Title: Schasm (Schasm, Book 1)Author: Shari J. Ryan
Publication Date: January 20, 2014
Genre: Romance, Suspense, Young Adult
Genre: Romance, Suspense, Young Adult
Publisher: Booktrope
Blurb:
What happens when two worlds collide?
Chloe Valcourt drifts between two worlds: the dark reality of her horrible parents and doctors versus the vivid fantasy of her imagination. A chance enounter with a handsome and vaguely familiar young man in her dream world hints at the possibility of hidden truths -- and a life she can't remember. As her drifts become a greater escape from the cruelty of the real world, Chloe finds herself lost between what is real and what is imagined, questioning her very existence. Can she remain in the lush new imagined landscape to find happiness in a realm of her own invention? Is she doomed to return to the harsh reality of the outside world forever? Or will she become trapped somewhere between the two...unable to return to either? A thriller guaranteed to make your mind spin, Schasm is a young adult novel destined to change how you view the power of your mind.
Chloe Valcourt drifts between two worlds: the dark reality of her horrible parents and doctors versus the vivid fantasy of her imagination. A chance enounter with a handsome and vaguely familiar young man in her dream world hints at the possibility of hidden truths -- and a life she can't remember. As her drifts become a greater escape from the cruelty of the real world, Chloe finds herself lost between what is real and what is imagined, questioning her very existence. Can she remain in the lush new imagined landscape to find happiness in a realm of her own invention? Is she doomed to return to the harsh reality of the outside world forever? Or will she become trapped somewhere between the two...unable to return to either? A thriller guaranteed to make your mind spin, Schasm is a young adult novel destined to change how you view the power of your mind.
Kayla's Thoughts:
So I actually had my first review started before I decided to completely scratch it all and start over because the words I had typed did not even come close to how I was feeling and am still feeling about this book. I honestly do not think words can even describe my love for it. Hyperventilation and flailing arms might be the only things that can even remotely resemble what is in my head. It was just that good. I absolutely did not want it to end. Luckily, there are two more, so I can immediately begin reading those after writing this re-review. I guess I better make this quick then so I can get started...
This was one amazingly aggravating and weird book. I mean that in the best way. It focuses on a girl named Chloe whose mother and almost everyone else she encounters treats her like a headcase because she does something called drifting. Now, as one of the characters in the book states, it is kind of like daydreaming, only more real. For example, she drifts off to Paris quite a few times and can smell buttery croissants and taste creamy hot chocolate. It is completely real to her, yet she knows it is all part of her own imagination.
But here's the kicker...is it really?
Something secret and unknown to her is going on in her reality. People know more about her condition than they are letting on. Her mother, who is openly raging about having to take care of her daughter and basically has a split personality as far as I can tell, knows more about what Chloe is going through than she is willing to admit. And what's more is they are trying to make her forget how to drift. There is an ulterior motive somewhere. They are trying to make her "normal", when in actuality she knows something subconsciously that they are trying to make her forget. Something sinister is going on...something so much bigger than Chloe herself. Chloe doesn't know who to trust... I don't know who to trust... I just...I'm not...AH!! So many feels!
This story involves a love that spans realities, a terrifying and drug-induced stay at an insane asylum...mental institution...Potato Potahto. There are so many amazing and vivid scenes in this that I cannot even begin to list them. I desperately want to know what is going to happen next. And the ending...I have never wanted to throw a book, or in my case laptop, against a wall more. In a non-violent, I really liked this book way. *smiley-face*
This was one amazingly aggravating and weird book. I mean that in the best way. It focuses on a girl named Chloe whose mother and almost everyone else she encounters treats her like a headcase because she does something called drifting. Now, as one of the characters in the book states, it is kind of like daydreaming, only more real. For example, she drifts off to Paris quite a few times and can smell buttery croissants and taste creamy hot chocolate. It is completely real to her, yet she knows it is all part of her own imagination.
But here's the kicker...is it really?
Something secret and unknown to her is going on in her reality. People know more about her condition than they are letting on. Her mother, who is openly raging about having to take care of her daughter and basically has a split personality as far as I can tell, knows more about what Chloe is going through than she is willing to admit. And what's more is they are trying to make her forget how to drift. There is an ulterior motive somewhere. They are trying to make her "normal", when in actuality she knows something subconsciously that they are trying to make her forget. Something sinister is going on...something so much bigger than Chloe herself. Chloe doesn't know who to trust... I don't know who to trust... I just...I'm not...AH!! So many feels!
This story involves a love that spans realities, a terrifying and drug-induced stay at an insane asylum...mental institution...Potato Potahto. There are so many amazing and vivid scenes in this that I cannot even begin to list them. I desperately want to know what is going to happen next. And the ending...I have never wanted to throw a book, or in my case laptop, against a wall more. In a non-violent, I really liked this book way. *smiley-face*
Verdict:
This story is haunting and beautiful at the same time. I am just overwhelmed by how truly phenomenal this read was. I am mentally exhausted by all the emotions this story put me through, and I just absolutely love that feeling. I related to Chloe so much and just desperately want her to have a happy ending. I have to know that in spite of all she has been through she will at least get that. I have to know the truth. I have to know how this will end. I just have to keep reading this series, because if I don't, I might just explode from frustration. I HAVE to finish this. There is no doubt about it. My jaw is dropped, because this is just so indescribably wonderful and twisted and truly a masterpiece of its own design.
Author's Bio:
Shari J. Ryan hails from Central Massachusetts where she lives with her hubby and two lively little boys. Writing has become Ryan's great escape from the real world over the past few years.After a bout of postpartum depression with her first child, she was determined to occupy her brain enough to eliminate some of the blue moments in life. When Ryan found writing to help as a newfound therapy for postpartum depression, she started her first book.
Ryan has published the 3-book Schasm series for Romantic Suspese/Thriller fans. She helped put her great grandmother's holocaust experience into the modern reader's bookshelf with the publication of My Kaleidoscope (Coming soon). Her next book TAG is her first book written solely for the Romantic Suspense audience and is coming late Fall 2014.
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