O P E N I N G H O O K:
(Page 1, US ARC edition)
It is realllllllllllly hard to talk about NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES by Adi Alsaid without spoilers. The thing I love BEST about the book is one of the biggest spoilers of all!!! Argh! *pulls hair* But I'm not going to talk about anything spoilery so that you can enjoy the book as much as I did! In fact, now I really want to read his debut novel LET'S GET LOST, because I've heard so many good things about it! PLUS, I got to meet Adi Alsaid at BEA and listen to him talk on a Teen Author Carnival, and he is so, so nice! I can't wait to read more by him! (Thankfully, I won a copy at the TAC, or I'd have run out the next morning to buy it after finishing this book!)
Dave and Julia are best friends who, right before entering high school, decided to make a list of all the high school clichés that they vowed never to do. They find the list right before the end of their senior year, when everything has that sluggish get me out of here, I'm done! feeling known as senioritis. Feeling restless, they decide to try every single cliché on the list, even the ones that don't sound like great ideas. One of the rules is to never date your best friend, and while Julia has never had feelings for Dave, Dave was in love with Julia even back when they made their list. Could this be his chance to finally open her eyes to something new? By doing everything on the list will change both Dave and Julia in ways they never anticipated or saw coming and test the bounds of their friendship.
As you know, I'm not a huge fan of contemporary YA. Books have to be pretty special to live on after I've moved on to that next book. I'd put NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES in that pretty special category. A large part of it has to do with the direction Alsaid takes things and twists the story in unexpected ways. Another huge part is Alsaid himself. The story is made up of beautiful sentences and phrases and ideas that I just want to quote and pin to a wall. There is also this amazing scene with a treehouse, and just, well! I want one!! And the END. I can't talk about it, of course, but the ending is so, so perfect, and exactly what I wanted! I am so thrilled that Alsaid did the things he did and made outcomes the way he did, because it's so rare to find YA novels--or novels in general--that take the route he did. Perfection!
I also really connected with Dave and his plight. He goes through so much and changes in so many ways. I wasn't a huge fan of Julia. I kind of really hated her and the way she frequently treated Dave, but I understood her a lot more when she took over the narration. I still had a sour taste leaving Dave's perspective, but Julia gave me reasons to like her more as her narration progressed. I still don't love her as a character, but I understand her a lot more. But Dave, how I love Dave!!! There are also some amazing secondary characters that really take front and center and steal my heart, even if they don't get much page time. I really like the way even secondary characters can be fleshed out and made real, which is a great talent for a writer to have, in my opinion, and what truly brings a contemporary novel to life. I always struggle to have that balance, and love the authors who can do it the most!
And really....I just can't talk about this book without spoilers!!! If you want a book that explores the bonds of friendship, or one that seeks to undo school clichés in fun, innovative ways, I highly recommend checking out NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES. Not only is it a great summer read, it's also great to throw into your backpack and take to school with you for assigned reading time!
Now, take a peek at this excerpt:
EXCERPT FROM
NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES
by Adi Alsaid
~*~
EXCERPT FROM
NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES
by Adi Alsaid
THE KIDS WALKING past Dave
seemed to be in some other universe. They moved too quickly, they were too
animated, they talked too loudly. They held on to their backpacks too tightly,
checked themselves in tiny mirrors hanging on the inside of their lockers too
often, acted as if everything mattered too much. Dave knew the truth: Nothing
mattered. Nothing but the fact that when school was out for the day, he and
Julia were going to spend the afternoon at Morro Bay.
No one had told him that March of senior year would feel
like it was made of Jell-O. After he'd received his acceptance letter from
UCLA, high school had morphed into something he could basically see through.
When, two days later, Julia received her congratulations from UCSB, only an
hour up the coastline, the whole world took on brighter notes, like the simple
primary colors of Jell-O flavors. They giggled constantly.
Julia's head appeared by his side, leaning against the
locker next to his. It was strange how he could see her every day and still be
surprised by how it felt to have her near. She knocked her head against the
locker softly and combed her hair behind her ear. "It's like time has
ceased to advance. I swear I've been in Marroney's class for a decade. I can't
believe it's only lunch."
