Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz // A Heartfelt, Almost-True Story

Tuesday 5 September 2017
Something in Between, by Melissa de la Cruz
Publication: October 4, 2016, by Harlequin Teen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 432
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Jasmine de los Santos has always done what’s expected of her. Pretty and popular, she’s studied hard, made her Filipino immigrant parents proud and is ready to reap the rewards in the form of a full college scholarship.
And then everything shatters. A national scholar award invitation compels her parents to reveal the truth: their visas expired years ago. Her entire family is illegal. That means no scholarships, maybe no college at all and the very real threat of deportation.
For the first time, Jasmine rebels, trying all those teen things she never had time for in the past. Even as she’s trying to make sense of her new world, it’s turned upside down by Royce Blakely, the charming son of a high-ranking congressman. Jasmine no longer has any idea where—or if—she fits into the American Dream. All she knows is that she’s not giving up. Because when the rules you lived by no longer apply, the only thing to do is make up your own.

My Thoughts:

Melissa de la Cruz is one of my favourite authors, and I feel like I've read almost everything she has written. They all seem to be cute, fun contemporary romances that you can just pack with you on a trip to the beach. However, Something in Between was the most real out of them all. It also seems to be the most unpopular, as I have not heard much about it (except for the promotion Harlequin Teen did at BEA in 2016). This is a huge (as in MANY pages) read that took me a few days to get through due to the slow pacing, but it was fabulous. I was able to feel every dash of de la Cruz's passion and personal story in the writing, and in Jasmine's character.

This was just an entertaining story that was different than the rest, and it was so applicable to the kinds of political topics we are looking at today: immigration. And even better, it was applicable to people my age - we teens who live in a country where we have full citizenship are so lucky and fortunate. This book is just so smart, so meaningful, that I would like to recommend this to everyone. I love Jasmine as a character, her ambition, the writing, the unique concept of this.

I tore through the book - that is the best way to describe my experience. Once I began reading it, I was unable to put it down and I was just so obsessed with the romance, WITH EVERYTHING. de la Cruz makes it seem, to readers, that we are able to achieve anything we want to. Jasmine was able to be a National Scholar, to have a romance with a guy she fell in love with at first sight, to be happy and to be always beside her family. 

So, to get on the incline and look at what this is really about... it all begins with illegal immigration. Jasmine has huge dreams - she wants to go to Stanford University, and is on the path towards being valedictorian and a National Scholar. Life is basically going the way she wants it to, until her parents reveal that their family is undocumented and that they have a chance of being deported back to the Philippines, where she was born. It's her worst nightmare; she has no chance of getting the scholarships she dreams of to head to university. And to add to this, she begins to fall head first into a romance with Royce, a congressman's son who basically is on the opposite end of where Jasmine stands.






This story was just special, one-of-a-kind. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it certainly was enjoyable and I'd like to promote it more. I really can't get this story out of my mind! GO FALL IN LOVE WITH ROYCE RIGHT NOW.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is your favourite Melissa de la Cruz book?

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