Wow, where do I begin. Sometimes a book finds you at the right time when you need it most. This book was exactly that for me. It was a reminder of what life is truly about.

The story is simple, Amelia is trying to figure herself out just like everyone else in this world. It is a melancholy journey but whimsy. I loved Amelia's character but I may be bias since she is from Dallas and I am from Dallas. All of the characters are well developed. The writing is beautiful too! I cried as I read chapter nineteen. Sometimes happy ends are needed even if it isn't realistic. I can't wait for the book to release. I already pre-ordered it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Ashley Schumacher!

It’s always a lovely experience to pick up a novel by a new-to-you author and discover that you click immediately with their writing style and that, friends, is exactly what happened to me with Amelia Unabridged. I knew from the first couple of lines that I was going to devour this story – and that’s exactly what happened! Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you a little bit about what it’s about (though it’ll be the bare minimum since I didn’t know much before going into it myself and that worked in my favor). This is a story about Amelia, who is wrestling with the void of grief and confusion left behind by the abrupt loss of someone she cares very deeply about, and how stories (and a specific book series) play a role in her journey towards making sense of her feelings & future. It’s a beautiful tale, complemented by Schumacher’s lovely, lyrical writing and the way she weaves melancholy and magic into the narrative. I appreciated reading yet another perspective on how one might handle grief and loss through the experiences Amelia had, though I’ll objectively admit that the whimsy, the air of destiny and the budding romantic connection that provides colorful background detail might not work for all readers as well as it did for me. I also really liked how Schumacher incorporated the magic and importance of stories and storytelling into her work. Stories can offer so many things to readers – an escape, comfort, a connection, perspective – and this theme is something I could get behind. Amelia Unabridged ended up being the good sort of reading surprise, and I look forward to whatever Schumacher releases next. (I also wanted to mention that, while this is a YA book, I strongly related to it as an adult reader and that’s probably because of my own personal life experiences.)

3.5/5 stars

Amelia Unabridged is a beautifully written narrative about loss, grief, fear and finding your path in life. I was quite taken with the book for the first half but unfortunately, it felt a bit flat and predictable after that. We follow Amelia's journey when her best-friends Jenna dies after they had a huge fight. She receives a book which she believes was sent to her by Jenna and travels to solve the mystery, only to meet her childhood favourite author.

To go with the positive firsts, I really love the author's writing style. It's what drew me in with the way the characters are created and how beautifully their emotions are expressed. I really like the different ways in which grief, pain, sorrow and fear were written through the characters, letting us know that there's no one way to experience emotions. And of course, I fell in love with a fictional world created in this book and the overall aesthetic of the bookshops and readers, because how could I note.

Where things really started falling apart was insta-love. God, I hate this trope and especially in this narrative it just came out of nowhere. I would have gladly taken a slowly developed liking and love between the two characters but instead we got an emotionally heavy scene after which the two of them are inexplicably attracted to each other. I know that the author wrote that there are some incidents that you go through with someone after which you can't not be friends but I would disagree. Such experiences certainly shift your relationships but they don't just immediately make you fall in love. And believe me, I really wanted to root for the romance but t was too quick and imposed and dare I say cheesy. I hate that the mystery part of it dwindled after a while but it's also understandable. I found the second half to be incredibly predictable and at that point I was reading only because I liked the writing style and had grown fond of some of the characters.

But this isn't a bad book, despite all the faults I pointed out, I do like this book and if you don't mind the insta-love trope I really believe you'll end up loving this book.

4.5 stars — Well, I’m in a glass case of emotion. I’m not saying the whole book was a cryfest, but I am saying that I cried forcefully on several occasions. But for me, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, for a debut book I think it’s kind of an awesome thing.

I shouldn’t have been surprised by all the emotion, the book quite clearly deals with a lot of grief. But it was the way that Ms. Schumacher described that grief, and showcased it in Amelia that really got to me.

I will admit that, from the blurb, I was somewhat concerned about what happened between Amelia and Jenna wrt the author and stuff. I expected characters making mean decisions or something, or the fight being nasty. If anyone else is worried about that, you can set your worries aside. There was a lot to that whole encounter, and while it was tough, I was relieved that I didn’t dislike anyone as a result of what happened. I can’t say more than that, but yeah.

The writing in this one was both out there and delightful. Sometimes I had a hard time understanding Amelia and her imagination…let’s just say my imagination is not as good. I wasn’t quite sure what it all meant. But I can’t tell you how many things I highlighted, b/c they were beautiful or profound or both.

Despite not always understanding all that made Amelia tick, I easily connected with her. She was earnest, kind, fun, quirky…but she also had a lot of young adult moments that can make a person feel frustrated. I felt for how torn she was in her life, about what she wanted out of it. And my god, I felt her grief to my bones.

