Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

I finally finished a book!  It took me a while.  Extraordinary Means is the sort of book that, prior to Davan coming home for the summer, I'd have read in a day, two at the most.  It took me a few days.  What's odd is that while I feel like I've got a lot less time to read (which is fine - let's be honest, I've got a lot of reading time even as is), Davan seems to have a lot of time to read now that she's at home.  She did whip through Extraordinary Means in less than a day.  Having her home, though, does help me with deciding on books to read.  From my latest library haul, which I brought home on Saturday, Davan let me know in no uncertain terms that two of the haul were books I should not read.  Okay, then, that'll help with the did not finishes.

Back to Extraordinary Means.  This is the story of Lane and Sophie who are patients at a TB sanatorium.  This might make you think of the early 1900s, but this story takes place in modern times with a what could happen where a totally drug resistant strain of TB appears and, thus, sanatoriums arise.  Lane and Sophie are high schoolers.  Lane is newly arrived to Latham House, but Sophie has been there for years with an illness that neither progresses enough to go home nor deteriorates enough that she dies.  Speaking of death, people do in Extraordinary Means.  We actually start the novel with Lane considering how many people have died in his new room.  Lane settles in, makes friends, is drawn to Sophie.  It's almost a typical boarding school story, but people are sick.  And that matters.

I liked Extraordinary Means.  I wouldn't label it as an all time favorite, but it was readable and relatable.  I enjoyed Lane's journey.  Davan and I both say, "It was pretty good."

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