Accessible read about addiction, from the perspective of the sister of an addict. Appreciated that there wasn't a tidy ending to this story, as addiction recovery is rarely tidy. At the same time, the story felt complete even without the tidy ending--I didn't finish hoping for a sequel, which to me is the mark of quality storytelling. ( )

teen realistic fiction/missing meth-addicted brothers and teen drama. Considering the topic, I figured this would grab my attention within the first few pages, but I was underwhelmed to the point of not even bothering to stick it out through my usual minimum of 50 pages. It's a National Book Award finalist, but that means a lot less when you find out that authors must pay fees to have their books considered for the honor. ( )

IT WAS SO BORING ( )

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

For me, Out of Reach was an interesting read - I enjoyed seeing the effects of addiction on family members - a lot of the time, we read more about the person who's addicted. It was nice to see some variation to the trope.

But I went into Out of Reach expecting the story to end on the last page - and I expected closure. I really didn't get it. The story has a very open ending, with an unfinished feel, and I didn't particularly care for that. I wanted to see how everything turned out. I wanted to see where the growing attraction between Rachel and Tyler went, and so many other things.

I wanted more from this.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it! I liked the overall feel - the sad and the happy. I liked that Rachel grew throughout the book, and that maybe she came out a little happier than she was when she went in. I sympathized with Rachel - I wouldn't know what to say or do in that situation either, so I react to things similarly. In the beginning, I feel like Rachel was severely depressed. The first chapter is told in completely monosyllabic sentences - straight and to the point, which set the feel of the novel.

I'm glad that was over by the second chapter, though - I don't think I could have taken it for much longer. I wanted Rachel to just feel - to feel anything! And by the end, I really do think that she was feeling. We started out with an empty shell of a character, but she grew up from that.

I liked Tyler - he was very chivalrous. I think that they (Rachel & him) would have made a good couple. He was adorably protective of her, and I just want them to be together. They could be good for each other.

The flashbacks that Rachel had of times with Micah were good - I liked seeing his progression through her eyes, and seeing all those sweet moments with them as kids. It added an interesting depth to the story.

All in all, I can't say that I didn't enjoy Out of Reach, it just left me with more questions than answers. ( )

Ever wondered how it would be to live with a family member who was a drug user, who then runs and the struggle to find them? this book gives you a good idea f all that. ( )