenagers to go on climb by themselves I feel a little bit dangerous. But I admire those people who are so brave and do it anyway.

I didn't enjoy the story like I wanted to because the pace was a bit slow it took me quite a few days to finished it. I enjoyed reading about the expedition but to me the expedition was intense even though Rose and Tate have been climbing for years and they have training in difficult weather and all. Still I was quite nervous for them when I read the book.

Other than the plot is slow, I felt the ending was a little bit rushed. Overall, it's still a good concept to talk about teens' adventure and mountain climbing expedition experiences.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book. This book will be available on October 2020.

(copied from Goodreads) I've been suffering from insomnia during this quarantine, and this book was a fabulous way to keep busy while I was awake. I am really surprised by the lower ratings, because I thought it was fascinating, well-researched, and really romantic. I'm a bit of a sucker for best friends to more stories (Romione shipper for life), but what I loved about Rose and Tate is that they both had flaws and recognized them in each other and didn't try to minimize them. I love climbing books, nonfiction or fiction -- from Into Thin Air to Peak -- and this one was just as great. Yes, it's about climbing Mt. Everest, but it's really about honesty, relationships, finding your person, and parent-child closeness. I highly recommend it, and I plan to add it to the high school library this Fall.

I read this book in just two days, because I just could not put it down. I love a book that showcases different points of view throughout the story, and this book does just that. Both main characters had such different challenges and voices during the story, so it was refreshing and really nice to hear both sides. This book showcased such a journey about climbing Everest and even just getting through traumas and different life experiences. This book encompassed many different emotions, and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I read this book in basically a day because I could not put it down.

A quick blurb: Rose Keller and Tate Russo are best friends who have been climbing for years, training in extreme weather and traveling worldwide to prepare for their ultimate goal: summiting Mount Everest, the highest point on earth. They head to Everest at the end of their senior year, accompanied by Tate's dad and a family friend, Paul. Climbing Everest is one of the most challenging tasks on earth, but both Rose and Tate have internal obstacles they're fighting hard to overcome as well. Plus, their lifelong platonic friendship seems to be changing.

I really enjoyed the dual POV. Especially with a story centered around such an intense challenge, getting to hear the perspective of two characters was really compelling. The author did a great job giving both Rose and Tate their own distinct voices.

I've always really enjoyed stories about wild tests of endurance, and I'm definitely the type to go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole of stories about Everest adventures. So I knew just from the description this was something I wanted to read. This book really brought together in the best way two genres I love: physical endurance and YA coming-of-age/growing into yourself stories. Best friends to lovers always gets me, and putting it in a setting that so many of us will never experience made it so unique.

Also, this book made me cry. I could tell for the last third or so it was just a matter of time until the tears arrived, and arrive they did. Whew.

I would definitely recommend reading this book when it comes out, especially if you're looking to shake up your typical YA story, or you're looking for a new spin on an Everest tale.

I'm so happy I read this book.

I had never read a story about climbing in my life, and I don't even know why this one caught my attention, but I'm glad it did.
Rose and Tate are going to climb Everest after a life of preparing, and it isn't going to happen exactly how they dreamed about it for such a long time. Rose's mom can't come anymore, even though she was a big part of the plan, and Tate's dad is coming but is not feeling as well as he should. At the beginning it was kind of difficult to get into de story because it kept going back and forth, which made hard to get interested on the characters. The second half of the book was my favorite, I was completely invested on the climbing and couldn't stop reading until I finished. I loved all the details, they made me curious about Everest and I ended up doing what I love the most: opening ten tabs on my browser so I could read EVERYTHING about it.

I was kind of disappointed on the romance: it was unnecessary. Still, I understood why it was there so I made the effort to read those parts, too (thank God they were only a few).
In the end, this book is not just about climbing the Everest, it's about a journey. It's about people that want to do something big (all of them for different reasons) and how their past affects the experience. I loved getting to know these characters.

WRITING STYLE: 4/5
SUBJECT: 4/5
CANDIDNESS: 2/5
RELEVANCE: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 2/5

Clearly, my ratings for this book are naturally low. Why? Well, it seemed a bit melodramatic. I made it well into half of the book before putting it down and failing at the attempt of trying to forget what I just read.

First and foremost, the story centers around a mission: Two teens, a boy and girl, are with other travelers climbing a mountain, that's the main thing. There is a suggested possibility of romance between the two, and yada-yada-yada, you're supposed to feel excited with anticipation for the journey of these two teens and their journey climbing this mountain, and a possible chance of love.

However, THE PROBLEM IS, I did not feel excited for them, like I should have, midst reading this.