Nolan and Alex and Val and Wally and all the crazy characters of Lochbrook brought weird shades of colour I wasn’t expecting. I loved the relationships that were developed, and the fun mixed with emotional upheaval. I loved that we got both a tiny love story and significant friendships. The stories that were told here were actually quite unexpected for me, and just really added to Amelia’s journey.

All in all this one took a lot out of me, but also gave so much back.

OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK. Okay, now that the shouting's over, Amelia Unabridged is the debut novel by Ashley Schumacher, and it's amazing. Main character Amelia is a voracious reader, and her favorite books are the Orman series written by mysterious novelist N.E. Endsley. He's not much older than Amelia, and she and her best friend Jenna get to attend a book con where Endsley is supposed to appear as a graduation gift from Jenna's parents (who are more parental to Amelia than her own).

So when things go wrong at the Con and Jenna by chance gets to meet Endsley - who cancels his actual appearance last minute, while Amelia is in the ladies' room - Amelia and Jenna have a huge fight, which never gets resolved as a week or so later, Jenna is killed in a tragic accident in Ireland.

Then the book arrives at her local bookstore, addressed to her.

A rare, special edition of the first book of the Orman Chronicles, number 101 out of 100, and Amelia is determined to find out how she ended up with this rare book.

Schumacher is a gifted storyteller. I shed more tears over these pages than I have in a long time. The characters feel so real that the reader gets to know them. I read this book in one sitting, reading way past my bedtime, and it was worth every minute.

I didn't really know what to expect going into this book but I was taken aback by how much I enjoyed it. Let me start off by saying that if you like books that will take you on an emotional journey and you like books about books, then this one is perfect for you!

I myself, LOVE books where the main character loves to read, and seeing Amelia's relationship with her favorite series (and author) hit so close to home for me. The reason why this book I found this book to be excellent is that it's literally every reader's fantasy and dreams come to life on-page. There are a lot of books where I want the kind of relationship the MC has or gets, but those are all sub-par compared to this one, and I mean, who doesn't want to fall in love with their favorite author in a small-town independent bookstore?

This is such a feel-good, but emotionally wrecking book, where I found myself crying by the last page out of joy and longing to find myself in a story like this. I can totally see this book being one I come back to when I want to remind myself that there is something good in the world.

When Amelia Griffin receives the 101st collector's edition of her favorite book, she knows that her recently deceased best friend somehow sent it to her, but needs to find out why. What Amelia doesn't expect to find is the reclusive author himself, N.E. Endsley. The comfort and secrets that result from the relationship they build may just be what Amelia needs, but how can she be with him with all the expectations of her dead best friend on her shoulders?

My favorite part of this book was Val's bookstore. I want to own a bookstore someday and Val's sounds like my dream come true. It had a piano, special rooms themed after genres, and an entire kitchen! It sounded absolutely enchanting - my description doesn't give it justice.

My favorite character was definitely Wally. I loved it every time Amelia called him something along the lines of brain-damaged or dumb - that always made me laugh. He was so crazy yet lovable! I also enjoyed Alex for contributing humor to the novel, and Nolan and Amelia had their funny moments. They were a lovable cast of characters!

I found Amelia's fascination with whales to be confusing. Maybe it changed between the finished book and the ARC, but in my advance copy Amelia's whale "sightings" started out of the blue around page 70 and continued with no explanation. Why did Amelia always think about whales and see whales everywhere? She doesn't even claim that they are her favorite animals. It was very random and I saw no explanation for it.

The ending was very sweet and I loved the epilogue! It was very promising :). Although the whales may have confused me, I found myself a bit sad when the book was over. It was a sweet read and I'd recommend it to other readers since it's about a girl who loves books.

Amelia and her best friend Jenna go to a book festival to see their favorite author, but when Jenna meets him and Amelia does not, they have their biggest fight ever. But before they make up, Jenna dies in a car accident. A few weeks later a rare edition of their favorite book shows up from a bookshop far away and Amelia is convinced Jenna somehow made this happen before her death. She takes a trip to see the bookstore for herself and hopefully get some answers and feel connected to her friend once again.

Bookstagram made me do it and I’m so glad it did. I have been seeing this book pop up a lot so I decided to request an advance copy and I am so glad I did. This emotional book touched my heart in ways I wasn’t expecting. This story about finding hope and strength even in the darkest of times was so beautiful I was ugly crying throughout reading it. I can’t even think of the words for how breathtaking and incredible this one is. I am blown away.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Amelia Unabriged comes out on February 16.

This was not the book for me. I tried to get to at least 100 pages and I struggled to do just that. I couldn't connect. I found it boring, and there wasn't anything in it that I wanted to know more about.