"There is nothing in here I care about," Dave
announced into his locker. He reached into a crumpled heap of papers on top of
a history textbook he hadn't pulled out in weeks and grabbed a single, ripped
page. "Apparently, I got a C on an art assignment last year."
He showed the drawing to Julia: a single palm tree growing out of a tiny half
moon of an island in the middle of a turquoise ocean.
"Don't show UCLA that. They'll pull your
scholarship."
Dave crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it at a
nearby garbage can. It careened off the edge and rolled back to his feet. He
picked it up and shoved it back into the locker. "Any notable Marroney
moments today?"
"I can't even remember," Julia said, moving
aside to make room for Dave's locker neighbor. "he whole day has barely
registered." She put her head on Dave's shoulder and let out a sigh.
"I think he ate a piece of chalk."
It was pleasant torture, how casually she could touch
him. Dave kept exploring the wasteland of his locker, tossing out a moldy,
half-eaten bagel, occasionally unfolding a sheet of paper with mild curiosity,
trying not to move too much so that Julia wouldn't either. He made a pile of
papers to throw out and a much smaller one of things to keep. So far, the small
pile contained two in-class notes from Julia and a short story he'd read in AP
English.
"Still on for the harbor today?"
"It's the only thing that's kept me sane,"
Julia said, pulling away. "Come on, why are we still here? I'm starving. Marroney
didn't offer me any of his chalk."
"I do not care about any of this," Dave
repeated. Liberated by the absence of her touch, he walked over to the trash
can and dragged it toward his locker, then proceeded to shovel in the entirety
of the contents except for the books. A USB memory stick was wrapped inside a
candy wrapper, covered in chocolate, and he tossed that, too. A few sheets
remained tucked into the corners, some ripped pieces stuck under the heavy
history textbook.
But something caught his eye. One paper folded so neatly
that for a second he thought it may have been a note he'd saved from his mom.
She'd died when he was nine, and though he'd learned to live with that, he
still treated the things she left behind like relics. But when he unfolded the
sheet and realized what he was holding, a smile spread his lips. Dave's eyes
went down the list to number eight: Never pine silently after someone for
the entirety of high school.
He looked at Julia, recalling the day they'd made the
list, suddenly flushed with warmth at the thought that nothing had come between
them in four years. She was holding on to her backpack's straps, starting to
get impatient. Everything about Julia was beautiful to him, but it was the side
of her face that he loved the most. The slope of her neck, the slight jut of
her chin, how the blue in her eyes popped. Her ears, which were the cutest ears
on the planet, or maybe the only cute ones ever crafted.
"David Nathaniel O'Flannery, why are we still
here?"
"How have we been best friends for this long and you
still don't know my full name?"
"I know most of your initials. Can we go,
please?"
"Look at what I just found."
"Is it Marroney's mole from sophomore year?"
"Our Nevers list."
Julia turned around to face him. A couple of football
players passed between them talking about a party happening on Friday. She was
quiet, studying Dave with a raised eyebrow. "You wouldn't lie to me, would
you, O'Flannery? I could never forgive you."
"Gutierrez. My last name is Gutierrez."
"Don't change the subject. Did you really find
it?" She motioned for him to hand the paper over, which he did, making
sure their fingers would brush. he linoleum hallways were starting to empty out,
people were settling into their lunch spots. "I was actually thinking
about this the other day. I even wrote my mom about it," Julia said,
reading over the list. A smile shaped her lips, which were on the thin side,
though Dave couldn't imagine wishing for them to be any different. "We did
a pretty good job of sticking to this."
"Except for that time you hooked up with
Marroney," Dave said, moving to her side and reading the list with her.
"I wish. He's such a dreamboat."
Dave closed his locker and they peered into classrooms
they passed by, watching the teachers settle into their lunchtime rituals,
doing some grading as they picked at meals packed into Tupperware. Dave and
Julia wordlessly stopped in front of Mr. Marroney's room and watched him try to
balance a pencil on the end of a yardstick.