There was no real emotional, anticipated connection between the author, to the characters, to the reader.

The two teens, Rose and Tate, have been best friends for a long time. You'd think they'd make more interesting dialogue, however, they didn't.
You could tell the monumental history of their friendship was there, but you just couldn't feel it. Their relationship failed to intrigue me, and I found it difficult to put myself in their positions.

I find myself giving this novel an overall 2/5.

There were a couple of things I recall enjoying about this book: The plot. The idea. And that's it. I admire the author's story-line creativity, yet it carried no depth whatsoever.

4.5 stars. A really excellent read that's sensitive and thrilling at the same time.

Tate is an absolute sweetheart and he's my favorite character. His mental health is one of the best parts of the book I think because of how PTSD and ADHD are handled. Absolutely incredible.

Rose is frustrating to read about sometimes because she's so stubborn and can be insensitive to the people around her. Tate is a good balance to her. The parents are present in this book and are nuanced, realistic characters. Rose's relationship with her mom is so sweet and well developed.

I appreciate the attention to culture that the author gives. It's a weird dynamic when wealthy tourists come to Mount Everest and pay the Sherpa people to risk their lives so the tourists can have an adventure. And this book did a good job addressing that and the problematic aspects. It's respectful of the people who have died climbing the mountain, too. The author has a good author's note in the back about her research.

All in all, a great book about adventure, friendship, and love. Definitely recommend.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This book surprised me a lot. I thought that it would be typical YA contemporary story with characters that are ok, but not great, and with a plot that would not be so special or unique. But honestly, this was amazing!

Above All Else is a story about Tate and Rose, two young climbers. They both have problems in their lives, Tate has trauma because of recent climbing, and Rose's life is completely different after her mother's diagnosis. But none of it is important now. The hardest climb had just begun, and there is no room for mistakes while they are summiting Mount Everest.

I quickly fell in love with both characters. Tate has an amazing personality! His parts were really emotional, and I enjoyed them even more than Rose's parts. On the contrary, Rose is strong female character, who is not afraid to do anything to achieve her goals. But even she had a few hard times in this book, especially at the end, and to be honest, these scenes were heartbreaking.

The plot is gripping since the beginning, and it's not only about climbing on Mount Everest. There are also parts that explain Tate's past and his trauma. So prepare for adventure with a lot of thrilling scenes, some romance and a few sad parts that will break your heart.

Overall, this was a great book. I enjoyed it and I truly cannot wait to read it again.

I feel like I gotta start with saying that I am not one to read books about climbing. I think this is the first book that I ever really read that was about climbing specifically and I wasn't completely sure what to expect, but this was such a nice surprise. The plot was fast moving, the characters were delights, relatable and lovable at the same time, and the end of the book and the end of the climax both felt realistic and terrible and shocking and great at the same time.

At the beginning of the book there was a past/present structure of the storyline and not going to lie, I thought it would go like that through the book and I was wondering what could have possibly happened in the past that would take up half the book, but the author handled it really well and after a few chapters we saw what happened, we got just enough information to know and understand the present and the characters and their motivations and then we just get the main plot for the rest of the story. Which was pretty good, not going to lie, I enjoyed it, but for me, the heart and soul of the story was the two main characters and their relationships. They were best friends for as long as they could remember, they always climbed together, and wanted to climb Everest together, while they relationship naturally develops and turns into a romance during the book. It was so palpable how much they loved each other and cared for each other, I honestly loved every bit of their relationships and the ups and downs of it.

I also really enjoyed Tate's storyline the most. His trauma and PTSD from the climbing accident during the flashback chapters was so real, his struggle of needing to do everything everyone around him expected of him, wanting to be there for Rose and his father and everyone else, while also struggling with his mind changing about climbing and his wants and needs changing, and dealing with the trauma and the nightmares and the fear was so captivating, I loved reading about every single second of it, and I was so proud of him when he decided that he didn't want to climb and not just because of the fear but because he didn't want it. And I was even more proud when he went up at the end to help out his friends.

Rose's storyline for me was a little bit less interesting, but maybe part of that was that just in general, to me climbing Everest feels like an insane thing that I could never imagine anyone wanting. So I couldn't really understand her drive, but at the same time, it was inspiring, and I love how during the story it turned from wanting to do it for her mom into something that she wanted to do for herself and nobody else. I was really proud of her.

And mostly I really enjoyed how the story didn't glorify or try to romanticize climbing Everest. I do believe that for those who do this as a passion, it's an incredible thing, but it's also extremely dangerous and full of horrors, and the book showed both sides and I really enjoyed every bit of it!