The Beautiful Between by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Connelly Sternin is truly your average teen; except that she refers to her high school setting in fairy tale terms and she has let everyone believe that her father divorced her mother instead of dealing with his death. Talk about a conflicting identity. Connelly has felt her mother growing distant for years and has accepted that her mother will never reveal the truth about what happened to her father, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

Jeremy Cole is the pretty, Prince Charming who doesn't have a care in the world, since he runs it, and it a doting big brother. Yet not all is as swell as it seems in the royal family. There is a deep secret and dark hurt that is eating away at the family's core. Jeremy is starting to lose his ability to control his surroundings and he's not dealing with it well at all.

So what do Jeremy and Connelly have in common? Well it turns out to be more than just homework blooming between these two. Love may not be in the air, but a connection unlike any other will change how they face the world. Friendship can do that.

I must admit that while I was skeptical of The Beautiful Between's ability to pull it off, Alyssa B. Sheinmel has created a wonderful teen novel about growth, independence, and love without romance. Jeremy and Connelly are wounded beings that embark on a journey of self-discovery together and come out on the other side just friends. What a refreshing change! These two teens are both struggling with demons that they can't control. It doesn't matter that they are from different socio-economic groupings, they band together to ease their suffering. I don't mean to sound trite, but this was a wonderful story about two unlikely people enjoying one anothers' company simply for friendship.

The lyricism to her writing is what really sets Alyssa apart from others. There is a sort of bounce to her words that allows the reader to enjoy the story without needing to be constantly on edge waiting with bated breath. The story is allowed to unfold in its own time, which is something that I rarely see.

A fantastic read for a change of pace, I highly recommend The Beautiful Between as something to consider.