2/5 Stars

This a story for book lovers, a story for those who have lost, a story for people who believe in a little bit of magic.
This book pulled me in right from the prologue with the friendship between Jenna and Amelia and didn’t let go until the last pages left me with tears in my eyes. The characters in this book were all wonderful people (maybe unrealistically so, but that didn’t bother me), and they all found a place in my heart. This is a book I’ll recommend to anyone.

This book has many surprises to say the least. I was first intrigued by the synopsis and had to read it. I hit a bit of a slump through the middle but when I picked it back up, the ending came sooner than I expected. I’ll admit, I am a fan of happy endings but I also don’t mind a little heartbreak. This book had the slow burn throughout which progressed to a lovely relationship. At times, I could relate very much to the main character’s feelings about anguish and despair and I loved it. I loved the backstory between Jenna and Amelia. The found family with the Willamses and Amelia was so heart wrenching and captivating. Overall, this was such a well written book that really put me in my feels.

“Amelia Unabridged” feels like Bridge to Terebithia meets John Green. In short, I loved it. It was whimsical and filled with beautiful imagery, while also remaining poignant and graceful handling subjects of death and coming-of-age. It does include some unrealistic or perhaps naive flights of fancy throughout that feels like a hallmark of the young adult genre, but overall, it’s a touching story with hints of everyday magic.

AMELIA UNABRIDGED is an absolutely stunning and breathtaking YA read about grief, love, and healing. Everyone has a story about the first time they read the Orman Chronicles, a magical series that transports readers alongside two sisters into another world. Amelia's story is also the time that she met her best friend and the girl who changed her life, Jenna.

Together, the two are unstoppable, and they have big plans for their future. Beginning with their graduation gift from Jenna's parents to go to a book festival where the reclusive author of the Orman Chronicles will be making a big and rare announcement - and the two have VIP tickets to attend and get their books signed. When Amelia has to go to the bathroom, Jenna gets a chance to meet the author - right before the event is entirely canceled, leaving Amelia without her own chance. As feelings do not always make sense, they have a fight about it before Jenna heads to her big botanist trip abroad - a trip that Jenna does not return from after an unexpected car accident.

Set adrift, Amelia's world feels off kilter without Jenna - and then a rare edition of an Orman Chronicles book is delivered to her favorite bookstore, the one where the two friends met. Following the signs and trying to learn more about this gift from Jenna and the messages she may have left behind, Amelia heads to Michigan from Texas to the bookstore that sent this mysterious package. What she finds there is bigger and more important than anything she could have anticipated.

What I loved: This book is everything. It broke my heart into a million pieces so many times, and I loved every second of it. Amelia is raw, genuine, and heartfelt. Along with the other characters we get to meet during the story, they all burrow into the reader's heart and come to life throughout the book. The characters are truly phenomenal, and I was delighted to meet them all. They have flaws and histories, and they felt so true and real.

A major theme of the book is about loss, grief, and the guilt and sorrow the people we love leave behind. Although we only know Jenna for a few chapters, she lives during this time so fiercely that her loss resonates through Amelia and the pages of the book. Alongside other characters and their grief, this theme was quite powerful, with discussions about how to move forward after such a loss and redefine yourself in the wake of it.

Other themes around healing and being true to yourself also resonate in the book and create a really strong story. This book is an absolute gem. I also want to add that it may have one of the best epilogues I have ever read. It is difficult to do such a book justice in a review, but this book is every bit as magical as the series that features within.

Final verdict: Raw, heartfelt, and beautiful, AMELIA UNABRIDGED is a powerful read about grief, love, and finding your truths. Highly recommend for fans of IF I STAY, LOOKING FOR ALASKA, and BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

In Amelia Unabridged, Amelia Schumacher has given us a story about friendship, how the love of a good book can bring people together and how quickly life can change.
Amelia and Jenna meet at a bookstore and become best friends, bonding over the Orman Chronicles written by a young, reclusive author very close to their age. When circumstances happen to cause a big fight between the girls, it leaves them shaken and lives changed forever.
If I say too much m,ore, I will give away too much. Pick up this debut novel, devour it and then share it with a friend.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Ashley Schumacher for an advance copy of this book for a fair review.

Amelia Unabridged was the breath of fresh air that I needed. This is essentially the study of grief and it is so beautifully written. You will get all the feels. It follows our main character, Amelia, She doesn't have the best home life, but her life changes when she meets her best friend, Jenna. Jenna's family takes her on like a second daughter. Amelia and Jenna have reading in common, specifically a beloved book series called The Orman Chronicles by N.E. Endsley. They get the opportunity of a lifetime to go and see the elusive author talk, but then he winds up ditching the event. Amelia finds out Jenna was able to meet him while she was off in the bathroom. They get into a fight and shortly after this, Jenna is killed in a car crash. Shortly after the crash, a special edition book gets sent to Amelia and she is on a race to find out if it's a message from Jenna. Also she is on a journey to figure out her life.