"his is your one regret from high school?"
"There's a playful charm to him," Julia said, in
full volume, though the door was open. "I'm surprised you don't see
it." hey stared on for a while, then made their way out toward the
cafeteria. he line was at its peak, snaking all the way around the tables and
reaching almost to the door. he tables inside the cafeteria and out on the
blacktop had long since been claimed. "Kind of cool that we never did get
a permanent lunch spot," Dave said, gesturing with the list in hand.
"I hadn't even remembered that it was on the list. Had you?"
"No," Julia said. "he subconscious is
weird." She reached into her bag and grabbed a Granny Smith apple, rubbing
it halfheartedly on the hem of her shirt. "How do you feel about the gym
today?"
He shrugged and they walked across the blacktop to the
basketball gym tucked behind the soccer field. They had a handful of spots they
sometimes went to, usually agreeing on a spot wordlessly, both of them headed
in the same direction as if pulled by the same invisible string. hey entered
the old building, which used to smell of mold until a new court had been
installed, so now it smelled like mold and new wood. he walls were painted the
school colors: maroon and gold. Next to the banners hanging from the ceiling
there was a deflated soccer ball pinned to the rafters.
Julia led them up the plastic bleachers. A group of kids
was shooting around, and one of them looked at Dave and called out to him.
"Hey, man, we need one more! You wanna run?"
"No, thanks," Dave said. "I had a really
bad dream about basketball once and I haven't been able to play since." he
kid frowned, then looked over at his friends who shook their heads and laughed.
Dave took a seat next to Julia as the kids resumed their shooting. "I
think you've used that one before," Julia said, taking a bite out of her
apple.
"I'm kind of offended on your behalf that they don't
ask you to play."
"They did once."
"Really?" Dave rummaged through his backpack
for the Tupperware he'd packed himself in the morning. "Why don't I
remember that?"
"I was really good. Dunked on people. Scored more
points than I did on the SAT. Every male in the room suppressed the memory
immediately to keep their egos from disintegrating."
Dave laughed as he scooped a plastic forkful of chicken
and rice. It was a recipe he vaguely remembered from childhood, one he'd found
in his mom's old cookbooks and had taught himself to make. His dad and his
older brother, Brett, never said anything about it, but the leftovers never
lasted more than two days. "So, you've heard from your mom recently?"
Julia had been raised by her adoptive fathers, but her biological mom had
always lingered on the fringe, occasionally keeping in touch. Julia idolized
her, and Dave, who'd been yearning for his mom for years, could never fault her
for it.
"Yeah," Julia said, unable to keep a smile from
forming. "She's even been calling. I heard the dads tell her the other day
that she's welcome anytime, so there's a chance that a visit is in the
works."
Dave reached over and grabbed Julia's head, shaking it
from side to side. Long ago, in the awkward years of middle school, that had
been established as his one gesture of affection when he didn't know how else to
touch her. "Julia! That's great."
"You goof, I'm gonna choke on my apple." She
shook him of. "I don't want to get my hopes up."
"Her hopes should be up. Her
biological daughter is awesome."
"She's lived in eight countries and has worked with
famous painters and sculptors. No offense, dear friend, but I think her
standards for awesome are a little higher than yours."
Dave took another forkful of rice and chewed it over
slowly, watching the basketball players shoot free throws to decide on teams.
"I don't care how great of a life she's led, if she doesn't come visit you
she's a very poor judge of awesomeness."
He glanced out the corner of his eye at Julia, who set
her apple core aside and grabbed a napkin-wrapped sandwich out of her bag. He
was waiting to catch that smile of hers, to know he had caused it. Instead, he
only saw her eyes lick toward the Nevers list, which was resting folded on his
knee. hey turned their attention to the pickup game happening on the court,
each eating their lunch languidly.
