A Book Review: The Beginning of Everything

Book Profile

Writer: Robyn Schneider

Published: January 1st 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Pages: 335






A short summary

The story follows former class president and tennis athlete, Ezra Faulkner, as he returns to high school after a tragic car accident. The accident ruined his tennis career and also his reputation. Aware that he is now an outcast, he avoids his popular friends and reunites with his childhood friend, Toby. With the influence of Toby, Ezra joins the debate team, where he falls in love with Cassidy Thorpe, the mysterious new girl.

As they grow closer, Ezra begins to accept his misfortunes and focuses more on the person he is after the accident, not on his past popular self. However, as Cassidy and Ezra discover the tragic connection of their past, they must part ways and continue to live their life with the lessons that they taught each other.


My thoughts on the book

This book was highly recommended by a friend of mine and it was so popular that everyone was talking about it. I read it and I must say that I like it a lot. When you read the first chapter, you get the idea why the title of the book is “Everyone Gets a Tragedy”. Well, originally the book is entitled “Severed Heads and Broken Hearts,” but I would spoil the story if I say too much on that. I could only say that it is terrifying.

The story is written in Ezra’s perspective, so you get to feel how his life started out perfect and then turned upside down because of the tragic accident. Though, as you read on, you would see how he is searching for himself and how that tragedy made him a better person. The point is, throughout the story, Ezra goes through a lot of development.



What I like about the book:

I like the way the author uses Ezra as the narrator because I feel like I can relate to what he was going through. He is a teenager dealing with his insecurities and flaws and I think the author has portrayed him very well.

All the characters are relatable, and each has their own quirks which I think is cool because the author didn’t make the supporting characters flat. Though, the characters that I like most are Cassidy and Toby. I like Cassidy because she’s very lively and she doesn’t really care what other people think. She is wise and helped Ezra a lot in finding himself. Ezra himself admitted it. She is also very mysterious.

What I like about Toby is that he would still accept Ezra as his best friend, even though Ezra hasn’t been a good friend to him. He welcomed Ezra to join his debate team, cheered him up and he is always there for Ezra. Like Cassidy, Toby doesn’t really care about what people think of him. He wears a suit and a bow-tie and he is a hell of a good debater.

I also like the moral of the story. It taught us that from a tragedy, something that really matters can happen. The way we handle that tragedy can tell us more about ourselves. From a tragedy we can know the person who truly cares. It can make us into a better person because we learn from our mistakes.

What I don't like about the book:

Probably the plot. It is rather predictable because I have read a few with the same theme. The typical young adult novel where the "underdog"  falls for the mysterious girl with a lot of baggage (try reading John Green's novels).

I don't know... I still like the novel, though 👍👍