This book is one of the best studies of grief I have read. I loved the characters. I loved every single thing about this book. When it comes out, I plan to buy a physical copy. This is the kind of book that sticks into your heart. I will be reading more from this author in the future.

*Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy*

This book was magical. I was sucked in from the first page and could not put it down. I needed to know where the story would go and how the author would take us there. I loved it so much I preordered a final copy and I cannot wait to get it. I will definitely read more from Ashley Schumacher in the future.

I don’t like saying I’m too old for certain stories because I think we’re always able to find meaning in books regardless of the target audience, but I personally did not find much meaning in Amelia Unabridged. The writing was very very easy to read and I am sure quite a lot of people will fall in love with it, but something about the narrative and the characters did not capture my attention and did not make me feel as touched as I’m sure Schumacher expected the reader to feel.

The premise was pretty intriguing—I’ve always loved books about books and books-within-books, so I did have fun reading about the Orman Chronicles and how much they meant to a few of the characters, especially Amelia. The way Schumacher approached reading and love for books was lovely, though I, who am an English major, did resent a bit the comment made about English majors (and how we only like arguing about how rare/valuable books are and don’t want/care about reading).

I just… didn’t enjoy the characters and how some of the plot points were developed because of that? The story dealt heavily with grief and the loss of a loved one, so I understood Amelia and the other characters were having to come to terms with that. Yet Amelia came across as rather entitled and demanding in the beginning of the book and one other major character had a few instances of behaving like an inconsiderate jerk and expecting to be forgiven because he had lost people he loved. The way Schumacher wrote those scenes and explored those feelings not only didn’t touch my heart, but also felt rather juvenile/immature to me—and that was what made me think maybe I was a bit too old for this book.

The romance also did not work for me at all. I personally didn’t like the fan/idol dynamics at the beginning and never felt like that was fleshed out to the point where I was comfortable with romantic feelings being added to the mix. Everything happened a bit too fast for me and without enough development.

I’m sure a lot of people will love Amelia Unabridged, but this wasn’t the book for me.

This is a beautiful, poignant story of loss and grief, overcoming fears, forging new paths, and honoring loved ones while staying true to oneself. Amelia is an endearing, kind hearted character who, with the support of new friendships and a new love, finds the strength within herself to deal with her grief and find her way forward. The lyrical prose and beautiful imagery capture Amelia’s spirit and imagination.

Even though the time frame is short, the relationship between Amelia and Nolan develops in a natural and sweet way. Together, they confront their pain, they grieve, and eventually begin the process of healing. The epilogue brings a heartwarming conclusion to a lovely story. Book lovers will also enjoy the book references interwoven throughout the story.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

Firstly, if you love books, then this will definitely be for you! However, even casual readers will love this story of love, loss, grief and finding oneself. Amelia and her best friend, Jenna, meet as a result of the Orman Chronicles books and they even end up at a book festival where they are supposed to meet the author. That only half happens though when Jenna ends up talking to the author while Amelia is in the washroom; the festival chat with the author is cancelled. This causes a fight between the girls that isn't totally resolved when Jenna leaves for Ireland and tragedy occurs. Amelia is struggling with her grief when a book shows up for her, but she doesn't know where it came from or how it got there, so she goes in search for answers and finds the person she has spent years desperate to meet. Their stories bring them together in ways they couldn't have imagined. There is a love story in this book, but it's not the whole book. There are so many more layers and even layers within their relationship. It's as if their budding romance is awakening parts of them and healing parts of them at the same time. I really enjoyed this one and listened to it over 2 days thanks to libro.fm. This might even be one I go back to at some point as I really did get lost in this one!

I was provided a free eBook of this by @netgalley and @stmartinspress in exchange for my honest review.
This book makes me feel so many feels!! 🥰 It is heartbreaking and uplifting, tough to read and easy to cozy up and gorge on! This debut novel by @ashwritesbooks absolutely blew me away and I've had a major reading "hangover" for the past few days!
This book deals with grief as a main theme. Amelia's best friend dies suddenly and turns her whole life upside down. I won't claim to know what this type of grief feels like, but I did think the way it was handled and how multiple characters talk about, learn from, and move through their grief provides both hope and a beautiful journey for the reader. This book will definitely stick with me for a while!
You definitely need to get your hands on a copy when it's published later this month (16 Feb)!!
#AmeliaUnabridged #NetGalley