Under My Skin

Laura Diamond

n/a

Release date : April 12th 2016

Rating : 5 Stars

Bookish Brit Adam Gibson is one wonky heartbeat away from a fatal arrhythmia. But staying alive requires Adam to become keenly focused on both his pulse and the many different daily medications he must take in exactly the right dosages.

Adam’s torn between wanting to live and knowing that someone else must die in order for him to do so. He needs a new heart. The pressure is getting to him. Adam stops talking to his friends back home, refuses to meet kids at his new school, and shuts his parents out entirely. His days are spent wondering if can cope with having a dead man’s heart beating inside his chest, or if he should surrender to the thoughts of suicide swirling around in his head.

And then a donor is found…

Outspoken artist Darby Fox rarely lets anything stand in her way of achieving her goals . Whether it’s painting, ignoring her homework (dyslexia makes a mess out of words anyway), kissing a hot boy she doesn’t even know, or taking the head cheerleader down a peg , no one has ever accused Darby of being a shy.

She also happens to be the twin sister to a perfect brother with good looks, good grades, manners, and the approval of their parents – something Darby has never had. Darby’s always had bad timing . She picks the worst time to argue with her brother Daniel. In a car with bald tires, on an icy road in the freezing cold, the unthinkable happens. In a split-second, everything changes forever.

“Under My Skin” is not only the title of the book by Laura Diamond I just read. No – it is also the place where that story went. I have to admit that so far I never read a book that let me go so deep into the mind of a guy like Adam.

From the first page on the reader is at his side and sees everything around him like he sees it and also joins him on his confusing journey between guilt and the will to survive. Ms. Diamond managed it perfectly to draw the story in a way that the reader was never sure if Adam was right or if those surrounding him were right.

I was always right on the edge of considering someone was out there to get him and hoping his parents would finally give him some peace and alone time. But in the next moment I was considering if it could be true and he really was in the position the others were placing him.

The whole way the story was told brought me to an edge myself. I got angry about anybody disturbing me while reading and found myself using earplugs blocking the outside with music so I could focus.

The confusion felt so real to me that it was scary – so if this is really the way a depression unfolds – I think I am starting to understand how someone really can see no way to get out of it.

It was scary as hell because it all made sense. I am still shaking my head – because it ALL MADE SENSE ….

There are several storylines in this book from where a reviewer could focus on writing a review.

I am sure if I would focus on this book being a love story I might end up with 3 stars because I do not really see the story developing fully in that direction.

Judging the whole plotline I guess I would be with 4 stars because the end somehow came short in its development when I take into account how long the story worked itself into that direction. Also I felt that there was too much going on in the lives of both of the leading characters so the lines were not always clear what the story was about.

BUT … from its psychological view this is a 5 star book.

I tried to focus on Adam because the book starts with him and following him through this journey really got under my skin.

So even if it is unusual for me I am rating this book with 5 stars even though there are things that I did not fully agree with. The 5th star is always my emotional star – usually given because I cried or laughed a lot during reading.

This time it was a first for me I guess, because this 5th star is a scary one, scary because I got a good look into the mind of Adam and it was really hard to separate those different “truth’s”

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