For the last two periods of the day, Dave could feel the seconds
ticking by, like bugs crawling on his skin. He reread the Nevers list, smiling
to himself at the memory of him and Julia stealing the pen away from each other
to write the next item. He gazed out the window at the blue California sky,
texted Julia beneath his desk, scowled at the two kids in the back of the room
who somehow believed that what they were doing was quiet enough to be called
whispering. Next to him, Anika Watson took diligent notes, and he wondered how
she was mustering the energy. He wondered how many of the items on the Nevers
list she'd done, whether she was going to the Kapoor party that he'd overheard
was happening that Friday night. Looking around the room, he imagined a little
number popping up above each person's head depicting how many Nevers they'd
done.
At the final releasing bell of the day, Dave and Julia
met up in the hallway, silently making their way out to the parking lot, where
Julia's supposedly white Mazda Miata should have been glimmering in the
California sun but was barely reflective thanks to the year-long layer of dust
she'd never bothered to clean off.
Before Julia said anything, Dave knew what she'd been
thinking about. He knew her well enough to read her silences, and there'd been
only one thing on her mind since he'd found the list. He smiled as she spoke.
"What if we did the list?"
Dave shrugged and tossed his backpack into her trunk.
"Why would we?"
"Because two more months of this will drive me
crazy," Julia said. She unzipped her light blue hoodie and threw it into
the car on top of his backpack, then stepped out of her sandals and slipped
those into the trunk, too. "We've got nothing left to prove to ourselves.
High school didn't change us. Maybe it's time to try out what everyone else has
been doing. Just for kicks. God knows we could use some entertaining."
It was one of those perfect seventy-five-degree days,
more L.A. than San Francisco, though San Luis Obispo was perfectly in between
the two cities. A breeze was blowing, and now that Julia was wearing only her
tank top it almost tired him how beautiful she was. It'd been a long time of
this, keeping his love for her subdued. It'd been a long time of letting her
rest her head on his shoulder during their movie nights, of letting her prop
her almost always bare feet on his lap, his hands nonchalantly gripping her
ankles. He'd been a cliché all four years of high school, in love with his best
friend, pining silently.
He opened the passenger door and looked across the roof
of Julia's car, which was more brown than white, covered with raindrop-shaped
streaks of dirt, though it hadn't rained in weeks. "I hear there's a party
at the Kapoors' on Friday."
Julia beamed a smile at him. "Look at you. In the
know."
"I'm an influential man, Ms. Stokes. I'm expected to
keep up with current events."
Julia snorted and plopped herself down into the driver's
seat. "So, no Friday movie night, then? We're going to a party? With beers
in red plastic cups and Top 40 music being blasted and kids our age? People
hooking up in upstairs bedrooms and throwing up in the bushes outside and at
least one girl running out in tears?"
"Presumably," Dave said. "I've never
actually been to a party, so I have no idea if that's what happens."
Julia lowered the top of the car, then pulled out of the
school's parking lot and turned right, headed toward California One and the
harbor at Morro Bay.
"So, we're doing this?" Dave asked. "We're
gonna join in on what everyone else has been doing?"
"Why not?" Julia said, and Dave couldn't help
but smile at the side of her face, the way the sun made her eyes impossibly
blue, how he could see her mom on her thoughts. "I'll come over before the
party so we can decide what we're going to wear."
"And we can talk about how drunk we're gonna
get," Dave added.
"And who we're gonna make out with."
"Yup."
Dave turned to face the road and sank into his seat. He
lowered the mirror visor and stuck his arm out the side of the car, feeling the
sun on his skin. He kept smiling, too experienced at hiding to let the tiny
heartbreak show.
~*~
C O N T E N T R A T I N G S
Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details
Romance: PG15+ ( sexual situations )
Language: PG15+ ( mild language; sexual innuendo )
Violence: ---
Other: --
~*~
C O V E R D E S I G N:
It's so fitting!!! I love how the paper gets smaller and smaller the more it gets waded up and opened and looked at! I can so picture this being THE list!!!
I also like the texture being used on the font for the title and author's name.
I think this one is fun and will get a lot of attention on the shelf!
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES
Author: Adi Alsaid
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Received: For Review
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Received: For Review
SUMMARY:
Never date your best friend
Always be original
Sometimes rules are meant to be broken
Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.
Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.
Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.
ABOUT...ADI ALSAID!
~*~
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