Customer Reviews

Swollen

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Swollen is a story about first love: how it happens, what it feels like, and what it does to you. Sam is a great character; she's not the perfect daughter or student and she knows it, but she's strong and focused and never complains. Her home life isn't perfect either but she accepts it for what it is. Farouk and Sam's relationship is SO well documented, as Melissa Lion really focuses on Sam's feelings and thoughts. Reading this book was very nostalgic for me, because the characters were so real and their relationships reminded me of my own time in high school.

I'm looking forward to reading Melissa Lion's next book when it comes out. Her style is very comfortable, and her observations are sharp and truthful. I felt like she was writing just for me. I devoured this book.

Loved it!! Haunting, poetic, & incredibly honest. Death, running, & the complexities of human relationships. Who could ask for more?

Samantha or "Sam" as she is called, is a young lady who runs track at her school. She explains how running makes her body feel alive and the different sounds it makes when she is running and how she is motivated to get better. She gives her passion up when the new boy in school Farouk, pays her attention. He arrives the same day the most popular boy in school (Owen) dies. And so begins this tale in where Sam narrates her life at home with her unfaithful dad who is cheating on his girlfriend, her friendship with her best friend Chloe who cuts herself when she is depressed, and Sam's mother who since divorcing Sam's father lives in another city and communicates with her daughter through the phone and infreqeunt visits. This book touched me in how real it depicts a normal teenager's life and how easy it is to be hurt whether been a teenager or an adult. Sam's homelife and the ultimately love betrayal by Farouk the boy she thought who loved her as she loved him makes for a interesting and thought proving reading. Great first novel by Ms. Lion.

I loved her writing style: it was concise but eloquent. Unlike most fiction, I felt like every sentence had been perfectly equated, each word chosen with great thought. It was so truthful, and like other readers I felt like it was a snippet of my life (not exactly of course, but the thought process). Sam was so powerless in a grand scheme, but held her own like an adult. Her personality shows the strength of a great role model, even if her actions don't fall into the stereotype of a role model. She was a strong character living in poor circumstances, as most teenagers can find themselves in at some point of their life.

To me what make a great book is how its written. it doesnt matter if the plot sucks or if you hate the charaters. if the words just flow, its amazing. and melissa lion is amazing. i loved how samantha would single out the shy boys to bring back to the beach, and i loved how she knew when she met him that Fasdkjadsbhh (god i cant say let alone type his damn name!! ><) was dangerous enough to make her fall in love, and i hated with a passion her father and how everyone loved owen but sam knew about the real him, the one who wrote on the bridge.

i love, and always will love, and will pass down my family tree until its rotten and thrown away, this book.

melissa lion please write more books. haha. peace